New location announced for the John Jarrold Printing Museum
St Peter Parmentergate in King Street, Norwich, has been named as the new home for the John Jarrold Printing Museum. Currently vacant, the beautiful church in the care of Norwich Historic Churches Trust will, over the coming months, be turned into a fully working museum with a planned opening date of summer 2020. Alongside the existing display of machinery and artefacts, the new site will also provide visitors and guests with a range of new experiences including leisure courses, a longer-term programme of training in letterpress and bookbinding skills, print demonstrations and a calendar of exciting events.
Work will begin in early December to move the extensive collection from the current museum to the new site. Norfolk Museums Service has been commissioned by Jarrold[1] to provide advice and support for the moving of artefacts, with printing engineers Quatrotech commissioned to move the machinery. Jarrold has also confirmed that it will fund the transport of the machinery and the museum’s first year running costs.
When it opens in 2020, the new museum will be financially self-sustaining and independent. It will be set up as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation and will be known as Norwich Printing Museum with the John Jarrold Heritage Collection.
‘We are delighted to have found a suitable home for the historic printing equipment which will ensure it will be on display for the public to see and use,’ said Caroline Jarrold, Community Affairs Adviser at Jarrold. ‘Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved a location has been found which will showcase the printing legacy of the city and the Jarrold printing business, which have been preserved by the dedicated and skilled band of volunteers since it was established in 1982, and we are delighted to help support the new project by funding the first year’s costs.’
Jules Allen, representative volunteer for the museum said: ‘St Peter Parmentergate is a wonderful location and we, the members and dedicated volunteers, some of whom have been involved with the museum for over 30 years, would like to thank the Norwich Historic Churches Trust and Jarrold for all their hard work in making this happen. Not only is it a beautiful former church providing a unique home for the museum, it’s also superbly located in the popular King Street area, making it extremely accessible to all.’
A spokesperson for Norwich Historic Churches Trust, a charity that cares for 18 repurposed medieval church buildings in the city, said ‘The collection of the John Jarrold Printing Museum is itself an important piece of Norwich’s history and we are delighted that it will be finding a home with the Trust. St Peter Parmentergate is a beautiful, fascinating church and we’re so pleased that, as a museum, more people will have the opportunity to visit it regularly.’
The museum is encouraging anyone interested in finding out more to contact the museum volunteer group.
‘This really is an exciting time for the museum and we encourage anyone interested in our future plans to contact us,’ added Jules. ‘Over the coming months we will welcome new members and volunteers, whether they have worked in the printing industry, have a passion for print or just want to find out more, please do come and see us. We want to create a social, interactive environment and most of all ensure the passing down of precious heritage craft skills to future generations.’
The museum will prepare for relocation by closing its existing site at Whitefriars in Norwich on 23 October 2019. –
For more on the museum and the museum volunteer group contact Jules Allen at enquiriesjjpm@btinternet.com
[1] Jarrold is a privately owned business based in Norwich. The company was founded in Woodbridge, Suffolk in 1770 and currently employs over 450 people. It has seen many changes over the last fifteen years during which it ceased to operate printing and publishing businesses to focus on developing its retail operations, property assets, training and and associated activities.