Once known as the People’s Palace this historic gem has fallen into disrepair over the years, but could reopen to the public again by 2027.
Great Yarmouth has been a beloved seaside resort since 1760, though it has seen quite a few changes over the centuries. While the Norfolk gem continues to draw holidaying families every summer with attractions like the Wellington Pier and Pleasure Beach, there is one historic landmark that has been sitting empty for decades.
Great Yarmouth’s Winter Gardens was once the colourful and animated heart of the town. Nicknamed the People’s Palace, the historic building was originally used as a ballroom and exhibition venue. Filled with exotic plants, the venue offered the public a rare opportunity to experience the atmosphere of distant lands. Despite attempts to adapt to the times—even housing a roller-skating rink at one point—the building was forced to close in 2008. The closure has seen the once-cherished building fall increasingly into disrepair over the years, even labelled “at risk” by the city council.
But fortunes are changing
Still, the abandoned venue remains a Grade II* protected building as the last surviving Victorian glass house on a seaside promenade in all of the UK. At the height of its popularity, the Winter Gardens were described as a: “People’s palace of glass and steel, a seafront cathedral of light; the shock of the new, the future washed up on a Norfolk beach.” Luckily, there is fresh hope for the abandoned landmark.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund has awarded the Great Yarmouth Borough Council £12.3 million to restore and reimagine the Winter Gardens. The restoration project was one of five transformational projects across the UK to receive a Heritage Horizon Award in 2021 from the Heritage Fund. The monumental restoration prize is combined with a further £4 million investment from the Government’s Town Deal Fund.
The redevelopment project will be grounded in restoration (reviving the cast iron and wrought iron features) and sustainability. The future indoor gardens are intended to educate the public about the environment, and the building itself will harvest rainwater for irrigation and feature passive ventilation.
The new Winter Gardens will also feature community spaces, cafes and entertainment facilities, with the goal of increasing community engagement and tourism to the seaside town. This isn’t the first time the building has been brought back from the brink of downfall. In fact, the building has a great history of bouncing back, long before it even arrived in Great Yarmouth.
The venue was first built in Torquay in Devon, but was bought and transported to Great Yarmouth after lacklustre commercial success in the region. Dismantled piece by piece and shipped to Norfolk, the building was reconstructed at the entrance to Wellington Pier in 1904. Where it remains today.
The restoration project is the next chapter in the building’s history of reviving, bringing excitement to the people of Great Yarmouth. The city council is keen to involve the community in the project, creating opportunities to provide feedback on the restoration, tour the site and volunteer for key initiatives.
In addition to the Winter Gardens restoration, the Great Yarmouth Borough Council is considering a plan to develop the nearby former amusement arcade. The council has also already approved plans to redevelop the facade of the Britannia Pier on Great Yarmouth’s Golden Mile.
Work on the Winter Garden restoration will begin this year with the hope to open the Gardens by 2027.
