Gunton Hall, Gunton Park, is a large country house near Suffield in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

History

The estate belonged to the Gunton family in the 12th century, to the Berney family in the 16th century and later to the Jermyn family. The current house was designed for Sir William Harbord, 1st Baronet in 1745 by the architect

Matthew Brettingham Matthew Brettingham (1699 – 19 August 1769), sometimes called Matthew Brettingham the Elder, was an English architect who supervised the construction of Holkham Hall, and became one of the best-known architects of his generation, despi ...

, three years after the former house on the site was gutted by fire. The new house of brick had a principal façade like that of Brettingham's Hanworth Hall, however, this larger house was seven bays deep, and had a large service wing on its western side. In 1775

Harbord Harbord, 1st Baron Suffield Harbord Harbord, 1st Baron Suffield (26 January 1734 – 4 February 1810), known as Sir Harbord Harbord, Bt, between 1770 and 1786, was a British landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1756 to 1784 when he was raised to th ...

, Member of Parliament for

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, commissioned

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...

to make significant additions to the house. The grounds were developed by

Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield Charles Harbord, 5th Baron Suffield (2 January 1830 – 9 April 1914), was a British peer, courtier and Liberal politician. A close friend of Edward VII, he served as a Lord of the Bedchamber and Lord-in-waiting to the King. He also held politi ...

, employing William Milford Teulon as the landscaper. However, the hall was almost destroyed by fire in 1882 and lay derelict for nearly a century before Kit Martin, an architect, bought the hall in 1980 and converted it into individual houses. It is surrounded by a 1,000 acre deer park. The boathouse was rebuilt as a studio by the artist Gerard Stamp in 2004.

St Andrew's Church, Gunton St Andrew's Church is a redundant Anglican church adjacent to Gunton Hall, in the parish of Hanworth, Norfolk, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is under the car ...

in woodland to the east of the hall is a redundant

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

church. The church was built in 1769 and designed by

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

for Sir William Harbord, to replace a medieval church. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

, and is under the care of the

Churches Conservation Trust The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity whose purpose is to protect historic churches at risk in England. The charity cares for over 350 churches of architectural, cultural and historic significance, which have been transferred in ...

. Gunton Park sawmill is a 1824

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

mill pond A mill pond (or millpond) is a body of water used as a reservoir for a water-powered mill. Description Mill ponds were often created through the construction of a mill dam or weir (and mill stream) across a waterway. In many places, the co ...

on Hagon Beck.

References

{{coord, 52, 51, 32.0, N, 1, 18, 26.9, E, type:landmark, display=title Country houses in Norfolk

History

See also

References