Norwich council to repair Churchman House in Bethel Street

Plans to replace the historic dome-like cupola on the grade I listed Churchman House, in Bethel Street, have been approved.

Churchman House in Bethel Street (Image: Google Maps)

The feature was removed in 2021 due to water damage and timber decay before being temporarily roofed over to ensure the site remained weather-tight "for the foreseeable future". 

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This emergency work was carried out without consent as it was considered a health and safety risk. 

The cupola at Churchman House in better days (Image: Norwich City Council)

Norwich City Council can now build a new cupola on the building - which dates back to 1730 and is currently used by mental health charity Rest - after lodging plans with its own planning department.

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City Hall had been hoping to reuse as much of the original cupola as possible, but the condition of the timbers has further deteriorated.

The proposed cupola for the building (Image: Norwich City Council)

Instead, a new timber structure matching the original design will be built featuring the repaired original windows.

Planning documents added: "If this proves to be not economically viable and the condition of the windows are not suitable ... we would replicate the defective window panel to match the defective size and profiles exactly."