Norwich Market and City Hall

Norwich Market fills the sloping cobbled square in the heart of the city, its neat rows of striped canopies covering roughly 200 stalls. Trading has taken place on this spot since the late 11th century, when the Normans moved the marketplace from Tombland to sit beneath the new castle. That makes it one of the oldest permanent markets in the country, and it remains a working one: fresh fish and seafood from the Norfolk coast, local cheeses, fruit and veg, secondhand books, hot food from across the world, tailoring, key cutting and vinyl records all sit alongside each other.

Rising above the market on the western side is City Hall, opened in 1938 by King George VI and often cited as one of the finest interwar civic buildings in England. Its long brick frontage and 202-foot clock tower were inspired by Stockholm City Hall, and the bronze lions flanking the steps by Alfred Hardiman have become a Norwich landmark in their own right. The bell in the tower is the loudest in Britain outside of Big Ben.

The market square itself is framed by two more notable buildings: the medieval flint-chequered Guildhall to the north, and the Forum, a modern glass-fronted library and events venue, to the west. It is an easy place to spend an hour, grabbing lunch from one of the food stalls and eating on the steps of City Hall while watching the city go about its day.