Formerly the offices of Broadland Council, Thorpe Lodge, during the eighteenth century it was the home of John Harvey, a wealthy Norwich textile manufacturer and banker. There has been a house on this site since at least 1600 but the current one was probably built by Harvey after he moved to Thorpe in 1787. At its peak it contained a dining room, a large drawing room, a billiard room, 13 bedrooms, extensive servants quarters and a coach house. To provide himself with more privacy Harvey realigned the Yarmouth Road to the south and what is now Harvey Lane to the west where he built the well known crinkle crankle wall on the edge of his estate. Thorpe Lodge was where the Thorpe Water Frolic was held by Harvey until his death in 1842. The top storey of the building and the east wing have since been removed but it remains an impressive building. It remained a private house until 1951 when it became the offices of the Eastern Gas Board. In 1972 it was purchased by the newly created Broadland District Council, who added an office block. The council moved to new premises in July 2022 when Thorpe Lodge was put up for sale.

About 100 metres east of the entrance to Thorpe Lodge is what was formerly a gazebo or summer house built by John Harvey, probably in the late eighteenth century soon after he acquired the lodge and surrounding land. It is a hexagonal brick building with a tiled roof that stands on an arch which has a doorway providing access from the Yarmouth Road. For many years it was within the Thorpe Lodge estate but is now in private hands. In Harvey’s time it contained a camera obscura which enabled views of the river valley to be reflected and sketched.

To the south of the Yarmouth Road, just east of the junction with Harvey Lane is Thorpe Old Hall – one of the oldest buildings in Thorpe. Originally the summer palace of the Bishop of Norwich it had stables, a brew house and fish ponds, but was extensively rebuilt during the sixteenth century by the Paston family. It later formed part of John Harvey’s extensive Thorpe estate. In 1838 he gave it to his daughter Harriot and her husband Thomas Blakiston, a former captain in the Royal Navy. The shields of both families can be seen on the gateway to what is now number four Yarmouth Road. During the twentieth century it was the family home of Alfred Ward who ran his boat building and cruiser hire business from there until 1963. It subsequently fell into disrepair and was severely vandalised before being restored by the theatre impresario Henry Burke who made it his home. It continues to be a private dwelling.

Walpole House, number 16 Yarmouth Road, was built about 1730 as an adjunct to number 12 but later became a separate building. In 1698 it had been acquired by Elizabeth Coulson, the sister of Mary Chapman. Mary had been married to Samuel Chapman the Rector of Thorpe for 30 years until his death in 1700 when she may have moved in with her sister. Mary had a great interest in the compassionate care of the mentally ill, having had members of her family who had suffered. At her death in 1732 she bequeathed her wealth to be used to establish the Bethel Hospital in Norwich, the first such purpose built facility in England.

During the nineteenth century Thorpe with its river views was a popular subject with amateur and professional painters, including those of the Norwich school of artists. People such as John Thirtle, John Sell Cotman and others painted and sketched here. Number 18 was the home of John Cotman’s father Edward who bought it around 1820 and lived there until his death in 1843. Two of Edward’s other sons, John Joseph and Miles, also lived in Thorpe but probably not in their father’s house. The house appears to be part of the adjoining house, number 20, but was built as a separate dwelling. Both houses are now incorporated into the Town House hotel.

The Town House on Yarmouth Road was built about 1700 and was long known by that name although the origin of it is unclear. It may have stood adjacent to a poorhouse owned by the parish and used to provide accommodation but by the nineteenth century was a private dwelling. Perhaps its most celebrated occupant was George Newbegin, a Norwich tobacco manufacturer who was married to the daughter of Thomas Jarrold and who retired to Thorpe during the 1880s. He was a keen amateur astronomer and built an observatory in the grounds which he threw open to local people each Easter so they could share his hobby. In the 1950s it became a hotel and it was here, in October 2000, that Reginald Kray spent his final days following his release from prison.

Almost next door to the Town House is The River Garden, one of the oldest public houses in Thorpe, said to date from 1650 and known until 2000 as the King’s Head. The oldest part of the building, constructed of flint and brick with a steep pitched roof and three arched windows facing the Yarmouth Road, is believed to date from the seventeenth century. The buildings to the left and at the rear were probably built during the nineteenth century. There may also have been a stable yard attached to the building but that had disappeared by the middle of the nineteenth century when the pub looked very much as it does today. It has a riverside garden for drinkers providing a view across to the Whitlingham marshes. During the nineteenth century it was popular with rowers and sailors and for some years hosted the Thorpe Water Frolic.

