The Shambles

Assembly Rooms

1 Market Place

The Shambles

The Rebuild

The rebuild – entrance facing the Marketplace rather than west; steps to the entrance and the interior much as we know it today has also been dated to 1817.

However, a very similar renovation but without the door change has been described in newspapers in 1841.

The Shambles

Further Information

ASSEMBLY ROOMS; 1776-78, with south front added 1817 by William Newham. South front stuccoed.

EXTERIOR: west front of one storey in a 5-window range. Central 3 bays broken forward and rebuilt in 1950s.

INTERIOR: Suspended C20 ceiling. Gallery at north end.
(Norfolk Archaeological Unit: Sites and Monuments Record).
Grade II listed.

The 1837 election. Chairing the member. This painting is in the Swaffham Heritage Museum

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War Times

In its time it is has also served many different needs. In 1912 it was a temporary billet for guardsmen when a large military exercise held around the town was flooded out.

During the First World War it was a temporary resting place for Belgian refugees. In World War II it was a canteen for the USAF personnel stationed at North Pickenham. Postwar it served as a canteen for Hamond Grammar School boys.

It was from here also that the 19th century National Election results of the West Norfolk and then the South-West Norfolk constituency were announced.

Today it hosts concerts, exhibitions, dances, sales and The Friday Indoor Market – an extension of Swaffham’s famed Saturday Market and Auction. It was renovated and restored in 2023.

Children in fancy dress ca 1947.

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Grenadier Guards

Grenadier Guards were billeted here in 1912.

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