The Assembly House

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The Assembly House

Award-winning hotel and restaurant in the heart of Norwich. We put the extra in extraordinary, every single day 💖
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Home of iconic themed Afternoon Teas, decadent bedrooms, unforgettable weddings and glittering events. The Assembly House is a gorgeous Georgian gem perfectly located in the heart of Norwich. Designed by architect Thomas Ivory in 1754, the Grade-I listed House is famous for its historic elegance, glittering celebrations, beautiful bedrooms and legendary Afternoon Teas. "...The Assembly House, one

of the UK’s loveliest boutique hotels, offers a storming afternoon tea..." TV presenter and journalist Grace Dent, writing in The Guardian newspaper

We set out to create the kind of establishment we'd love to find in one of the UK's most beautiful cities, one where old-fashioned hospitality is valued, food is delicious and where beautiful surroundings can be found hidden around every corner. Our characterful bedrooms are like jewellery boxes, each one different, many filled with genuine antiques, some with gardens, some their own balconies, all boasting a generous sprinkle of glamour and magic. With a restaurant that opens daily for breakfast and Beforenoon Tea, lunch or one of our famous themed Afternoon Teas, menus are by director and renowned Norfolk chef Richard Hughes. The House hosts stunning weddings, impressive events, standout conferences and is the home of The Richard Hughes Cookery School, the inaugural winner of The British Cookery School of the Year. Come and immerse yourself in the world of The Assembly House: we can't wait for you to be our guests!

15/06/2026

🍎🍂 There are two types of people in September 🍂🍎

People who say, "I love the changing colours, the crisp mornings and the golden autumn sunshine."

And people who say, "is there crumble?"

We're delighted to announce the return of The Pudding Parade, this time dressed in its harvest finery.

On Thursday 17 September, Puddings of Plenty rolls into The Assembly House with a glorious procession of apple pies, blackberry delights, treacle sponge, sticky toffee pudding, bread and butter pudding and enough crumble to make a scarecrow weep with happiness.

There will be soup, there will be supper, there will be David Clayton offering pudding commentary with the seriousness of a man discussing matters of national importance.

Most importantly, there will be no queuing: after the ceremonial parade, each table receives its own selection of puddings to share, sample and fall hopelessly in love with.

Think orchard fruits, think hedgerow berries, think cosy season arriving with a spoon in one hand and custard in the other.

£40.95 per person, call 01603 626402 to avoid the Eventbrite booking fee, full menu and more details here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-pudding-parade-puddings-of-plenty-tickets-1971473764099

Warning: attendance may result in strong opinions about crumble toppings and a sudden desire to buy knitwear.

14/06/2026

🪄👑We dropped a big clue when we waved our tiny metaphorical wand, but we can now reveal that this summer’s afternoon tea theme is…CINDERELLA! 👑🪄

Arriving at The Assembly House from July 1, our magical new tea is inspired by the classic fairytale and is packed with magical treats, royal-worthy cakes and enough sparkle to make our chandeliers feel positively modest ✨

Created by our pastry chefs as a celebration of one of the world's most beloved fairytales, this enchanting Afternoon Tea is filled with magical savouries, sparkling sweet treats and enough wonder to make everyday life wait patiently outside.

Discover glass slippers fashioned from shortbread and strawberry cheesecake cream, chocolate fairy godmother's wands shimmering with silver, pumpkin coaches, royal carriages and cakes inspired by midnight magic.

And because every fairy tale deserves a little enchantment in a glass, we've created special themed cocktails and mocktails, including colour-changing concoctions that transform before your eyes with a wave, a stir and perhaps just a touch of enchantment.

Whether you're eight-months-old or 80, we positively encourage dressing up: dust off a tiara, wear the Princess shoes, arrive looking as though you've wandered away from a palace ball, an enchanted forest or a particularly glamorous pumpkin patch.

For a couple of hours, leave real life behind.

Gather your friends, your children, your grandchildren, your fellow dreamers and romantics and take tea beneath the chandeliers, eat cake, make memories and spend an afternoon in a place where impossible things suddenly seem possible.

The Cinderella Afternoon Tea runs from July 1 to September 6. The clock is ticking, but not quite yet. Book now: www.assemblyhousenorwich.co.uk/afternoon-tea/menus

13/06/2026

🪄✨ A brand new Afternoon Tea arrives on 1 July and we've been sworn to secrecy about the theme until tomorrow✨🪄

Unfortunately, keeping secrets is not one of our core skills: so here's a tiny clue...it's this photo.

No further information will be provided at this time, but it will be VERY soon.

Please do not attempt to zoom in, enhance, analyse, consult a fairy godmother, interrogate members of staff, or stake out my office where a VERY obvious prop is on my desk.

More information coming soon. Until then, remember: magic has a habit of appearing when you least expect it...✨

PS If you’re signed up for our newsletters here: https://app.norfolkpassport.com/signup you’ll find out the theme TONIGHT. Look at me with my joined-up marketing techniques! I’ll be bragging on LinkedIn before you know it.

