It was simply not possible to walk past the corner of Norwich's Bridewell Alley and Bedford Street without being tempted to stop for a closer look at the attractive selection of baskets and wickerwork on display outside Hovells' doorway, which in turn will lead, time permitting, to a happy hour or so exploring the 'labyrinth of surprises' inside. The nine floor levels were packed with a tremendous range of exciting gifts from all around the world, together with a large selection of well-crafted pine and cane furniture and other pleasing items. Baskets were still stocked, too, in a large array of shapes and sizes.

The long weavers' window on the top floor was an indication that handicraft weavers worked here in the 17th and 18th centuries, weaving on their looms the fine worsted and silken cloths which were a staple part of the city's trade. In 1799 David Soman, an emigrant from the French revolution, bought the building and made fur caps there. As the boot and shoe trade took over locally from the old weaving headwear, he also became a leather merchant, and in the 1840s he went into partnership with his son-in-law Phillip Haldinstein to found the major shoe manufacturer Bally's of Norwich, and moved to bigger premises.

It was at this point in 1864 that the shop became the home of W B Hovell. W B Hovell, like his father before him, was a basket-maker. There was tremendous demand for wickerwork in Norwich at that time. Fishermen needed crab pots, lobster pots, herring swills and various other specialist items, farmers needed skeps and wicker hurdles, tradesmen needed delivery baskets and hampers, and housewives needed shopping baskets and laundry baskets. Many people slept on rush mattresses as it was widely believed that rushes kept the vermin away; for the same reason, farm labourers carried their dinner to the fields in frail-baskets which were made of rushes. And there was also a market for wicker furniture, which had become fashionable. W B Hovell was well-known for his high standard of craftsmanship, and his shop prospered; his son William Edward also came into the business, and by 1881 over twenty highly-skilled craftsmen were employed, several of whom were colourful characters. The basket-makers worked on the first floor of the building, and the chair-makers worked on the second floor. William Hovell owned three acres of land at Old Lakenham, which provided most of the osiers used by Hovells' workers, but sometimes it was necessary to buy in extra supplies. Men would then go to one of the Norfolk estates to cut the willow, and bring it back by horse and cart and by wherry.

Basket-making was traditionally man's work, and the shop was very badly affected when its workers were called up for service during the first world war. W E Hovells's two sons joined the army, and sadly both were killed; only one of the old basket-makers came back from the war to resume his craft. Business was made even more difficult by the introduction of free trade, with cheap imported baskets being sold, sometimes for less than the cost of manufacture. In the period between the wars very few baskets were made at Hovells; instead W E Hovell, who was joined in 1918 by his daughter Miss D K Hovell, was forced to rely to an increasing extent on selling imported goods. William carried on working until his death in 1958 at the age of 91, and from 1958 until 1969 the shop was run by Miss Hovell, who built up a wide selection of wicker and canework, both imported and from the leading manufacturers in this country. Meanwhile the Hovell family continued to reside above the shop until the mid 60s.

In 1969 Miss Hovell sold the shop to the Butcher family, with the stipulation that the name of Hovells should be kept, and began a well-earned retirement. The Butcher family, themselves were proprietors of the long-established family drapery business in Swan Lane, survived disaster in November 1978 when a fire occurred  at Hovell's premises; fortunately damage was kept to a minimum, and within a few  days Hovells was able to reopen the ground floor for business. During the rebuilding, every effort was made to preserve the original facade, and although some alteration to the Bedford Street side proved inevitable, the 17th century style of the building has been successfully preserved, and Hovells, with its traditional range of baskets, wickerwork, cane and pine, was one of the well-loved features of this picturesque and historic area of the city.

By the end of the 90's Hovells business refocused and consolidated so as to specialise in furniture retailing and in October 2001 opened a new out of town store in Barker Street which offered one floor and plentiful free car parking.  The new store enabled Hovells to expand the range of furniture offered which by the end of the 90's had become their core product.  Hovells original shop in Bridewell Alley closed on Saturday 26th April 2003.

On 26th December 2007 Hovells opened a new store in Lowestoft Suffolk.