City walls and St Mary in the Fields bordering the gardens on Chapelfield Road One of the earliest sections of Norwich's flint city wall was built on what would be the future boundary of Chapelfield Gardens, possibly dating from around 1253. This was referred to directly in 1256. The chapel of
St Mary in the Fields was associated with the land on which Chapelfield Gardens now resides; in 1406 the citizens of Norwich "claimed four acres and an half of ground which belonged to Chapel in the Field [...] lying in Chapel-field Croft, within the city ditch, on which it abutted south". "Chapelfield" gets its name from this association.
Private ownership and mixed use , which shows Norwich in 1558, depicts the Chapel Field with cattle and archers The chapel was destroyed in the
dissolution of the monasteries in 1545 and the land was granted to a private citizen.
Development into a pleasure garden The leases of the land handed out by the city developed, and by 1655 they included the "rights of citizens of ingress and egress [...] to walk for their recreation at all times", meaning that the field was now used for the public benefit. Contemporary accounts from the 1840s said the gardens had become "the resort of loose and idle boys and being occupied partly by
washerwomen seem[ed] to be in great measure deserted by respectable citizens." for the
1876 Philadelphia Exhibition A children's
play area was added by 1899. The pagoda was demolished in 1949 after sustaining damage from
bombing, The gardens have been part of
Norwich Pride celebrations since its first event in 2009, with these celebrations centring in the park in 2023.
Historic England awarded £315,000 to Norwich City Council for a 2026 restoration and repair of the bandstand as part of its
Heritage at Risk scheme; this added a ramp for improved accessibility while preserving its historic features. == References ==