The Building
The timber-framed Great Hall, with its outstanding Crown-Post roof and intricately carved and painted dragon is a monument to medieval craftsmanship.
Built for the sale and display of cloth, a staple of the Norwich economy from the 15th century until the early 19th century, the Hall is a legacy of the early days of the Norwich Cloth Manufacture.
Dragon
Hall is the only medieval merchant’s trading hall known to exist
in Western Europe. Although a handful of guildhalls remain, these were
built for a guild or group of merchants, rather than a single merchant
– Robert Toppes.
Toppes’ magnificent trading hall was a visual manifestation of his wealth and social standing. The decorative scheme was even more elaborate in his time than it is today; the beams and timbers were stained with red ochre, and each spandrel contained an intricate carving, which like the single remaining carving, were probably dragons. Together with the moulded wall plates and crown-posts, these must have created a powerful sense of opulence.
Five Centuries of Change
After Toppes’ death in 1467, the hall was gradually completely transformed. One of the reasons for this was the gradual shift of mercantile activity away from King Street, to what is now the city centre and Colegate across the river.
By the 19th century the hall was reduced to tenements. In the intervening centuries, chimney stacks, an additional floor and a warren of small rooms obscured the crown post roof and created a number of separate properties within the former single hall.
In
the 19th century, part of the range included two public houses, the Old
Barge and the Black Horse. In the 20th century, the former remained together
with a butchers shop and rectory. Remarkably, despite the heavy bombing
of the King Street area in World War II, Dragon Hall survived.
