The historic Norwich Castle in Norfolk has completed a £27.5 million restoration. The keep reopened to the public on 7 August 2025, and the project reached full completion in early February 2026 — marking the first time in around 900 years that all five levels of the Norman keep, from the basement to the rooftop battlements, are accessible to visitors simultaneously. The restoration reinstates the keep’s 12th‑century royal palace layout, showing how kings such as Henry I would have lived.
A new passenger lift and improved circulation have been installed so that visitors can access the rooftop battlements and look out over the city. Inside the main tower, teams have recreated royal living spaces and apartments as they would have appeared around 1121 during King Henry I’s reign.
The project also opened a new medieval gallery, the “Gallery of Medieval Life,” which features over 900 objects and treasures drawn from the local collection and long‑term loans. The gallery is a partnership with the British Museum — the institution’s first dedicated medieval gallery outside London — and the redevelopment was funded substantially by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Norfolk County Council contributed to the costs of the redevelopment (around £5 million) alongside other funders and partners, and the upgrades have been promoted as making Norwich Castle one of the most accessible castles in Britain — with all five levels open at once, including the basement and the rooftop battlements.
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