Norwich Chapelfield shopping mall rebranded while in administration

Intu Chapelfield nods to its medieval history by adopting the name Chantry Place

A shopping centre that went into administration in June has been renamed despite having no new owner.

Norwich's Intu Chapelfield site, which opened in 2015 on the site of a former chocolate factory, will now be called Chantry Place.

The name reflects the site's medieval heritage as a secular college and chantry chapel.

The name change has been made by LaSalle Investment Management which is running the centre until it is sold.

The administrators said it was not possible to remove the Intu branding and keep the Chapelfield name

The shopping centre, which consists of 91 retail units, was part of the Intu group which went into administration also affecting its other shopping centres that included the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Lakeside in Essex.

LaSalle Investment Management currently runs the Norwich building's retail space while agents Savills is responsible for managing its store units.

Rebecca Gates at LaSalle said they had been unable to remove the Intu branding while keeping the Chapelfield name.

"Ultimately this was not possible, so we are delighted to have the opportunity to rebrand as Chantry Place, celebrating Norwich's interesting local history in the process," she said.

Chantry Place history

• A secular college and chapel known as The Chapel of St Mary in the Field were built during the 1200s on the area which is now the Assembly House

• The chapel grew during a period of tension between the people of the growing city and the power of the cathedral

• The college closed during the dissolution of monasteries in 1544 and was surrendered to Henry VIII. Two years later the site was demolished

• The Chantry consisted of six dwellings, the sole survivor being Chantry Cottage, which abuts the Assembly House

• In 1973, the Chantry was demolished and the removal of its foundations revealed a wall of flint rubble in yellow mortar

• These were interpreted as medieval walls belonging to The Chapel of St Mary in the Field

Source: Four Agency

Chapelfield Plain has also been renamed Chantry Square.

Chantry Place's centre manager, Paul McCarthy, said: "While there's no immediate change for shoppers, we're sure that everyone will soon get used to calling us Chantry Place."

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Stefan Gurney, of the Norwich Business Improvement District (BID) organisation, said: "This is very positive news for Norwich and signals a continued and important investment in the city and its retail offer in these challenging times."

Melanie Cook for Visit Norwich, said: "The centre's story continues which, in the current climate, is great news, not only for Norwich but also for its loyal shoppers."

According to the shopping centre's publicists Four Agency, it has an annual footfall of 15 million people.

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