THE ALMSHOUSE

19-21 Merchant Street (Broadmead)

The origins of the Almshouse - also known as The Merchant Tailors’ Almshouse - go back to 1399 when The Guild of Merchant Tailors was founded.

In 1575 four tenements in Merchant Street (then Marshall Street) premises came into the possession of the Guild. By 1604 some of these tenements were in use as an Almshouse.

By 1682 the Trustees of the Guild had decided to rebuild the premises. In 1701 the present building was completed and provided accommodation for nine persons.

The Guild flourished as late as 1770 but became extinct in 1824 on the death of the last remaining member.

The Almshouse eventually came to be used by the Corporation as a Weights and Measures Office until 1955.

Lloyds Bank occupied the building from this time until 1990 when it was incorporated into the Galleries development by The Norwich Union Life Insurance Society, who refurbished the entire external shell of the building and the front courtyard.

Following internal alterations it was reopened as a Public House known as The Almshouse in 1992.

It closed as a pub in 1994 after which it was a cafe with Delifrance until 2003, then Puccino’s who left in early 2008 when it closed.

AZUZA re-opened The Almshouse in October 2009 as a coffee shop and takeaway following a full refurbishment (costing over £200,000) including the first floor which had been closed for many years.