The Assembly House is a Georgian Grade I listed building located in Norwich, United Kingdom.
Today, the Assembly House is used for weddings, conferences and exhibitions and is owned by a registered arts charity which supports a range of visual and performing arts activities. It is one of the twelve historic Norwich buildings in the Norwich 12 initiative, a project to develop an integrated group of heritage attractions in the City.[1][2]
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In 1278 a college for secular priests, The College of St Mary in the Fields, was established on the site. From 1404, when Norwich was granted the right to govern itself in the form of a corporation, assemblies were held at the College in which citizens chose bailiffs (the officials who were to govern the city for the following year). The College was also the base for the Feast of Corpus Christi, an important annual festival in which the trade guilds would march in procession. In 1544 the site was surrendered to the king at the Dissolution. Although the great chapel was destroyed during the Reformation, the college buildings survived. The brickvaulted cellar remains, and behind the present Georgian facade, the core of the medieval edifice remains. In 1569 the site came into the hands of the Cornwallis family, before being left to the Hobarts early in the following century. The Hobarts leased the site to tenants, who maintained the tradition of public assemblies. In 1753 John Hobart, the Duke of Buckingham, granted a 500-year lease of Chapel Field House estate (as it was then known) to some aldermen of Norwich for £1800 plus an annual rent of £5. Now the site began to take on its modern appearance.
The city fathers unveiled plans for “public places of entertainment for the county and the city”. They set architect Thomas Ivory, who also built the Octagon Chapel, to work. Helped by enthusiastic amateur Sir James Burrough, Ivory demolished the central section.
The house was designed by Ivory, and was originally used as a 'House of Assemblies' where events were held for the gentry of Norwich. The building was later used by Norwich High School for Girls. During the Second World War the building was converted for use as a camouflage school. He went on to become a famous costume and theatrical set designer.
After the war the house underwent considerable restoration programme, encouraged by Messel and funded by leading Norwich shoe manufacturer, H. J. Sexton. The house was reopened once again as a centre for entertainment and the arts.