Dalham Hall is a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

and estate, located in the village of

Dalham Dalham is a village and civil parish in the West Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The name, meaning 'homestead/village in a valley' is of Old English origin and first recorded in the Domesday Book. Dalham is west of the town of Bury St E ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, near Newmarket, and west of

Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as ''Bury,'' is a cathedral as well as market town and civil parish in the West Suffolk District, West Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St. Edmunds an ...

. Owners of the Dalham estate have included: *c.1050-1240 Peche Family *1240-1320 English Crown Estate (from 1303,

Margaret of France, Queen of England Margaret or Marguerite of France ( – 14 February 1318) was Queen of England as the second wife of King Edward I. She was a daughter of Philip III of France and Maria of Brabant. Childhood Margaret was the daughter of King Philip III of Fra ...

) *1320-1362 Walter de Norwich, followed by his son John de Norwich (died 1362) *1362-1417 various joint-owners, including Robert Scales, 5th Baron Scales *1417-1697 Stuteville Family *1697-1702 Sir Gilbert Dolben, 1st Baronet *1702-1714 Bishop

Simon Patrick Simon Patrick (8 September 1626 – 31 May 1707) was an English theologian and bishop. Life He was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, eldest son of Henry Patrick, a wealthy merchant, on 8 September 1626, and attended Boston Grammar Schoo ...

and his eponymous son *1714-1901 Affleck Family, including

Gilbert Affleck Gilbert Affleck (c. 1684 – 12 November 1764), of Dalham Hall, Suffolk, was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1722 and 1741. Affleck was the eldest surviving son of John Affleck, of Fort St. George, India, an ...

and

John Affleck John Affleck (12 February 1710 – 17 February 1776) was a British Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1743 and 1761. Affleck was the second and eldest surviving son of Gilbert Affleck of Dalham Hall, Suffolk and his wife A ...

*1901-1928 Rhodes Family, including

Cecil Rhodes Cecil John Rhodes ( ; 5 July 185326 March 1902) was an English-South African mining magnate and politician in southern Africa who served as Prime Minister of the Cape Colony from 1890 to 1896. He and his British South Africa Company founded th ...

and Frank Rhodes *1928-2009 Philipps Family *2009–present

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (; born 15 July 1949) is an Emirati politician and royal who is the current ruler of Dubai, and serves as the Vice President of the United Arab Emirates, vice president and Prime Minister of the United Arab ...

The manor was not the principal residence of any family until acquired by the Stutevilles, the first of whom is likely to have established Dalham Hall.

(1626–1707), the

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...

(1689–1691) and

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

(1691–1707), purchased this estate at Dalham in December 1702, and commissioned the building of the present Dalham Hall. John Affleck Esq. acquired the estate from the Bishop's son in 1714. After remaining in Affleck's family (the Affleck baronets) for nearly 200 years, in 1901, the estate was bought by

, on the evidence of photographs, and tales of its

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

prowess. After Rhodes died in 1902, before taking possession, his brother

Francis William Rhodes Colonel Francis William Rhodes (9 April 1850 – 21 September 1905) was a British military officer. He is perhaps the best known member of the Rhodes family after his mining magnate brother Cecil. Biography Trained as a soldier from his yo ...

and his family inherited the hall, and erected a hall in the village in Cecil Rhodes' memory. The estate was bought in 1928 by Laurence Philipps, a shipping magnate who established what became known as the

Dalham Hall Stud Darley Stud is located at Dalham Hall, the global breeding operation owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates. It is on the outskirts of Newmarket, Suffolk, the internati ...

. The house was three storeys high until a serious fire of 1954, when the top floor was removed and the roof reconstructed. In 1981 Major Jim Philipps sold the stud to

, the Ruler of

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

and Prime Minister of the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

. After the major died in 1984, the rest of the estate was held in trust by his heirs until July 2009, when it was sold for £45 million to Sheikh Mohammed via estate agents

Bidwells Bidwells LLP is a multi-disciplined firm of property and agribusiness consultants offering property services and consultancy in the U.K. Bidwells has 13 offices throughout the U.K, 9 of which are located in England and 4 in Scotland. Property Week ...

. The Hall is listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

Footnotes

References

* {{coord, 52.2352, 0.5235, type:landmark_region:GB-SFK, display=title Country houses in Suffolk Grade II listed buildings in Suffolk Grade II listed houses