Swaffham Town Hall

The building was commissioned the brewer, John Morse, for use as his home. The site he selected was on the west side of London Street, adjacent to the White Hart Inn. The building was designed in the neoclassical style, built in red brick and was completed in around 1810.{{efn|Thomas Morse (John's father) acquired the Swaffham Brewery in 1809 and John became the head brewer. The house must have been completed shortly thereafter, as English Heritage says that it is early 19th century. The council was initially based at the Shirehall but, in the early 1950s, civic leaders decided that they needed a dedicated building for their offices and meeting place. In 1955, the building was purchased by…

In 1986, Swaffham Museum opened in the building. It is an independent social history museum covering the town and surrounding villages. It has five galleries exhibiting local history and local geology as well as an Egyptology room about Howard Carter and the Ancient Egyptians, celebrating the centenary year of Howard Carter discovering the Tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. There is also a display about the author, Captain W. E. Johns, who, after serving as a local sanitary inspector, created the fictional air-adventurer Biggles, and there are some items which belonged to Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Wilson, 3rd Baronet, who served as First Sea Lord shortly before the First World War.