1585–1828: House of correction

The Norwich corporation led the modernisation of the system of relief in Elizabethan England in the late 16th century, and one of these reforms was to open a reformative institution for the poor. ^[3] As a result, In 1584, the premises was purchased and converted into the city's house of correction. ^[2] It opened in 1585, becoming one of the first reformative institutions in the country. Contemporaneously, it was known either as the Bridewell or simply the House of Correction. ^[3]

The Bridewell had an initial stated purpose to encourage moral reformation, and was seen as a place for the feeding, housing, prayer instruction, and work-setting of poor vagrants before they were ordered to find their own work. However, in reality it served a mixture of goals including punishment, incarceration, and care for the poor, blurring distinctions between poverty and crime. It was in several respects a precursor to the workhouse, and a term there was often used as a threat by the mayor's court to punish wilful idleness despite it not being intended as a prison and operating separately from the City Gaol. Contemporaries saw the Bridewell as a place of punishment at least the 1630s. ^[3] Whipping was the "usual correction" at the Bridewell, with six or twelve "stripes" being the norm. It had had "two whipinge postes", a "paire of stockes", and a "chaire for unruly persons". ^[4]

One individual incarcerated here in the late 16th century was Margaret Utting, an elderly ex-prostitute suffering from syphilis, who was sent to the Bridewell instead of a hospital or poor house due to her percieved dubious morality. Utting remained at the Bridewell until her death. Barbara Bloy was whipped at the post at the Bridewell for "ill rule and michery", was reformed there for a short time, and three months later was returned to the Bridewell to be "sett on worke" after being whipped at the post again. ^[3]

In 1751, the Bridewell was badly damaged in a fire, damaging mostly its ground and first floor. ^[2]

1828–present: Factory and museum

It was sold in 1828 following the construction of the prison at St Giles Gate, and the building then became a factory. ^[2]

In 1923, the building was purchased by Sir Henry Holmes and donated to the city of Norwich. ^[2] It was known as the Bridewell Museum. ^[2] In the early 2010s, the museum underwent a major revamp costing £1.5 million. It was reopened in 2012 with 5,000 objects on display, including the last Jacquard loom to have woven cloth in Norwich, hats from Edwardian hat-maker Rumsey Wells, and a "history wall" mosaic created from over 9,000 photographs of Norwich that were submitted by the public. ^{[5] [6]} Following the restoration of the sculpture of Samson that had stood at Samson and Hercules House in Tombland, Norwich, since 1657, the Museum began a crowdfunding campaign in 2018 to raise £15,000 to put the sculpture on display. ^[7] The campaign, nicknamed Saving Samson, was successful, and the sculpture was displayed at the museum in April 2019 inside a custom environmentally controlled glass case. ^{[8] [9]}