(43) Suckling House Undercroft (The Dining Rooms at Cinema City)
Updated 04/04/2020
SUCKLING HOUSE, ST ANDREWS STREET
The buildings on this site appear to date back as far as the 14th century. The oldest parts of Suckling House are the open hall (now used as a bar) and the vaulted bays of the west range. This was built as a merchant’s house and has been associated with many of the prominent citizens of Norwich including Robert Suckling after which it is named.
Unlike most undercrofts which are partly or wholly beneath the ground, the one at Suckling House is wholly above ground. It is of brick construction and consists of three bays of painted double chamfered quadripartite ribs.
Two bays form the restaurant and are separated from the third by a glass partition. Access is from the bar (hall) and from St Andrews Hill.
It is positioned parallel to, and on the line of St. Andrews Hill, i.e. at right-angles to the later 15th century hall range.
The undercroft may originally have been a separate, four-bay range along the street front, which was only incorporated into the hall range as service rooms at a later date, perhaps in the 15th century when the hall bay and roof were also reconstructed.
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