Anglia Square

I love this place but i couldn't live in its ghostly, dilapidated shadow, without the aid of Prozac, various strong liquors, and copious quantities of Poundland chocolates.

For Anglia Square, despite its understated charms, has one of the most hedious streetscapes in the UK.
The film "Joker" could have used its environs as a backdrop to Gotham City, without having to go to the expense of building sets or budgeting to make it more awful than it already is.

Indeed it is so awful that it would be an idea to market Anglia Square as film set for a range of dystopian movies, It would bring much needed revenue and skills to this neglected part of Norwich.

The shopping centre itself is cool. The central square echoes in its design the cloisters of the medieval cathedral. All the shops offer very good value. Some of the charity shops could be more aptly described as "junk shops" as most of what they sell is unfortunately just junk.

The area is friendly and is kept reasonabley clean. Unlike in the centre of Norwich, there are no "Big Issue" sellers every 30 yards, aggressively pushing phoney greetings upon you. Or tragic young people, begging you to make a financial contribution to their drug dealers lavish lifestyle. Instead you can walk, shop and even chat to strangers with pleasure and ease.

For those new to Norwich, Anglia Square is not signposted. You can walk there from the centre in two ways:

1) Take your copy of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". Make your way to the tiny medieval church of St Smythians, down Muggleston Way. Knock thrice and knock firmly. The door will open and in the nave you will see the great Plantagenet time-warp chest, enter the great chest and you will exit in the back of the Wand Shop, that's run by the kindly toad-faced lady of Anglica Square.

2) Or: make your way to St Andrews Brew House. Anglia Square is a simple and pleasant 10 minute stroll from there. Walk along St Georges Street, crossing the bridge; turn right at Cross Lane, then turn right at Golden Dog lane, in front you will see an attractive tiny alley of old houses, walk through, it will take you to Magdalene Street, turn left and you will see Anglia Square in front of you.

Whilst its looking its age and tired, Anglia Square offers a great range of shops to support the community, from exotic foods, vegan baking to charity shops and car sales. We especially love Random Buns of Kindness who open their doors for Bun Club once a month (but we dont talk about Bun Club)

Anglia Square is just a local shopping area in a housing estate. A charity shop with some local brands can be found. Nothing special, except the word "Anglia" which represents the long history of Norwich.

3 stars simply because of the range of charity shops and those poor shops that have still remained open in what can be described as dismal surroundings.
This once was a buzzing place. The old Stationery office which is part of complex is a sad sign of the demise of area. Hopefully someone can inject some cash Into this area 🙏

Built in the 60's this place is falling apart and in dire need of a revamp.

It has a Gregg's which is well used and a local butchers plus Boots, Poundland, and QD. They're the only redeeming feature of this backend of Norwich.

If you need to visit at your own risk then do so.

Went here for the eco shop! It's called Ernie's zero waste shop. They have food in dispensers , Bamboo products, like cotton buds, flannel, loo rolls ( cheaper than online) bar soaps, shower etc etc.

Loved visiting the zero waste shop and charity shop here. Cycling isn't allowed due to pedestrian safety but some cycle racks would be handy. Had a bike light stolen in the 10 minutes my bike was parked.

Its just handy to go to anglia Square, it's not so busy as the city, and there's all the shops I need, can't go far as I'm 84 and have a job walking and have to use the bus