See Thorpe Station railway from 1844.
The date of the 'hotel' could scarcely be any earlier
than 1845, but it is listed in both the
1845 White's Directory and the
Official List of the same year.

The former gives plain Railway Tavern, with
'branch of the Royal Hotel' in parentheses.
Officially it was listed as the Royal Hotel Branch.

The publications also differ as to the landlord :
- the Directory giving George Manley and
- the List giving Henry Yallop.
Neither man was running the main Hotel, which -
at the time - was held by William Butcher.

Henry was an unlikely relation of
Sir John Harrison Yallop of Bolingbroke & Co.
fame; particularly as the Official List
shows the pub owners as Seaman & Co.  -
despite the freehold apparently belonging to the
Trustees of the Great Hospital ! This was also
quite different from the main Hotel (on the Walk),
which was shown as a free-house (before and since).

By 1850 Robert Warnes was licensee, as well as
finding time to be a coal merchant. His widow,
Elizabeth, was in charge by 1856, until October 1872.
By 1872 Youngs and Crawshay's Brewery
had taken over; with a new landlord.

The hotel pretensions were clear by 1883, the pub
having been (earlier) re-named Great Eastern Tavern
- hence Great Eastern Hotel.
Clearly the premises were inadequate for the
current trade, and the hotel was re-built by
March 1885.

Continued . . .

This very large and prominent building was
adjacent to the river; whereas it had been set
further back originally.

There has been some suggestion of an earlier
re-building around 1866. Confusingly, a further
reference has been made to re-building in 1893/4.
(i.e. after the new Foundry Bridge of 1888).

In October 1963 the licence was retained by the
Bullard's brewery 'rep.'; prior to demolition of the
late-Victorian building in 1963/4.
A contemporary photo is on page 100 of
PLUNKETT, George : Commemorative Collection.
January 1965 saw preliminary permission granted
for licence transfer to a new building.

All this was as a direct result of the ownership falling
into the hands of Property Partnerships Ltd. in 1963.

The building of the new Hotel Nelson
was not completed until 1967.
A further 're-opening' took place on 8th March 1971;
the name being converted to Nelson Hotel.

By 1976 the public bar was called the Cannon Bar,
and was tied to Adnam's Brewery. Food was available
in the Trafalgar Room and the QuarterDeck restaurant.

The hotel has no moorings of its own, the Yacht Station
being on the other, upstream side of the bridge.

Originally built as a private dwelling; later became
a toll house for the bridge. Was converted to a pub by
Richard Bullard about 1850 and purchased by him
from Norwich Corporation on the 31st January 1851
for £430.

Robert Smith Nash was the second landlord,
and presided from March 1853 to December 1875.

Advertised in 1938 as the most modern and
up-to-date licensed house in Norwich.

During World War II, the "Blue Rooms" were extremely
popular with Forces personnel, esp. Americans; owing
to their proximity to the railway station.

Harry Proctor, licensee from April 1958 to circa 1970,
was a former trainer of Norwich City F. C.
In the late 1960's the pub featured
"Go-Go Girl" dancers.

Re-opened as the Compleat Angler on 1st March 1974,
the pub was advertised as an Edwardian style house,
following a 30,000 pound restoration.

It was accompanied by a new pub sign, based on the
1679 etching by Joseph Crawhall of Isaac Walton;
and designed by Ted Dawson, chief sign artist
in Norwich for Anglia Taverns.

A photograph on page 34 of
CLUER & SHAW : Former Norwich shows the
Foundry Bridge Cafe. This is most probably the
successor to the licensed restaurant of the above name.

A less specific photo, dated 1908, is on page 4 of
Norwich Past & Present, Volume 1.
(Geoffrey Goreham)

Johnson Hemnell was the original landlord of this licensed restaurant.

The earliest record in 1868 may be a little 'late', in that
Hemnell ran the Baron of Beef in the Market Place
from 1861.

The final listing in 1979 shows a different landlord.