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Museums at Night

Night owls can look forward to a weekend of nocturnal goings-on from Friday 14 May to Sunday 16 May as Norwich’s museums and heritage attractions unlock their doors for Museums at Night 2010.

HEART is coordinating the city’s events, which are part of the nationwide Museums at Night, organised by Culture24 and funded by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.

This is the first time Norwich has taken part in Museums at Night on such a grand scale - several venues will be open after hours as part of the national campaign, which aims to capture people’s imaginations and encourage audiences to do something different with their evening.

Visitors to Museums at Night events are being offered a range of experiences, including an installation, moonlit tours, ghost stories and children’s sleepovers – for details of each event and how to book see below.

Museums at Night events in Norwich

The Guildhall

Event: Night at the Guildhall
Date: Saturday 15th May
Time: 7pm – 9am
Price and booking details: £20 per child. Due to space in the Guildhall, we can accommodate up to 24 children. Booking is essential - please call (01603) 599577.

Norwich HEART is giving children the chance to experience Norwich’s medieval Guildhall after the lights go out! On Saturday 15 May children aged 9-14 will be able to explore the building after dark, witness mock Victorian and modern trials in the old court room, listen to a spooky story read by popular storyteller Marion Leeper and indulge in a midnight feast before spending the night in the Sword Room or Council Chamber. The experience costs £20 per head and also includes a delicious breakfast in the morning.

Unfortunately, due to the Guildhall‘s medieval layout, the event is unsuitable for wheelchair users or those with serious mobility issues. However, if you have a mobility issue and would like to attend, please call to discuss your requirements.

Colman‘s Mustard Shop & Museum

Event: After-hours at Colman‘s Mustard Shop & Museum
Date: Friday 14th May
Time: 5.30 - 6.30pm
Price and booking details: Please visit Colman‘s Mustard Shop & Museum to collect a free ticket, or call (01603) 627889 and ask for a ticket to be posted to you free of charge. Numbers are restricted to maximum 20.

Colman’s Mustard Shop & Museum, one of Norwich’s most popular and cherished heritage attractions, is opening its doors after hours on Friday 14th May as part of the national Museums at Night campaign.

Colman’s have been making fine quality mustards in Norfolk for almost 200 years and guests will hear about the history of this iconic brand, from its early 19th century roots, right the way through to the present day.

The evening will be topped off by a tasting session, in which guests will be able to sample some of the delicious range of foods stocked by the shop, from exclusive speciality mustards, to mustard chocolate!

All guests will receive a 10% discount on goods at the Mustard Shop & Museum.


Norwich Cathedral

Event: Moonlight Labyrinth and Ghost Stories
Date: Friday 14th May
Time: 8 – 10pm
Price and booking details: £2.50 per child, adults free. Maximum of 15 children aged 8 upwards with an accompanying adult. To book a place please call Juliet Corbett, Schools Officer, on (01603) 218 320, or Gudrun Warren, Librarian, on (01603) 218 327.

Come to the Cathedral library for some soup and scary stories, then visit the cloister and labyrinth to take an unusual and unforgettable journey in the dark.

Dragon Hall

Event: Ghostly Tales and Tours with the ‘Man in Black‘
Date: Friday 14th May
Time: 8 – 10pm
Price and booking details: £7 adults / £5 concessions, children & members of The Norfolk & Norwich Heritage Trust. Not suitable for under 5s but older children welcome at parents‘ discretion. To book a place please call (01603) 663922.

Twilight creeps through the ancient stones of Dragon Hall. Its gnarled fingers unlock secrets of dark deeds that lie entombed behind crumbling walls. It whispers into the shadowy recesses of a forgotten part of Norwich, disturbing the sleep of the long departed, and the most haunted hall in the City of the Dead stirs once more into ghostly, ethereal life.

Witness tales of the phantoms of Dragon Hall and then go on a terrifying tour of the haunted undercroft and hidden chambers below ground...but only if you are brave enough to meet the undead of this classically haunted medieval place.

Enjoy an evening of spectral tales and tours of Dragon Hall hosted by one of the best known ghost hunters in England, Norwich’s own ‘Man in Black’ who will be telling stories not just of the ghosts of Dragon Hall but also of spirits from the seriously haunted streets of Norwich.

The Assembly House

Event: Norwich’s First Nightclub?
Date: Friday 14th May
Time: 7 – 10pm
Price and booking details: £15 per person. Numbers restricted to max 50.
Please telephone for tickets on (01603) 626402.

Explore the history of The Assembly House and learn how in the 18th and early 19th century eligible bachelors would meet their future fiancés and spouses. Like Riverside and Prince of Wales Road on a Saturday night? Well not quite, although the desire to meet future partners was likely the same but the process was hindered by the customs and etiquette of the time. See how they would have danced and how the first contact between the sexes would have happened.

History tour and talk, followed by a demonstration by the Early Dance Group and finishing with a light supper in the glorious Georgian dining room. Target audience: 10-14 year olds, accompanied by a parent or guardian.

The Cathedral of St John the Baptist

Event: Twilight Tower Tour and Refreshments
Date: Friday 14th May
Time: 6-9pm
Price and booking details: £3 per person. To reserve a place please contact narthex@sjbcathedral.org.uk or telephone (01603) 728936.

Experience one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic architecture in England AND a fantastic view of the city by twilight by joining our special Museums at Night tower tour.

Participants will be met in the Narthex and taken on one of our popular guided tours of the tower, before enjoying delicious homemade refreshments in the Narthex or Garden (weather dependent). Tours will start at 6pm, 7pm and 8pm.

The Forum

Event: Madi Boyd – The Point of Perception
Date: Friday 14th and Saturday 15th May
Time: 10 – 12am
Price and booking details: Free admission. No booking required. Suitable for all audiences.

Produced by Norwich Arts Centre, ‘The Point of Perception‘ is a collaborative project between artist Madi Boyd and neuroscientists Dr Mark Lythgoe and Dr Beau Lotto, which will show at the Forum from 7th - 22nd May. They present a multi-media sculpture, an immersive experience that aims to create a puzzle in the brain of the viewer. Deliberately designed to confuse the human brain, it makes us question why we perceive what we do and how our brains process the visual. Beautiful and mysterious, people of all ages will be mesmerised by this unique art installation.

To celebrate Museums at Night, the installation will remain open until midnight on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th May.

For more information about Museums at Night visit the Culture24 website at www.culture24.org.uk/museumsatnight

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