The Venue

History

The first dwelling on site dates back to the 15th Century and a little later, wealthy and successful merchant Edmund Wood built his grand house for is family and business. Wood also became Mayor and Sheriff of Norwich in 1548. Wood House was then turned into smaller dwellings and shops from the 18th Century onwards.

The Norwich Preservation Trust (with support from English Heritage and Norwich City Council) restored the site, joining the different dwellings together once more and it open in 1990 as the King of Hearts Centre for People and the Arts.

After 20 years, the much-loved arts centre was taken over by the Anteros Arts Foundation and re-opened in January 2011. The Café still holds the King of Hearts name whilst the venue, gallery and arts courses now run under Anteros Norwich.

Hidden treasures

The whole site boasts a mix of architecture from different historical periods that visitors are welcome to explore. A lot of the architectural pieces were once covered and hidden from view, only to be revealed again in 1990

From 19th Century shop frontage, to a superb example (and the longest of its kind in Norwich at over 6 metres in length) of a mullioned window, to upstairs where the beamed ceiling was once hidden by a Georgian plaster covering in the Music Room.

The Courtyard walls also boasts different stone and markings that have been added from the 15th Century onwards.

If you are a budding historian and have anything to share with us or would like to research the site further, please contact us.