The potential rebuild of one of the city's most prominent buildings could have hit a snag after concerns were raised about the presence of historical artefacts.
Norfolk County Council's historic environment department has called for an archaeological investigation to be carried out at the former Debenhams department store in Red Lion Street.
The authority's officers have highlighted the possibility of "buried archaeological remains" at the site and asked for a full assessment to be carried out before any work begins to convert the building into 400 student flats and new shops.
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A letter sent to Norwich City Council's planning department states: "The bases of deeper archaeological features, such as wells, survived the construction of the basement of the original Curl's department store and its reconstruction in 1953-56.
"Remains of national significance have been found in the base of a well approximately 250m from the application site.
"In addition, the application site lies on the presumed edge of the infilled valley of the Great Cockey, a former tributary stream of the Wensum.
"There is potential for previously unidentified heritage assets with archaeological interest to be present within the current application site and that their significance would be affected by the proposed development."
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As a result, it has suggested conditions be imposed on the developer which ensures an archaeological written scheme of investigation is approved before any work begins and the new development is not "occupied or put into first use" before a full site investigation has been completed.
The plans from Stanford Real Estate - which have not yet been approved - would see all but the basement and ground floor torn down to make way for a new building.
Multiple retail units are expected to take up the first two floors, while the rest of the new site would accommodate 400 students.
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The various sections of the building would vary in height, but at its tallest, it would be three storeys higher than the current six-floor building - although heritage group the Twentieth Century Society is opposing the demolition.
Discovery of national significance
It was during the construction of Chapelfield Shopping Centre in 2004 that a major archaeological discovery was made.
The remains of at least 17 people were discovered, including 11 children, at the bottom of a well.
It was suspected the skeletons were victims of religious persecution in the 12th century but it was not until August 2022 that DNA studies were published.
These showed strong genetic links with modern Ashkenazi Jews - making them the oldest Jewish genomes ever to have been sequenced.
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According to the study, the findings were consistent with victims of a historically recorded antisemitic massacre by crusaders in Norwich in 1190.
The discovery made international headlines and was followed in 2013 by a special burial service in the Jewish Cemetery at Earlham Cemetery.
A plaque commemorating those who died was also unveiled on the side of the shopping centre - now known as Chantry Place - in 2015.
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