Norwich Castle

Norwich Castle is the most prominent landmark in the city, sitting on an artificial mound at the heart of the old centre that gives it views across the surrounding streets. The keep is one of the finest examples of Norman Romanesque architecture in England, with elaborate decorative arcading on its exterior that sets it apart from more purely military Norman castles.

The interior is now the city museum and art gallery. The collection includes a substantial holding of paintings by the Norwich School — Cotman and Crome in particular — who painted the Norfolk landscape in the early nineteenth century with unusual directness. There are also natural history galleries, archaeological displays covering prehistoric and Roman Norfolk, and a gallery on the castle's history as a prison with surviving cells to visit.

Admission is charged. The castle is open daily except during events.

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A story
The castle was built by William the Conqueror not as a military fortress but as a royal palace — one of only two Norman palaces in England. Henry I used it as a residence on his visits to East Anglia. It became a prison in the 13th century and remained one until 1887, when the county bought it and turned it into a museum. The cells were used as recently as the Victorian era for public executions.

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