Index
- In person events
- Work Experience: working in a heritage environment
- Deciphering old handwriting
- Norfolk and the Low Countries conference
- In person and online events
- Online events
- Reading from the archives
In person events
Archive ambulation: art in the archives then and now
In person event
Join us for a 90 minute relaxed walk through Norwich, looking at our archives to see how the city has changed over the past 300 years. Using copies of our documents we will bring the past to life through original artwork and photographs.
See what the gated city looked like in the 1700s, consider how different City Hall may have looked by looking at the 1930s proposals, and discover what it was like to live in the city during the Second World War.
A meeting point will be given on booking. Please wear suitable clothing and footwear.
Tickets will be released on 21 August. Please book using the link below
School holiday activity
Off the block
In person event
Aimed at primary school-age children (under 8s must be accompanied by an adult).
Pay what you can. When you book this event you will have the option to give a donation. This is optional and entirely at your discretion.
Look at original documents detailing animals and other images from the collections of the Norfolk Record Office as inspirations for creating your own block print. Learn how to make your block and then develop it to create multi-layered prints in different colours in this 90 minute session.
Please book using the link below
Adult craft
Making a Notebook
In person event
£10 per person
Refreshments included
Discover the basics of book binding, learn decoupage and how to sew a bead spine to create your own hand-made miniature notebook. No previous experience is necessary we will guide you through step by step.
All materials will be provided.
This session runs for 2 hours
Please book using the link below
Adult skills with quills
In person event
Free of charge
Get creative with a range of inks and our quill pens to have a go at creating your very own Illuminated bookmark in this 2 hour session.
Find out how illuminated manuscripts were created by looking at a range of materials used, including prickers, ink recipes, and parchment, and take a look at a range of illuminated documents. Have a go at trying some different writing styles including secretary hand, and experiment with different techniques such as cross hatching and ink washes and a range of materials including gold leaf, coloured inks, dip pens and quills. Finally use some of these techniques and materials to create your very own bookmark on parchment, complete with tassel.
Please wear suitable clothing.
Tickets will be released on 21 August. Please book using the link below.
Behind the scenes tour
In person event
£7 per person
Join us for our popular behind the scenes tours once more. Visit the Conservation Studio to see where our documents are repaired, experience the atmospheric conditions of the Strongroom where we store our collection, and see a display of original documents. Tours last approximately 90 minutes.
Norfolk Archives and Heritage Development Foundation supporters get two free tickets for our Behind the Scenes Tour as part of their individual membership. For more information and to join visit NorAH.
Please book using the link below
Taking a trip through Bolingbroke’s Norfolk
To celebration the 100th anniversary of Bolingbroke presenting Strangers’ Hall and its contents as a museum to the City of Norwich, we have two joint events for the autumn.
In person event
Free of charge
In 1878 Leonard Bolingbroke started an illustrated journal recording his bicycle journeys across Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. For this afternoon we are taking a trip through Bolingbroke’s Norfolk.
During this 90 minute session Cathy Terry from Strangers Hall will give a short talk about Leonard Bolingbroke’s life before staff from the Record Office will explain his experiences of biking, including learning to ride and bicycle care. Then spend time viewing snippets from Bolingbroke’s journal, along with documents from our collection showing what each area was like in the past. See the original journal and Bolingbroke’s paintings and sketches of the county.
Refreshments included
Please book using the link below
Treasures under your bed
In person event at Stranger’s Hall
Free of charge
Session lasts 90 minutes and takes place at Stranger’s Hall
An introduction to caring for your own family history material plus chance to see the Strangers’ Hall archive.
Join staff from the Norfolk Record Office to think about how we record our own past including how to document, care for and store family material. Discover the first steps to find out more about your own family history and get to grips with sources available to continue creating your family tree by having a go at a number of practical exercises. Next, work with staff from Stranger’s Hall to look at the records showing the early days of the museum under Bolingbroke and curator Frank Leney, including photographs, visitor books, records of early collections, and correspondence.
Please book using the link below
Working in a heritage environment
WORK EXPERIENCE DAY
In person event
Free of charge
Refreshments included
Are you studying history or a related subject and in years 10-13 at school? Are you considering a career in heritage? Would you like to study a heritage subject at university? Then you may like to join us for our one day work experience session.
The day is based around a number of practical sessions in order to gain experience of working as a conservator, digitising documents and the role of an archivist. you will get a chance to catalogue documents, work with original material to create social media content for Norfolk Day, make packaging materials and have a go at cleaning one of our documents.
Due to the hands-on nature of the event spaces are limited. Please book using the link below
Deciphering old handwriting
ADVANCED
In person event
£75 per person
8 weeks for 90 minute sessions, plus materials provided.
Our improvers course is aimed at those who have some experience with reading old handwriting and want to take their skills to the next level. Led by an experienced professional, you’ll learn further techniques and strategies for deciphering cursive, hard-to-read texts, examining the form and context of common documents from the 15th to 17th centuries. We will learn further abbreviation conventions and signs used, including those in mixed English and Latin texts, and be given transcription guidelines. You will also have the opportunity to transcribe small sections of text.
Please book using the link below
In-Person and Online Events
Norfolk and the Low Countries conference
A SHARED HISTORY
Courtesy of Norfolk Heritage Centre.
Friday 29 September, 9.30am- 4.05pm
Free to Norfolk Archive Supporters and NRS members, £25 for others, plus £10 for lunch
Members of the Norfolk Archive Supporters Scheme run by Norfolk Archives and Heritage Development Foundation (NorAH) and Norfolk Record Society (NRS) members can attend for free. Become a Norfolk Archive Supporter today for only £25 and receive your promotional code for this event.
