Costume & Textile Association

General information

Norwich is a fine city whose heritage owes much to the textile industry which brought wealth to the city between the twelfth and eighteenth centuries.

The legacy can still be enjoyed today: Norwich is still enriched by the different styles, culture, architecture and language that can be traced back to the ‘Strangers’ who came from the Low Countries to work in the textile industry.

The Costume & Textile Association is an independent charity seeking to promote the unique costume and textile collection of the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service.

C&TA, as it is affectionately known, is a lively organisation bringing together people who are keen to support and learn more about the history and development of costume and textile. The internationally recognised museum collection held at the Shirehall Costume and Textile Study Centre in Market Avenue Street, Norwich contains some 25,000 items dating from the sixteenth century to the present day.

Pride of place must go to the collection of over 700 printed and woven shawls. 200 of these are of Norwich manufacture and remind today’s visitors of the once vibrant textile trade in Norwich which brought wealth and status to the City.

Registered Charity number: 1000730