St Andrew's Hall

St Andrew's Hall and Blackfriars' Hall, or The Halls, are a Grade I listed complex of former Dominican priory church and convent buildings in the English city of Norwich, Norfolk. They are the most complete set of pre-Reformation mendicant monastic structures to survive in England. Parts of the former friary are a scheduled monument, and the site is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The site was from 1258 occupied by the Penitential Friars who built a chapel and vestibule there. The suppression of these friars by Pope Clement V led to the Dominican Order taking over the site by royal licence in 1307, and they significantly expanded the precinct and buildings. A large fire in 1413 damaged the buildings, and they were rebuilt enough for the Dominican friars to return by 1449; this included the construction of the church building which now forms the two halls. The Norwich City Corporation bought the building during the Reformation. Under plans by mayor Augustine Steward it was split into two; the chancel, now Blackfriars' Hall, became a chapel, and the nave, now St Andrew's Hall, was converted into a common hall. From 1544 St Andrew's Hall was used for civic occasions, with major public meetings taking place there from 1819. During the 19th century Jenny Lind and Reverend Thomas Archibald Wheeler respectively performed and spoke in St Andrew's Hall, and Benjamin Britten performed there in 1936. The site closed temporarily in 2024 for structural work and renovations.