History

Great Yarmouth's Town Hall is steeped in history with stunning architecture throughout the building. 

The building was officially opened on 31 May 1882 by the then Prince of Wales - later to become Edward VII. Its stunning Assembly Room was described as "one of the finest interiors in Eastern England and a measure, like the entire building, of the town's prosperity in the late 19th Century".

Over a hundred years after opening the building, Edward VII's great-grand-daughter Queen Elizabeth II visited with the Duke of Edinburgh in 1985, where they were welcomed by a choir of 250 local children.

In 1998, the building's importance was recognised with a Grade II* historic buildings listing.

The Assembly Room, which features fluted columns and pilasters, Corinthian columns, and deep coving below a barrel-vaulted roof has many guises today such as weddings, meetings and parties.

Town Hall timeline

• 1716 - First Town Hall built at a cost of £880. Before this the main civic building was the Tolhouse, built in 1150.
• 1879 - The Treasury agrees a loan to fund a new town hall, and Norwich firm Lacey and Co win the build tender.
• 1880 - Building starts in April, with the three-tonne principal cornerstone laid by the mayor, councillor Charles Cory Aldred.
• 1882 - The new Town Hall and Municipal Buildings are opened by the Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), on May 31 at a grand celebration attended by 350 guests.
• 1886 - Subsidence leads to underpinning work, using iron cylinders filled with concrete.
• 1985 - Edward VII's great-grand-daughter Queen Elizabeth II visits with the Duke of Edinburgh, welcomed by a choir of 250 local children.
• 1998 - The Town Hall building is listed as Grade II*.