Description of Anglia Square:

Anglia Square is a brutalist shopping centre (formally multiuse) built in the early 1970’s. The centre itself is located just off Magdalen Street, with

some of its’ storefronts being accessible from the street itself. Over the past two decades, Anglia Square has been through consistent decline, due

to Sovereign House closing and the general deprivation of the local area.

The original plan for Anglia Square (Before 1966):

Information surrounding the construction of Anglia Square is pretty patchy, with the planning documents likely being destroyed in the 1994 fire at

Norwich Central Library (The Forum was built in its place).

From the information available, the shopping centre was never fully completed, with the upper level of the main shopping square itself having

large areas that remained unbuilt (10). Anglia Square was planned to be built over multiple phases with the first phase only partially completed

and the other phase/phases did not even start construction, with the locations of them likely to have been planned to be built where the two

surface level car parks are located.

The construction of Anglia Square (1966-1971):

Construction on Anglia Square was handled by Alan Cooke Associates with building work itself

starting around 1966 (2) with Sovereign House being the first part of Anglia Square to be built

(1968), with the parts of Anglia Square (phase 1) opening in 1971. As construction began

houses alone the old Botolph Street (where the main complex is today) where brought by

compulsory purchase orders (11).

The decline of Anglia Square (Late 1990’s to present):

It is hard to really put a date on when the decline of Anglia Square started but the decline

likely stemmed from the closure of Sovereign House in 1996 following the privatisation of the

HMSO (3), because a lot of the surrounding areas have residents on a low income, the loss of

those 800 higher paying office jobs would have likely been a massive blow to the shops that

occupy Anglia Square.

In mid-2001 (4), Anglia Square was dealt with another blow when the Fat Pauly’s nightclub

closed its’ doors permanently, which left more floor space permanently unoccupied.

In 2011, the Evening News reported that Anglia Square was one of the targets for illegal graffiti in

Norwich (19).

The first failed attempt at the redevelopment of Anglia Square

(2007-2009):

In late 2007, a consultation was held to gain the public view on a proposed plan

to redevelop Anglia Square (7) into Calvert Square, which was planned to open by the end of

2011.

On 17th July 2008, it was announced that the number of planned homes on the Calvert Square

development would be reduced to 200 from the originally planned 400 (8).

By late 2008, planning permission for the Calvert Square development was granted by Norwich

City Council (9).

In 2009, The economy took a major turn for the worse, which meant that very few people

wanted to buy new homes. This caused the Calvert Square project to be permanently halted (17).

The second failed attempt at the redevelopment of Anglia Square (2011-2013):

In 2011, B3 architects proposed new plans for the redevelopment of Anglia Square. Those plans where a lot more modest compared to the 2007

ones, with the estimated costs of just £75m (18).

Anglia Squares’ minute of fame (Mid 2013):

The movie “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa” was originally meant to have its’ world premiere in

Leicester Square, but after campaigners launched the “Anglia square not Leicester square”

campaign, StudioCanal decided to have two different premieres (5). On 24th July 2013,

Hollywood cinema in Anglia Square hosted the world premiere of “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa”,

with Leicester Square hosting the secondary premiere (6).

Sale of Anglia Square to Threadneedle Investments:

On the 30th May 2014 (12), Anglia Square was purchased by Threadneedle Investments for

£7.75m (13).

In 2016, Threadneedle Investments first revealed their plans for the redevelopment of Anglia Square (14).

The current state of Anglia Square:

Most likely due to the uncertainty of not knowing when the shopping centre will be rebuilt, it has continued on its decline with even charity shops

starting to pull out (20).

The future of Anglia Square:

Early 2018, Threadneedle Investments finally submitted their plans for the redevelopment of Anglia Square (15), which have not been received

well with residents, with a lot of the complaints expressing their dislike for the planned thirteen story tower block (16). A tower block of this size

would likely have an effect on the skyline of Norwich due to how few tall buildings the city has.

It would not be surprising if Threadneedle Investments had problems in obtaining planning permission due to that tower block.

2019 Update:

Most of this article was written in mid 2018 but there are some update;

1. When I visited Anglia Square in November 2018, there was signs saying that demolition work was happening at the multi-storey car park.

2. Planning permission was granted in early December 2018 but is now awaiting an inquiry by the government due to the over seven-hundred

objections being made by members of the public.

Sources: