The Tolhouse

The Tolhouse on Greyfriars Way is one of the oldest civic buildings in England, with parts dating to the twelfth century. It served successively as a toll collection point, a courthouse, and a gaol, and the building has retained a suitably grim atmosphere. The dungeon cells are the main attraction, preserved largely as they were when last in use, with the graffiti of prisoners covering the walls in multiple languages.

It now operates as a museum covering Great Yarmouth's legal history, with displays on crime and punishment from the medieval period through the nineteenth century. It is a short walk from the South Quay and pairs naturally with a visit to the Time and Tide Museum and the Row Houses nearby.

things to do museum sight
A story
The Tolhouse served as a courthouse and gaol from at least the thirteenth century. Its dungeons held prisoners during the Black Death, and later became a prison for French and Dutch sailors captured during the wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The graffiti they carved into the walls is still visible.