A few metres up School Lane and to the right, stands the former National School that was run by the Church of England. Built in 1841 it was composed of a single room with a partitioned off space at the east end. It cost about £290 to build and could accommodate 12 children from poor families who were taught to read, write and understand arithmetic. The funds to pay for it came from donations from local landowners – including John Harvey of Thorpe Lodge. In 1855 it had to be extended as the population of the village continued to increase. A new two-storey schoolhouse and a house for the schoolmaster were added. A few years later it was recorded that over 100 boys, girls and infants were being taught there. It was extended again in 1874 and again in 1899 when a new infant school was added at the north of the existing building. In 1937 the older pupils moved to a new school on Hillside Avenue. School Lane continued as an infants school until July 1952 when it finally closed for good. Subsequently it served as an adult education centre before becoming offices for a firm of engineering consultants. It is currently the offices of a wealth management company.

Formerly known as Thorpe House it stands behind a large hedge on Yarmouth Road at the junction with Dales Loke. The original house was built in the seventeenth century but was extended during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For a number of years until his death in 1864 it was the home of Charles Weston, a brewer, who owned the St Georges Brewery in Norwich and over 40 public houses, including The Buck in Thorpe. He lived there in style. At the auction following his death it was described as having wine and beer cellars, many family rooms on the ground floor, seven family bedrooms and other facilities on the first floor and six servant’s rooms on the second floor. There was also a well stocked garden with ornamental shrubs and a terraced walk in front of the house.

A few doors further down at number 51 is the Guild House. It dates from about 1800 and has a distinctive whitewashed exterior. Now an architect’s offices it was once the home of Henry Patteson, a partner in the Norwich brewers Steward and Patteson. He worked for them from the age of 21 and was a partner for many years until his death in 1908. Following his marriage to Isabella Partridge in 1850 the couple made the Guild House their home where they remained for 25 years. Like other successful Norwich businessmen Patteson moved to Thorpe to escape the crowded city and enjoy living by the river. He was the brother of John Patteson, the Rector of Thorpe, who lived in the Rectory next door. Why is known as the Guild House is unknown.

Adjacent to the Guild House is St Andrew’s Court, a substantial property divided into flats that was formerly the Recory. It was built in the 1860s when the house that stood on the site was demolished and built at the same time as the new church next door was being erected. The land was obtained from William Birkbeck, a wealthy Thorpe property owner, in exchange for the old Rectory further east on Yarmouth Road The first rector to live in the new Rectory was John Patteson, appointed in February 1867. He lived there with his family and six servants until his death. One of his successors was the Revd. William Rathbone Supple who wrote the first history of Thorpe. It remained the village rectory until 1959.

Thorpe developed massively during the nineteenth century; the population increased from just over 400 in 1801 to the 2,500 recorded by the 1901 Census and by the 1860s the thatched church on the river green was considered to be inadequate. It could only accommodate just over 200 worshippers and by 1851 had an average Sunday congregation of 100. In 1862 the Churchwardens took the momentous decision to build a new church, launching an appeal for funds which brought in £520. Two years later work commenced with local landowner William Birkbeck donating land behind the existing church and making a substantial donation toward the cost of the building. Designed by the rather idiosyncratic architect Thomas Jeckyll it had a flint and brick exterior and was roofed with small red tiles. When it was consecrated it had double the capacity of the old church. In 1882 a 150 feet high spire was added. This was damaged by enemy action in 1944 and eventually replaced by a smaller one in 1956. The old church was retained and subsequently partly demolished to provide a picturesque ruin, leaving part of the tower and one wall of the nave open to the elements. The churchyard was closed to burials in 1858 when the cemetery on Yarmouth Road was opened but it remains the final resting place for many long established Thorpe families such as the Brindeds and the Dales. Also buried there are a number of notable individuals including Robert Catermole of the Thorpe Gardens, John Harvey and Mary Chapman. There was a much earlier church in Thorpe, that probably dated from the Saxon period. The remains of it, and an interpretation board, can be found at the top of the Hillside allotments.

