The buildings which are home to GYPC (Great Yarmouth Painting and Crafts)  are in one of the most historic areas of our town and were originally purposed as a Herring Smoking Works during the heyday of the East Coast Fishing Industry. They are built as a lean-to structure against the Medieval Town Wall which is more than 700 years old.

The Town Wall was completed in the late 13th century, having taken more than 100 years to build. It was 2¾ miles long and featured 18 towers similar to the South East Tower which stands at the south end of our buildings. There are 11 of the 18 towers still standing for you to see, if you are interested to walk the length of the Wall.

During the 16th century the wall was repaired to defend against attack by the Spanish fleet. Anything that could be used was used to patch up the brick and flint wall and many artefacts including wheels and parts of window-frames can still be seen today.

The smokehouse which now houses GYPC (Great Yarmouth Painting and Crafts) was owned by the Heyhoe family and it was passed down through five generations, until 1965 when it closed, due to the downturn in the fishing industry in these parts. 

The buildings lay uncared-for during the next fifteen years and, as buildings do, decayed and became largely derelict.

In 1980 we purchased the buildings, moved in, formed our business of ceramic pottery manufacturers called Great Yarmouth Potteries and each year since then have undertaken painstaking projects of restoration which have resulted in the buildings you can see today.

About 80% of these buildings is constructed of timbers washed up on the beach from old shipwrecks along our coastline.  Renovation has been carried out this way on these premises for more than 300 years, and we still maintain this time-honoured principle today.

The ancient well in the main downstairs room is about 700 years old.

It is one of the many wells which, in medieval times, and right up to the arrival of mains water in the town, supplied all the fresh drinking water for the town.

In the smoking works, the water was, for 300 years, used for swilling the fish guts from the benches and floors. The circular wall around the well is about 300 years old.

Even though we constantly draw water for watering our plants, the water keeps a constant depth of 10 to 12 feet and the well is 28 feet deep.

In 1982, as Great Yarmouth Potteries, we made our very first Limited Edition Tankard which was to Commemorate the Fishermen's Hospital which sits between the Market Place and The Minster Church of St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth.

That began 35 years of Limited Edition Tankard design and manufacture, which ended in 2016/17 with our final Tankard, which was to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II as the longest reigning monarch in British history.

In September 2023 Karen completed the sale of the buildings and so they enter a brand-new phase of their long and illustrious history.

We all hope that the future is bright and the buildings will be encouraged by the new owners to reveal even more of their past, and develop what proves to be a future full of interest for the next generation of custodians.