[1] An early Shirehall was built atop the Norwich Castle mound in around 1270 and rebuilt during the Elizabethan era.

[2] The current Shirehall, which was designed by William Wilkins in the Tudor Revival style, was completed in 1823.

[1] The design involved a symmetrical castellated main frontage with nine bays facing onto the Market Avenue; the central section, which projected slightly forward, featured an arched doorway, a triple window on the first floor and a shield above the window; there were polygon-shaped turrets at roof level.

[12] Although archives and the reserve collections continued to be held in the Shirehall, the principal museum display there closed in September 2011, and relocated to the main Norwich Castle Museum, reopening fully in 2013.

[3] The Norwich Castle Study Centre, which now occupies the Shirehall, contains a number of important collections, including an extensive collection of more than 20,000 costume and textile items, built up over a period of some 130 years, and previously kept in other Norwich museums.