The Great Hospital was founded in 1249 by Bishop Walter de Suffield. The site began with the Church and Hospital of St Helen (NHER 588), and expanded over hundreds of years as further buildings were added to the complex. These include White Lodge (NHER 48259), the Refectory (NHER 26088), the Cloisters (NHER 26113), the Master's House (NHER 26021), Birkbeck Hall (NHER 26024), the Chaplain's House (NHER 26105) and the Swan Pit and its attached sluice (NHER 48209).
The Hospital was briefly dissolved in 1547, but the City took it over and it has continued into the present day, currently in use as a elderly person's residential home. Archaeological investigations have noted evidence of Late Saxon and early medieval activity prior to the establishment of the Hospital. Despite being on the margins of Saxon Norwich it seems likely that this was an area of occupation, although the hey-day of the site can be securely dated to the medieval period.
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 20 NW 118 [5]. |
| --- | Unpublished Contractor Report: Purcell Miller Tritton. 2002. The Great Hospital, Norwich. Condition Survey and Conservation Statement. Purcell Miller Tritton. |
| --- | Unpublished Contractor Report: Wilson Compton Associates. 2002. The Great Hospital, Bishopgate, Norwich. Record and Analysis Survey of the Buildings Constructed before 1902. Wilson Compton Associates. |
| --- | Leaflet: Great Hospital, Norwich. 1980. History of the Great Hospital Norwich.. Great Hospital, Norwich. |
| --- | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2011. For richer, for poorer, it's one of the UK'S Great archives. 30 May. |
| --- | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2011. Putting his heart into promoting Norwich's heritage. 2 September. |
| --- | Article in Serial: Arthur Oswald. 1947. The Great Hospital, Norwich - I. Country Life. 12 December. |
| --- | Article in Serial: Arthur Oswald. 1947. The Great Hospital, Norwich - II. Country Life. 19 December, p1. |
| --- | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Norwich - Post Roman. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| --- | Slide: Various. Slide. |
| --- | Publication: Phillips, E.. 1999. A Short History of The Great Hospital, Norwich. |
| --- | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2016. Unique and astonishing site that has its eye on the future. 18 February. |
| <S1> | Monograph: Blomefield, F. 1806. The History of The City and County of Norwich, Part II. An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk. Vol IV. p 380. |
| <S2> | Publication: Willins, E. P. 1884. Quaint Old Norwich. Pl 29. |
| <S3> | Leaflet: Great Hospital, Norwich. 1966. History of the Great Hospital Norwich.. Great Hospital, Norwich. |
| <S4> | Monograph: Pevsner, N. and Wilson, B. 1997. Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. pp 276-278; Pl 43. |
| <S5> | Unpublished Contractor Report: Percival, S. 1998. Archaeological Evaluation at the rear of Suffield Court, Great Hospital, Bishopgate, Norwich. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 323. |
| <S6> | Unpublished Contractor Report: Phillips, C. 1999. Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief at the Great Hospital, Norwich. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 379. |
| <S7> | Unpublished Contractor Report: Underdown, S. 2000. Report on an Archaeological Watching Brief at the Great Hospital, Bishopgate, Norwich. Norfolk Archaeological Unit. 542. |
| <S8> | Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 2001. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 2000. Norfolk Archaeology. XLIII Pt IV pp 707-728. p 721. |
| <S9> | Unpublished Contractor Report: [Unknown]. 2002. The Swan Pit and its Sluice, Great Hospital, Norwich. Analysis of the History and Development. Wilson Compton Associates. |
| <S10> | Monograph: Bridge, M. C. 2003. Tree-ring Analysis of Timbers from the Great Hospital, Bishopgate, Norwich, Norfolk. English Heritage Research Department Report Series. 10/2003. |
| <S11> | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1999. 750 year's devoted to the sick and poor. 10 February. |
| <S12> | Website: The Great Hospital. 2008. The Great Hospital website.. |
| 26024 | Parent of: Birbeck Hall, Great Hospital (Building) |
| 26105 | Parent of: Chaplain's House, Great Hospital (Building) |
| Site 2182 | Parent of: Church of St Helen (Monument) |
| Site 1266 | Parent of: Church of St. Helen, Bishopgate (Monument) |
| Site 2481 | Parent of: Church of St. Helen's, Bishopgate (Monument) |
| Site 1997 | Parent of: City wall, Chapelfield Road, Norwich (Monument) |
| 26021 | Parent of: Former Master's House, Great Hospital (Building) |
| Mon 1216 | Parent of: Great Hospital (Chaplain's House) (Monument) |
| Mon 272 | Parent of: Great Hospital (Refectory) (Monument) |
| Site 452 | Parent of: Great Hospital cloisters, Bishopgate (Cloisters) (Monument) |
| Site 362 | Parent of: Great Hospital, Bishopgate (Master`s House) (Monument) |
| Site 427 | Parent of: Great Hospital, Bishopgate (Refectory) (Monument) |
| 51300 | Parent of: Late Saxon and medieval finds and possible post medieval wall, Swan Pit inlet, River Wensum Flood Defense Scheme Zone 3a (Monument) |
| 49101 | Parent of: Medieval and post-medieval remains and site of Great Hospital Laundry (Monument) |
| 61175 | Parent of: Medieval and post-medieval structural remains (Monument) |
| 61176 | Parent of: Medieval pottery and post-medieval remains (Monument) |
| 26093 | Parent of: Part of the former Master's House, Great Hospital (Building) |
| Site 1300 | Parent of: Precinct of the Great Hospital (Monument) |
| Mon 1213 | Parent of: Rear of St Helen's House (Monument) |
| 26088 | Parent of: Refectory, East Ward and part of Master's House, Great Hospital (Building) |
| 54240 | Parent of: Site of Holme Cottages (Monument) |
| 588 | Parent of: St Helen's Church and the Infirmary Hall at the Great Hospital, Norwich (Building) |
| Mon 750 | Parent of: St Helen's Church, North of Bishopgate (Monument) |
| Site 2480 | Parent of: St Helens House Boundary Wall (Monument) |
| 26023 | Parent of: St Helen's House, Bishopgate (Building) |
| 26113 | Parent of: The Cloisters of the Great Hospital (Building) |
| Site 444 | Parent of: The Great Hospital, Bishopgate (Chaplain`s House) (Monument) |
| Site 432 | Parent of: The Great Hospital, Bishopgate (Refectory, Master`s House?) (Monument) |
| 48259 | Parent of: The Lodge at The Great Hospital, Bishopgate (Building) |
| 48209 | Parent of: The Swan Pit and sluice, The Great Hospital, Bishopsgate (Building) |
| 47974 | Parent of: White Cottages at The Great Hospital, Bishopgate (Building) |
| Site 3721 | Parent of: Young’s Green, Great Hospital, Young’s Green, Great Hospital, Bishopgate (Monument) |