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Lesingham House is a country house in
Surlingham Surlingham is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk district of Norfolk situated on the Broads in eastern United Kingdom. It lies approximately 6½ miles (10½ km) south-east of Norwich on the south bank of the River Yare between Bra ...
,
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 ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, part of which was supposedly built in 1655.


History

Lesingham House was supposedly built in 1655, and parts of the original structure may be included in the building we see today. A tablet in the house at the bottom of the staircase reads, “Lesingham House 1655 Rebuilt in part in 1834 by Gibbs Murrell”. It is recorded as belonging to Murrell in White's 1836 ''History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk''. It is possible that the building stood on the site of an older house owned by the Lesingham family who lived in Surlingham in the sixteenth century - perhaps the house owned by Thomas Wode, who died in 1588. Wode left at his death an inventory of goods indicating that his house in Surlingham had at least nine rooms and a stable. The Wode and the Lesingham families were related, and the families owned lands in Rockland and
Bramerton Bramerton is a village and civil parish in the England, English county of Norfolk. Bramerton is located north-west of Loddon, Norfolk, Loddon and south-east of Norwich. History Bramerton's name is of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin and d ...
as well as Surlingham. In his will Thomas Wode asked his late uncle Jeremy Lesingham to bury him in St Mary’s
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
. The Lesingham family is first found in
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...
where they were anciently seated as
Lords of the Manor Lord of the manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England and Norman England, referred to the landholder of a historical rural estate. The titles date to the English Feudalism, feudal (specifically English feudal barony, baronial) system. The ...
; migrants settled along the eastern seaboard of America from
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
, to
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
,
the Carolinas The Carolinas, also known simply as Carolina, are the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina considered collectively. They are bordered by Virginia to the north, Tennessee to the west, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean ...
, and to the islands. By 1841 Lesingham House was owned by Gibbs Murrell, who lived here in some style as a
farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...
and brick- and tile-maker. The Murrells were an old Surlingham family who lived at Lesingham House for many generations. Their land was mostly in the centre of the village. With Gibbs Murrell lived his wife Catherine and his son Gibbs H. Murrell. Also living in the house at the time of the
United Kingdom Census 1841 The United Kingdom Census of 1841 recorded the occupants of every United Kingdom household on the night of Sunday 6 June 1841. The enactment of the Population Act 1840 meant a new procedure was adopted for taking the 1841 census. It was described a ...
were Robert Roper, agricultural pupil, and two servants Mary Hannant and Ann Fish. The Lesingham House estate consisted of some of “arable, pasture, water and marsh” as well as six houses or cottages. Lesingham House and
estate Estate or The Estate may refer to: Law * Estate (law), a term in common law for a person's property, entitlements and obligations * Estates of the realm, a broad social category in the histories of certain countries. ** The Estates, representativ ...
was sold in 1861 for £16,895
pounds sterling Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (cu ...
. By 1894 Lesingham House and Estate were in the hands of Sir Charles Rich of
Devizes Castle Devizes Castle was a medieval fortification in the town of Devizes, Wiltshire, England, on a site now occupied by a Victorian-era castle. It is a Grade I listed building. The original castle (not currently visible) was overbuilt by the current s ...
, who died in 1913, after which they were occupied by a staunch
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
couple, Mr and Mrs Richard Wright. The records show that the Trust of the Surlingham Chapel met under the newly appointed Rev. P. Webb, when Richard Wright, who farmed from Lesingham House, was made treasurer. Mr Wright made a donation of £50 which may have provided the purchase money required by the previous Wesleyan Trust. The maps of this time show extensive outbuildings at Lesingham House, many of which are today used along with the house as accommodation for religious retreats. The Lesingham House property today has land of slightly less than . Records show field names for the original Lesingham House Estate were: Horse Pit Close, Share Water, Dawson’s’, New Close, Clay Pit Close, Green’s Croft, First Mill Piece, Further Mill Piece, Little Company, Great Company, Lombe Hills, Parker’s Close, Coldham Piece, Burd’s, Dormant’s. Near Lesingham House, down Covey Lane, lie extensive
marshes In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in general ...
and the Ted Ellis nature reserve. This is one of the last remaining tidal marshes on the Broads and its wild remoteness encourages a variety of flora and fauna.


Buddhist retreat centre

Since 1976, Lesingham House has been run as a Buddhist retreat centre called Padmaloka Buddhist Retreat Centre, which is affiliated to the
Triratna Buddhist Community The Triratna Buddhist Community, formerly the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO), is an international fellowship of Buddhists. It was founded in the UK in 1967 by Sangharakshita (born Dennis Philip Edward Lingwood) and describes itse ...
. It was established by the community's founder,
Sangharakshita Dennis Philip Edward Lingwood (26 August 192530 October 2018), known more commonly as Sangharakshita, was a British spiritual teacher and writer. In 1967, he founded the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO), which was renamed the Trirat ...
. It describes itself as "in essence, a Buddhist
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
, a semi-monastic religious community of men". The name ''Padmaloka'' means 'Realm of the Lotus' in
Pāli Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a classical Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Therav ...
, ''padma'' meaning lotus, and ''
loka Loka () is a concept in Hinduism and other Indian religions, that may be translated as a planet, the universe, a plane, or a realm of existence. In some philosophies, it may also be interpreted as a mental state that one can experience. A prima ...
'' meaning realm, place, or
abode In law, a dwelling (also known as a residence, abode or domicile) is a self-contained unit of accommodation – such as a house, apartment, mobile home, houseboat, recreational vehicle, or other "substantial" structure – used as a home by on ...
. The Padmaloka community is run by 13 men who are full time teachers and retreat leaders. The community aims to engage in work as a spiritual practice by bringing
mindfulness Mindfulness is the cognitive skill, usually developed through exercises, of sustaining metacognitive awareness towards the contents of one's own mind and bodily sensations in the present moment. The term ''mindfulness'' derives from the Pali ...
to the tasks, and to that of the other retreatants. One feature of the centre is the Padmaloka
stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...
. This is said to contain
relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains or personal effects of a saint or other person preserved for the purpose of veneration as a tangible memorial. Reli ...
s of Dhardo Rimpoche, one of Sangharakshita's teachers. Its inscriptions read ''Cherish the Doctrine. Live united. Radiate lov

' - which was Dhardo Rimpoche's motto.


Prehistory

In 1974 a palaeolithic flint hand-axe was found in the Lesingham House garden.


Address

Lesingham House, Covey Lane, Surlingham
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 ...
NR14 7ALMulti map
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Notes


External links


Flickr photosPadmaloka Retreat Centre website
{{coord, 52.6060, 1.4259, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Country houses in Norfolk