Strangers' Hall

Strangers' Hall is a Grade I listed medieval merchant's house that has been a museum of domestic history since 1922. The house was built in the 14th century and expanded over the following three centuries by successive wealthy owners, leaving behind a layered mix of medieval, Tudor, and Stuart rooms.

The museum displays period furniture, textiles, and domestic objects in room settings that show how the house might have appeared in different eras. The great hall, with its 14th-century timber roof, is particularly impressive. The walled garden at the back is a quiet retreat and contains a small collection of heritage apple and pear varieties. The museum is free to enter.

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A story
The "Strangers" in the name were Dutch and Walloon Protestant refugees who arrived in Norwich in the 1560s, invited by the city authorities to revive the declining textile trade. They brought their weaving skills and transformed Norwich into one of the wealthiest cities in England. By 1580 a third of Norwich's population was foreign-born — a proportion that would be remarkable even today.

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