Numbers 2 to 4 Including the Norfolk and Norwich Subscription Library is a Grade II listed building in the Norwich local planning authority area, England. First listed on 5 June 1972. Library, court office, shop. 11 related planning applications.

Numbers 2 to 4 Including the Norfolk and Norwich Subscription Library

WRENN ID
vast-rood-sepia
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
Norwich
Constituency
Norwich South MP: Clive Lewis (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
5 June 1972
Type
Library, court office, shop
Address
Numbers 2 to 4 Including the Norfolk and Norwich Subscription Library, Guildhall Hill, NR2 1JH
OS grid reference
TG 229 086
Coordinates
52.62949, 1.2924
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: EPC · related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

Numbers 2 to 4, including the Norfolk and Norwich Subscription Library, is a former library that is now used as a court office and shops. It was built in 1837 by J.T. Patience. The building is constructed of yellow brick with masonry dressings and has slate roofs. It features a recessed block with long wings that return to the street line, presenting 4- and 2-bay fronts over two storeys.

The central entrance has a double door framed by a tetrastyle Greek Doric portico with a pediment, accessed by three steps. The frieze of the portico continues as a stringcourse along the facade, supported by pilasters. The center of the facade projects slightly and contains a sash window with glazing bars and an eared surround. There are four pilasters on the first floor, and a triple frieze-cornice, with the center one displaying the word 'Library', topped by a pediment.

The wings of the building rise three storeys plus a semi-basement and consist of 11 bays, with the central four bays recessed. Sash windows with glazing bars and rubbed brick flat arches are present throughout, along with masonry bands at the ground and first floor levels. The building has a parapet and features 19th and 20th-century altered shopfronts that extend three bays along the wings. A carriage entry is located at the extreme left side of the street facades, with a 19th-century fascia between consoles above the left-hand shopfront. The right shopfront, adjacent to the carriage entry, has a triglyph frieze extending from No. 1 Guildhall Hill, along with decorative ironwork balustrading above the frieze. Sash windows with glazing bars and rubbed brick flat arches are found on the first floor, while the second floor windows are positioned beneath a cornice.

Local climate

Numbers 2 to 4 Including the Norfolk and Norwich Subscription Library sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 88% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 95% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 24 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 75% of listed buildings. Of these, 13 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
  • No sale records on file
  • Related listed building consents — 11 applications
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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