Cecil C. Amey opened his first optical practice at Haymarket in Norwich in 1924. His grandson Robert Amey and Robert’s wife Emma have run the firm for more than thirty years and the fourth generation now stocks the flagship counter. Thirteen practices across Norfolk and Suffolk, ninety people on the payroll, and the same name on the door of 22a Haymarket that was painted on in nineteen-twenty-four.
NHS England sight tests, a designer dispensary the chains cannot reach, audiology integrated alongside optometry rather than booked in a separate clinic, and the specialist clinical work (OCT, dry eye, colorimetry) that a hundred years of training has paid for.
Free NHS sight tests for everyone the England GOS rules cover: under-16s, students 16-18, anyone over 60, low-income benefits, diabetes, family history of glaucoma, registered sight loss. Private examinations run the same equipment with longer chair time and a written prescription you can take anywhere. OCT 3D retinal imaging is included as standard rather than offered as a paid extra.
The frame walls at Haymarket carry the seven houses an independent dispensary is built on. Lindberg titanium screwless rimless for patients who want the lightest possible mount. Chanel and Tom Ford for the recognisable house. Tom Davies for bespoke acetate cut to the millimetre. Silhouette for the screw-free Austrian rimless. Salt and Götti for the considered everyday. We fit each one with a per-eye PD, not an average.
Cecil Amey integrated audiology across the group during the centenary year. Free online hearing tests are followed up with an in-practice assessment, NHS-funded ear wax removal where eligible, and hearing-aid selection across the budget range. A sight-test patient who has been noticing a hearing change can have both assessments in the same hour without a second appointment.
OCT 3D retinal imaging is in the standard test. Dry eye syndrome is run as a properly scoped clinic with meibography, lid hygiene and tear-film assessment. Colorimetry overlays for visual stress and dyslexia are available with a Wilkins-rate consultation. Prescription sports eyewear for cricket, cycling, swimming and shooting. None of this is an add-on; it is what a century-old independent should offer.
Twelve houses on rotation, all stocked at the Norwich flagship. Lindberg titanium screwless rimless for the lightest possible mount. Chanel and Tom Ford for the recognisable house. Tom Davies bespoke acetate cut to your fitting height. Silhouette for the Austrian screw-free engineering. Götti and Salt for the considered everyday. Maui Jim for the polarised sun pairs. Specsavers does not carry any of these.
A current snapshot. The walls change week to week.
The Cecil Amey story begins on Haymarket in 1924 with the founder behind the chair. The next generation took it on; then Robert Amey, the founder’s grandson, joined the firm with his wife Emma in the nineteen-nineties. Their sons Dan and William Amey, son-in-law Josh Newman, and daughter-in-law Cristina Amey are all working in the business now. The fourth generation marked the centenary in March 2024 with a Great Gatsby ball at Kimberley Hall and raised £2,500 for charity. They also acquired Pennington’s Opticians the same year, adding Beccles, Loddon and Lowestoft to the group. Thirteen practices, ninety people, one name.
We’re so proud of the work we do and the investment we continue to put into the high street.
Emma Amey · quoted in the East Anglian Daily Times, 2024
A Lindberg air or n.o.w. mount weighs single-digit grams and uses no screws. The bridge is a single piece of titanium bent against the patient’s nose shape; the temples are individually cut and finished against the chosen lens depth. Most of what makes a Lindberg work happens in dispensing, not on the shop floor. We take a per-eye monocular pupillary distance, a fitting height referenced to the chosen frame, and we verify the optical centre after glazing. The dispensing notes go on file so the next pair starts from real numbers. A century of doing this matters more on Lindberg than on any other house.
We answer email between 08:45 and 17:30 Monday through Saturday. If you would rather book a private exam, ask whether your NHS test is due, drop off a prescription for glazing, or arrange a Lindberg fitting that needs care, this form gets you in front of the Haymarket team directly. Phone bookings on 01603 626346 are still the fastest route on a Saturday morning.
What happens next
Haymarket is the pedestrianised stretch beside the market and a short walk from Norwich Castle. The Forum multi-storey is the nearest car park, a few minutes’ walk away. The bus station is five minutes on foot; Norwich rail station ten. Testing rooms are downstairs at number 22a. We carry the navy-on-cream fascia you can see from the market square.
Mined from a century of phone calls, Google reviews, Facebook recommendations and front-desk conversations on Haymarket.
Yes if you are under 16, or 16-18 in full-time education, or over 60, or on Income Support, Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, or income-based Universal Credit. Also yes if you have diabetes or glaucoma, are a first-degree relative of a glaucoma patient and over 40, or are registered partially sighted or blind. NHS England GOS rules, valid across the country.
No, you do not need London for that. The Haymarket dispensary stocks Lindberg titanium screwless rimless across the air, n.o.w. and spirit ranges, and Tom Davies bespoke acetate. Both demand a per-eye monocular pupillary distance, a fitting height referenced to the chosen frame, and a verification step after glazing. We measure all three and we keep the dispensing notes on file so the next pair starts from real numbers.
The clinical content is the same and the OCT 3D retinal imaging is included either way. A private examination buys longer chair time (40-45 minutes versus the GOS 30) and a written prescription you can take anywhere. If you qualify for the NHS test the free option is genuinely free at Cecil Amey, with no quiet upsell into a private upgrade.
Yes. Audiology is integrated across the practice rather than booked in a separate clinic. If a sight-test patient mentions a hearing change we can run the hearing assessment in the same hour rather than asking you to come back another week. Ear wax removal is NHS-funded where eligible.
The Forum multi-storey is the nearest car park, a few minutes’ walk from 22a Haymarket. Haymarket itself is pedestrianised. The St Stephens shopping car park is also walkable. The Norwich bus station is a five-minute walk; Norwich rail station is a ten-minute walk.
Yes. We open Monday to Saturday. Monday through Friday 08:45 to 17:30, Saturday 08:45 to 17:00. Closed Sundays. Saturday slots are the most popular and book out two to three weeks ahead.