Beside the church is the former Buck public house. It had been a public house since at least the eighteenth century when it was known as the White Lion. It was then owned by the brewer Charles Weston who lived nearby at Thorpe House. It may have been a public house long before that or a community hall linked to the church. It is an intriguing building, made up several parts, each dating from different periods. The rearmost two story section adjacent to the church probably dates from the seventeenth century. The adjoining section dates from the eighteenth century while the two single story sections closer to the road were probably added in the nineteenth century. For a time during the later nineteenth century there was also a lean-to shed but this had gone by about 1915. For many years during the nineteenth century, and probably as late as the 1920s, coal as well as beer was sold from here. The Buck has had a chequered history in recent years – having a succession of landlords interspersed with periods of closure before it finally closed as a public house in 2019 after which it was sold. The building is currently undergoing refurbishment.

The Rushcutters, Thorpe’s largest and probably oldest public house, stands besides the River Green. It has been known by different names – during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is was known as the Three Tuns. It later became the Thorpe Gardens and was renamed the Boat and Bottle before taking its current name in 1985. The most appealing aspect of the Rushcutters is the riverside frontage and terrace which provides a pleasant place to relax. The main building dates from about 1600, is timber framed and would originally have been divided into six bays. During an investigation some years ago beams dating from about 1520 were discovered but these may have come from elsewhere and been re-used. In front of the main building are several more recent outbuildings, along with the rather curious seventeenth century porch tower set at an angle to the main building. Whether the Rushcutters was built as a public house is a matter of conjecture. It has been suggested that, due to its riverside location, it may originally have been a merchant’s house and warehouse. When Robert Cattermole was the landlord during the nineteenth century he organised the Thorpe Water Frolic here for a number of years. The property adjoining the Rushcutters, known as Monks Barn, once formed part of the public house site.

By far the largest building in Thorpe is the former St Andrews Mental Hospital, much of which has been converted into private housing. Opened in 1814 as the County Lunatic Asylum on a site to the east of Thorpe and to the south of the Yarmouth Road it could accommodate 100 patients. Conditions were bleak with patients kept in prison like conditions during its early years. By the 1850s the demand for additional accommodation was such that the asylum was expanded and by 1851 there were 300 short and long stay patients. Further accommodation was provided in the 1880s when new wards were built north of the Yarmouth Road, linked to the south side by the bridge over the road which is still in use. Later, the north side, became the male accommodation with women housed on the original south site. By 1901 about 840 patients of both sexes were housed there. There was a change of use in 1915 as it became a War Hospital with most of the existing patients moved elsewhere. It returned to its original use after the war and was later renamed St Andrews Hospital. By the time it closed in 1998 patient numbers had dropped substantially. Following closure the south site was converted to housing, including the chapel at the rear. The north site has been cleared with the last of the major buildings being demolished in October 2023 following a severe arson attack. All that remains are a shelter and the sports ground.

Running north from the Yarmouth Road at a point opposite the war memorial, Chapel Lane was originally a track which led to a chalk pit and quarry. It was known as Green Hills but took its present name from the Congregationalist chapel which stood where a group of four town houses now stand. The chapel was built in 1839 as an offshoot of the Princes Street Chapel in Norwich where John Alexander was the pastor. It lasted until 1898 when it became a parish hall and later a warehouse until it was demolished in 1998. In addition to the relatively modern houses and bungalows there are several cottages half way up the lane built by the Harvey family and the row of nineteenth century flint and brick cottages know as ‘Rotten Row’ at the very top of the lane.

The Cottage on Thunder Lane has been a public house since 1934. Prior to that it was known as the Cottage but had been the private home of a member of the wealthy Birkbeck family. It is probable it was built in the late 1840s by Charles Jecks as a home for his son William. Charles was a successful Norwich timber merchant who had bought property in Thorpe, including High House, after moving to Norfolk from Wisbech. Jecks was declared bankrupt in 1871 and much of his Thorpe property was acquired by William Birkbeck, including the Cottage and High House. After Birkbeck’s death his widow Susan lived at the Cottage until her death in 1927. During her time there she had a small chapel to the side of the house erected for her domestic staff to worship in as there was no church nearby. In 1933 the Cottage was acquired by brewers Steward and Patteson and has been a public house ever since.

Built in about 1880 Pine Banks was the last of the grand houses to be built in Thorpe. It was the home of Norwich solicitor John Oddin Howard Taylor . Taylor was also a doughty campaigner on a number of social issues that attracted his attention, an accomplished chess player and a writer of poetry. The house was set in 10 acres of landscaped grounds that included conifer trees, extensive shrubbery, several summer houses and a tennis court The house was faced with flint and red brick quoins and had a tower that contained a viewing platform. You entered the house via a porch with a chequered tiled floor that led to a twenty foot long lounge from which opened an even larger drawing room. There was also a study, a dining room, a large kitchen and several service rooms. One the first floor were nine bedrooms. Standing separate from the main house was a five storied tower about 60 feet high that was known as ‘Taylor’s Folly’. This also had a viewing platform which afforded views of the river valley and it was said that on fine days the coast could be seen.

