Unmeasured Chamber Concerts 2026
A monthly chamber series of internationally acclaimed musicians, curated by period-instrument specialists Matthew Wadsworth (lute) and Kate Bennett Wadsworth (cello/viol). Concerts are an hour long and take place in the beautiful acoustics of the Octagon Chapel, designed in 1753 by Thomas Ivory, on the first Friday of the month.
Follies: lovesickness, farce, and melancholy
Friday 4 September at 7pm
Magdalena Loth-Hill and Rachel Stroud, violins
Sarah Ridy, triple harp
Kate Bennett Wadsworth, cello
Matthew Wadsworth, theorbo
Music of Corelli, Vivaldi, Purcell, and more
Tickets:
General admission £20.00 (+ £1.68 booking fee) Your ticket includes a glass of wine.
Under 18s FREE (Your ticket includes a glass of apple juice).
Come With Us £80.00 (+ £6.72 booking fee) Admits 5. Come in a group of 5 and pay for only 4 tickets (you still get the free drink)
Buy tickets in advance here: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/unmeasured
The Book Hive presents: Norman Lamb – Be More Human
Thursday 27 August at 7pm – 8.30pm
The ex-MP and tireless campaigner discusses how the UK can and must improve its mental health provision
We’re thrilled to welcome Sir Norman Lamb – hugely popular ex Lib Dem MP for north Norfolk and ongoing champion of the marginalised and underrepresented. His new book Be More Human: Why Mental Health Care is Broken – and What We Can Do to Fix It reflects an issue that has long been close to his heart and about which he has done important and effective work.
Why do people with mental health conditions die 15-20 years earlier than people without? Why is £100 million spent every year placing patients far from their homes? How did the question ‘What matters to you?’ transform mental health care in Norway?
We live in a country in which community is fading, inequality is growing, and discrimination is still far too common. At the same time, services dedicated to our wellbeing and mental health can feel less than human – ignoring or even adding to this growing crisis.
Lamb, who’s a former Health Minister, NHS trust chair, and dedicated mental health campaigner, has seen the cracks in the system up close. In his book, he sets out to uncover the real reasons why our mental health services are failing. He recalls eye-opening stories from patients who have been let down, but also inspiring tales from trailblazers who are shaking things up with creative, community-first solutions.Sir Norman is clear – we need a mental health revolution – but what can we do to create mental health care which is more human?
Norman will be in conversation with writer and journalist Patrick Barkham.
Any profits from this event will be donated to Mind.
Tickets: £5.00 Available online here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/norman-lamb-be-more-human-tickets-1992140281208
Norwich Harmony concert
Saturday 5 September at 7pm
Norwich Harmony returns to the beautiful surroundings of the Octagon Chapel.
Expect a packed programme of well known songs; joyful, poignant and rousing. All sung in close harmony barbershop style by our 50 strong chorus, and some bonus quartets too.
All funds raised are in aid of Build Charity Norwich and the concert is given in memory of Anne Gallant
Tickets: £12 available here https://www.norwich-harmony.co.uk/dbpage.php?pg=view&dbase=events&id=321301
Cover Story by Blondel
Monday 28 September at 6.30pm
Emily Baines — Lizzie Gutteridge — Belinda Paul
shawms, recorders & bagpipes
Cover Story tracks connections between people, places, texts and music. It follows the evolution of popular late medieval melodies across Europe as they are copied, rearranged and repurposed over years, and even decades.
Catchy dances and lyrical chansons, ingenious rounds and dazzling divisions by Machaut, Dufay, Bedyngham, Binchois, and many unnamed masters.
Tickets: £16 / £12 (under 12s free) Available online https://www.richmond-park-reeds.com/collections/tickets/products/cover-story-september-norwich
Clare Summerskill presents:
Why God Created Lesbians
Saturday 10 October at 7.30pm
In her brand-new one-woman show, Clare Summerskill attempts to explain the point of the perplexing sexual minority to which she belongs, asking why lesbians exist? Is it to ease the pressure on cat rescue centres? Is it to ensure that Shibden Hall remains a viable tourist attraction? Or is it to write one-woman comedy shows featuring songs, standup and storytelling? After decades of field research, she thinks she has the answer.
Expect silliness, satire and self-deprecation from crowd-pleaser Clare Summerskill as she hits the road with her funniest show yet. Clare will share the previously unheard story of the lesbian squirrel on the Ark, forced to take up a complaint about compulsory heterosexuality with Noah himself; and she will finally uncover the Almighty’s real opinion about women-loving-women.
Tickets: £15 available here : https://www.outsavvy.com/event/38106/clare-summerskill-presents-why-god-created-lesbians
Octagon Unitarian Chapel 