12/06/2026

🍹🍸 We have spent months conducting rigorous research 🍸🍹

By which we mean someone said, "I fancy a cocktail and a pudding" and we immediately wondered why society insists on making us choose. Because choice is all well and good, but "cocktail or dessert?" is not a burden we were prepared to carry.

The result? Cake cocktails - because life is short and arbitrary rules are for other people.

🍓🍰 Victoria Sponge Spritz
Vanilla vodka, strawberry liqueur, lemonade and strawberry syrup. Like a village fête that accidentally got glamorous.

🍋☁️ Lemon Meringue Fizz
Sweet, sharp and impossible not to like. Much like the friend who says they're only staying for one.

🍍🌴 Pineapple Upside-Down Punch
A tropical holiday in a glass, minus the airport queues and arguments about passports.

☕🍋 Afternoon Fizz
Earl Grey, Gordon's Gin, elderflower and Prosecco. Basically Afternoon Tea's slightly rebellious cousin.

🫖 And if none of those take your fancy, choose your favourite iced tea and we'll turn it into an Iced Tea Gin Cocktail because customer service is important and we're terrible at saying no.

🍰 Cocktails £9.50
🍰 Pitchers (serving six) £45

So come along: have your cake and drink it too. Frankly, we're amazed nobody here thought of this sooner.

11/06/2026

🏩 BREAKING NEWS: PEOPLE CONTINUE TO PREFER THE ASSEMBLY HOUSE TO THEIR OWN HOUSES 🏩

We've checked the data several times and can confirm that an alarming number of people are voluntarily choosing:

🏩A luxury bedroom
🍰Afternoon Tea
🍾 A bottle of fizz
🥓🍳 Somebody else making breakfast
..instead of spending an evening arguing over what to watch on television while folding laundry and wondering why there are 17 mugs next to the bed.

For £215 for TWO PEOPLE you'll receive a professionally organised excuse to avoid doing any chores for 24 hours.

Dates for the next week or so when we have availability are:

🏩 Sunday 14 June: rooms 3, 6, 7, 914, 15
🏩 Monday 15 June: 7, 8, 9, 11, 14
🏩 Tuesday 16 June: 8 and 11
🏩 Wednesday 17 June: 10, 11, 14
🏩 Thursday 18 June: 3, 7, 11, 14
🏩 Sunday 21 June: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14
🏩 Monday 22 June: 3, 7, 9, 14
🏩 Wednesday 24 June: 12

Call 01603 626402 or visit www.assemblyhousenorwich.co.uk/luxury-bedrooms instead of participating in the ancient and sacred household ritual known as "What Shall We Have For Dinner?", a discussion that traditionally lasts 45 minutes, eliminates every available option and concludes with somebody saying, "just get a pizza."

10/06/2026

🌿🗝️ LAST CALL FOR THE SECRET GARDEN 🗝️🌿

Much like British sunshine, our Secret Garden Afternoon Tea won't be around forever: in fact, it disappears at the end of June.

So if you've been meaning to join us for hidden keys, mischievous robins, strawberry hearts, rose-scented treats and enough cake to make the world seem significantly more manageable, consider this your gentle nudge.

Created by Head of Pastry Mark Mitson and Executive Chef Julia Hetherton, it's a four-tier wander through Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved story, complete with our exclusive Hidden Garden Tea blend and a cheese pastry snail who's become something of a local celebrity.

We'll be locking the garden gates on June 30 before our next Afternoon Tea arrives, so don't leave it too late.

After all, secret gardens aren't much use if you never find the key 🌿🗝️
Book here: www.assemblyhousenorwich.co.uk/afternoon-tea/menus

09/06/2026

🥓🍳☕🍰 A confession: we've never really cracked the Father's Day Afternoon Tea puzzle 🍰☕🍳🥓

Not because we don't love fathers: we do. We've all got one, had one, know one, are one, or have spent years being told that the heating isn't going on because "it's not cold, you're just sitting still."

The truth is that when Father's Day rolls around, many dads seem to look at a delicate finger sandwich and think, "nice. But have you got a Full English?"

And honestly? Fair enough.

So, while we're not serving a special Father's Day Afternoon Tea on June 21, we are serving big breakfasts, Beforenoon Tea, excellent lunches, glorious cakes, Afternoon Cheese, Afternoon Sea and enough tea and coffee to fuel an enthusiastic explanation of how things were made properly in 1978, not like the rubbish you get these days.

Whether you're celebrating a dad, stepdad, grandad, father figure, or simply someone who's earned the right to fall asleep in an armchair after lunch, we'd love to see you.

And if your perfect Father's Day involves breakfast at 10am and cake at 3pm, we're certainly not here to stop you. Book the right tea for you here: www.assemblyhousenorwich.co.uk

PS. We know Father's Day can be complicated. If this day feels heavy, we're holding you in our hearts and sending love from all of us at The Assembly House 💗

08/06/2026

🌞 It's June. FGS Assembly House 🌞

The longest day of the year is approaching, the garden is in bloom, we should all be thinking about strawberries, Pimms and whether Norfolk is about to get three consecutive days without rain (nope).

Instead, we are suggesting that you start planning Christmas. We have less shame than a seagull stealing chips directly from a toddler and, frankly, we've made our peace with that.