Please enter the promotion code on booking. Individual members of the Norfolk Archives Supporters scheme are entitled to one space, organisational members receive one space per organisation. For more information and to join visit NorAH or NRS.
Join us for this conference celebrating the links between Norfolk and the Low Countries. The day will include talks from six speakers on both medieval and Early Modern periods, along with a round table discussion. Speakers are:
Christopher Joby: ‘The Strangers in the Norfolk Record Office’
Medieval Norfolk and the Low Countries
Susan Maddock: ‘Living with aliens: the immigrant community in late medieval Lynn’
John Alban: ‘Norfolk Soldiers Serving in the Count of Holland’s Friesland Campaign of 1396’
Early Modern Norfolk and the Low Countries
Alan Metters: ‘King’s Lynn and the Low Countries in the early-seventeenth century’
Danny Buck: ‘Calvinist Bolthole?: John Brinsley and Great Yarmouth’s Dutch Chapel’
Christopher Joby: ‘Law and order in the Stranger communities in Norfolk towns’.
Please book using the link below. Booking opens for NorAH and NRS members on 21 June, for everyone else from 7 July.
History talks
We have a number of guest speakers talking about their own area of expertise or research.
Talks last between 30-45 minutes with additional time for questions at the end. The majority of talks can be viewed on our YouTube channel after the event.
Results of the Aylsham and Brampton Aerial Investigation and Mapping Survey
By Jack Powell
Wednesday 19 July, 1pm
The Aylsham and Brampton Aerial Investigation and Mapping project is a Historic England funded, 99 square kilometre survey of northeast Norfolk covering Aylsham, Brampton and the surrounding landscapes. The project aims to contribute to the protection of historic places by making new discoveries and improving the records of known sites. The project involves the analysis of a range of aerial sources including modern and historical aerial photographs and visualised ‘lidar’ (airborne laser scanning) data. Archaeological features seen on the sources are then mapped and recorded. The talk will give an overview of the project and provide some examples of the fascinating archaeological sites recorded by the project.
Please book using the links below
Films from the East Anglian Film Archive
By Nick Warr
Wednesday 6 September, 1pm
Join us for an archive film screening and discover some of the gems from the collection at the East Anglian Film Archive (EAFA).
In this screening of archive 16mm films, you’ll have the chance to watch films on reel film and relive the sounds and sights of the classic cine club experience. The films span a range of time periods, genres and subject matter, and show the rich range of films that EAFA holds and preserves. The films will be introduced by Dr Nick Warr, EAFA’s Academic Director.
Please book using the links below
Rosary Cemetery: England’s first non-denominational cemetery
By Nick Williams
Wednesday 4 October, 1pm
The Rosary cemetery in Norwich is accepted as England’s first non-denominational cemetery. It was opened in 1821 by Thomas Drummond, a retired Unitarian minister, to provide a place of burial for people of all faiths or none. It became the place of interment for many of the city’s prominent non-conformist families and is still used for burials today. The Rosary also provides a peaceful refuge from the hustle and bustle of urban life and provides a home for a wide variety of plants and animals.
Booking required, please use the links below
Mindful Mondays
In person event
Free of charge
Join us for this special Mindful Monday for Heritage Open Days. Look at documents in the Glass Cube, before having a chat and relaxing morning colouring in a range of line drawings from the archives.
This is a really informal session, and you are welcome to drop in and out as you please. Session lasts for 1 ½ hours.
Tea, coffee and biscuits will be available.
Tickets will be released on 21 August. Please book using the link below.
Online event
Free of charge
Join us online for this special Mindful Monday for Heritage Open Days. Staff will show you some documents as inspiration, before having a chat and relaxing afternoon colouring in a range of line drawings from the archives.
All drawings will be sent to you before the session. You just need to print them, grab your colour pencils and a cuppa and join in.
Feel free to drop in and out at any point during the session.
This session lasts for 1 hour
Tickets will be released on 21 August. Please book using the link below.
Online events
Research workshops
Back by popular demand, these research workshops will help you get started or continue with your research. Focusing on resources for England and Wales, advice can occasionally be given on documents created in Scotland, and Northern Ireland too. The workshops always fill up quickly so be sure to book soon.
Each workshop includes:
- Information on a variety of sources for your research
- A chance to ask questions
- A workbook containing workshop notes and a practical activity
- A chance to view some of our Website Tutorials explaining how to use websites to locate and access the documents included (also available on our YouTube channel).
Each session lasts 1 hour
Introduction to family history
Online event
Free of charge
Find out how to use census records, civil registration, and parish registers to get started on tracing your family tree.
Please book using the link below
Advanced family history- Part 1
Online event
Free of charge
This session is aimed at anyone who has already started their family history research but is unsure how to take it further. We show you have to use electoral registers, marriage licence bonds and tithe documents.
Look out for Advanced family history part 2 in November.
Please book using the link below
Introduction to house history
Online event
Free of charge
Find out how to trace the history of the fabric of your building using historical and modern maps before using census returns, trade directories, and wills to find out about the previous owners and occupiers of your property.
Please book using the link below
Tracing First World War ancestors
Online event
Free of charge
If you have found that your ancestors were in the military, this session is for you. We will look at how to access and use the census, absent voter lists, medal cards and attestation papers.
Please book using the link below
Reading from the archives
Tales from the darchive
Online event
Free of charge
From ghostly encounters to legends of large dogs roaming the countryside, Norfolk is full of tales of spooky goings on. Join us this Halloween for an afternoon of fun listening to some of the tales included in the archives.
This session will last around 30 minutes
This event can be viewed on our YouTube channel afterwards.
Please book using the link below
Norfolk Record Office 