Bookscapes Collective at the Undercroft, Bridewell, Museum of Norwich.

 Bookscapes Collective will be showing work relating to the Bridewell Museum collections. The venue will be the undercroft; a rather special place which is saturated in history. Originally built for a wealthy merchant Geoffrey de Salle in the early fourteenth century, the Bridewell is one of just eighteen late medieval secular buildings to have survived in Norwich. The building changed from a private dwelling in 1583, when it was converted into the Bridewell, a house of correction ; "a place to keep and staye ydle persons to somme honest worke and labor ".

A devastating fire in 1752 destroyed much of the medieval building so all that survived were two medieval arches, a flint wall and the undercroft. It was rebuilt and continued as a prison until 1828 when its use changed once more. as the city became more prosperous various industrial businesses moved in; a tobacco factory, a leather warehouse, and finally a shoe factory. 

The building was eventually granted to the city in 1923 by Henry Holmes, a successful shoe manufacturer. Following this it became the Bridewell, Museum of Norwich and celebrates the story of Norwich’s industries and the people who lived and worked in the city.

Victorian nails -  leftover from when the space was used as a shoemakers workshop. So full of character and a great opportunity to make work with these in mind!