So, because I like to treat you real nice, here is EVERYTHING you need to know about our Christmas Igloos:

✨ Menus
✨ Prices
✨ Availability
✨ Booking details
✨ The important business of eating melted cheese and drinking festive cocktails in a heated dome while pretending you're in a Hallmark Christmas film

No emails, no messages, no séance to contact the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Book.
Just click here:
www.assemblyhousenorwich.co.uk/christmas-2026-at-the-assembly-house/igloos

I won't lie, weekend availability is patchier than Norfolk's mobile signal, but there's still availability for some prime slots. Get your date in the diary before the people who own colour-coded spreadsheets get there first.

07/06/2026

👨‍🍳 INTRODUCING: RICHARD'S BENCH 👨‍🍳

The people we love most have a way of remaining woven into the fabric of our lives.

We hear them in familiar phrases, see them in old photographs, catch them in moments of laughter and sometimes feel them so strongly beside us that we almost instinctively turn to speak to them.

Richard is like that.

Since he died on September 1 2024, there has not been a single day when he has not been part of The Assembly House.

He is in every celebration, every challenge, every new idea and every success.

He is in the standards we hold ourselves to, the warmth we try to show our guests and the determination to keep building something worthy of the extraordinary man who dreamed so much of it into existence.

That is why creating a memorial bench for Richard felt so important.

Commissioned by Stacey and me with help from my best friend Gardener Sarah and beautifully crafted by Emlyn Budds of Oakleaf Memorials, it now sits beneath the old sign for the Richard Hughes Cookery School.

A quiet place in a busy House, a place to pause, to remember and to feel close to the man who meant so much to so many.

The inscription describes him as "Master of the House", but anyone fortunate enough to know Richard knows he was so much more than that.

He was a husband, a dad, a grandad, a friend, a mentor, our Chef Director, our biggest cheerleader and an all-round Very Good Man.

I love these photos which at first glance appears to show only two generations: Stacey and Miles sitting on Richard's bench.

But look a little closer and there are three: Richard is there too.

In the name carved into the wood, in the stories being shared, in the love that binds a family together: a grandfather who adored his grandson, a daughter who adored her dad, a family still carrying him forward, one day at a time.

Richard was the greatest showman, capable of transforming an ordinary meal into an event and an ordinary day into a memory.

This bench is not simply somewhere to sit, it is somewhere to spend a moment with him. For his daughters a place to sit with their dad, for me a place to sit with my husband, for all of us, a reminder that love never really leaves: it settles into the places people built, the traditions they started and the lives they touched.

We carry Richard with us every single day and we hope he would be proud of what we are doing. But more than anything, we hope he knows that his legacy lives on in every corner of this House.

And when the sun catches that beautiful bench beneath the cookery school sign, it is easy to imagine him there beside us, smiling, cheering us on and reminding us, as he always did, that the show must go on ❤️

05/06/2026

🔍🫖🚨 THE GREAT ASSEMBLY HOUSE SCONE INVESTIGATION 🚨🫖🔍

For years now, a rumour has circulated through Norfolk: a claim so extraordinary that it has been repeated in emails, conversations and probably at least one family gathering.

The claim is this: "the scones at The Assembly House have got smaller."

Like all great mysteries, it has entered the rich folklore tradition of things people are absolutely certain about despite there being very little proof. Like the existence of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. Like that man who swears blind he saw a panther near Diss in 1987.

So, in the interests of truth, transparency and baked goods, we have launched a full investigation - and our prime suspect was immediately obvious.

Mark Mitson: Head of Pastry, 29 years old (he asked me to write that) a known associate of cakes and seen regularly in possession of butter and flour.

We put the allegations to him. Mark's response was to produce Exhibit A: the very same scone cutter he brought with him from Claridge's nearly 13 years ago when he began work at The Assembly House.

A cutter which has since been responsible for the creation of hundreds of thousands of scones, a cutter which, despite extensive questioning, has remained exactly the same size throughout its entire career.

We then examined the evidence. Could the cutter have shrunk? No. Could Mark have secretly commissioned a series of progressively smaller cutters, each fractionally tinier than the last, in a conspiracy so elaborate that nobody noticed? Also no.

Could the laws of geometry have altered specifically within our pastry kitchen? While scientists remain unwilling to rule anything out entirely, it seems unlikely.

Now, it is true that many, many years ago we briefly produced single giant scones and made you choose between either fruit OR cheese.

They were magnificent beasts - absolute units, scones that had to be approached with respect and possibly planning permission. But that was years ago and they have not been the standard Assembly House scone for a very long time.

The truth is both simpler and, admittedly, far less exciting: we use the same size cutter every day and the same recipe. Day after day, month after month, year after year, scone after glorious scone.

So today, for the first time, we can present photographic evidence: Mark, the cutter and a freshly-baked scone all appearing together for the first time. Three witnesses to one story.

The verdict is in: The Assembly House scones have not got smaller and the case is closed.

Address

Theatre Street
Norwich
NR21RQ

Telephone

+441603626402

Website

http://www.assemblyhousenorwich.co.uk/

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