Taylor only enjoyed his luxurious new home for 10 years – he died in May 1890 aged 63. The house remained in the Taylor family until 1901 when it was sold. The purchaser was Edward Caley, a chocolate and mineral water manufacturer whose factory at Chapelfield in Norwich was renowned. He lived there until 1918 when it was acquired by Herbert Jarrold, a partner in the Norwich printing and publishing business. After his death in 1936 his widow Mabel continued living at Pine Banks until the early 1950s. From January 1954 until its closure in August 2008 Pine Banks served as the base for the Norwich Union sports and social club. It became the largest privately owned leisure facility in East Anglia with up to 10,000 members. Following the closure a succession of proposals were put forward to re-develop the whole site for housing but at time of writing it continues to stand empty. In July 2014 the house was extensively damaged by a severe fire attributed to arson.

The former Griffin public house on Yarmouth Road was demolished in May 2021 pending re-development which has yet to take place. Prior to demolition it had been closed since 2015. The Griffin had an interesting history and was unusual in that a pub with that name had stood at three different locations in Thorpe during its 300 year history. The original Griffin stood where 25 Yarmouth Road now stands, taking its name from the symbol of the Paston family who occupied Thorpe Hall opposite – commemorated by the griffin symbol on the gable ends of the current building. About 1825 it was relocated for reasons that are unclear, to a one acre site immediately to the east of the newly built County Asylum. In 1846 it was bought and demolished to provide further land for the expansion of the asylum and then rebuilt to the west. For many years it was a popular pub, serving travellers using the Yarmouth Road and the staff and patients from the asylum. But by the end of the twentieth century it was struggling to attract customers. Despite several changes of landlord and a number of relaunches – including as a burger bar and as a tapas restaurant – it was not possible to reverse a steady decline.

Now an Indian restaurant, the Red Lion was built as a beer house in the late 1830s following the passing of the Beer Act which loosened controls on drinking establishments. For many years it also formed part of Red Lion farm and was a stopping place for cattle being driven to Norwich market. There was accommodation for the drovers at the rear and pens for the cattle at the side of the building. This arrangement lasted well into the twentieth century. In the 1930s the Red Lion was extended and obtained a full licence but was still a relatively small pub. During the 1970s it was extensively refurbished again and concentrated on providing food and live music. But by 2002 it was struggling and closed that year before becoming a Chinese restaurant and subsequently an Indian restaurant.

Known in recent years as the Oasis Sports and Leisure Club the building and grounds in Pound Lane was originally a private estate known as Woodlands, built for the wealthy Norwich timber merchant Charles Jecks in about 1855. Jecks began buying property in Thorpe and lived for a time at High House before moving to Pound Lane after Woodlands was completed. It was an imposing residence, described some years later as being situated in well wooded grounds in which there was a small lake. The lake still exists but is overgrown. Following Jeck’s bankruptcy in 1871 Woodlands was acquired by William Birkbeck who later sold it to a retired soldier, Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Danby. It remained a private dwelling until the 1970s before conversion to a sports and social club which was run for many years by the Serruys family. It has been closed since 2016 and there are plans to demolish the existing buildings and redevelop the site. As with other empty buildings in Thorpe, Woodlands has been subject to arson attacks including one in April 2022 that did extensive damage to the original house.

Tucked away at the northern end of South Avenue is a large house known as High House now divided into individual apartments. Until the end of the nineteenth century it was the family home of William Birkbeck. It was probably built by the Batley family, who were timber merchants in Norwich, and was later owned by Charles Jecks. But by the 1850s the Birkbecks lived there. William Birkbeck was born there in 1859 and lived there until his death in 1916. It was a grand house set at the top of the escarpment providing views of the river below. It was surrounded by extensive wooded grounds and had a lodge at each of its two entrances – one off Thunder Lane which still exists and the other at the bottom of South Avenue which was originally the drive up to High House. This was demolished when South Avenue was developed. By the time of William Birbeck’s death much of the estate and the surrounding area was being sold for development.

There are many other buildings in Thorpe of historic interest but this is just a selection.