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Somerleyton 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 near Somerleyton and
Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...
in
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 ...
, England owned and lived in by Hugh Crossley, 4th Baron Somerleyton, originally designed by John Thomas. The hall is
Grade II* listed 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, H ...
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, ...
, and its landscaped park and formal gardens are also Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The formal gardens cover . Inspired by Knepp Wildland, Somerleyton is
rewilding Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from other forms of ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. It is also d ...
of the estate to which he has introduced free-roaming cattle, large black pigs and Exmoor ponies.


History

In 1240 a
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
was built on the site of Somerleyton Hall by Sir Peter Fitzosbert, whose daughter married into the Jernegan family. The male line of the Fitzosberts ended, and the Jernegans held the estate until 1604. In 1604 John Wentworth bought the estate. He transformed Somerleyton Hall into a typical East Anglian Tudor- Jacobean mansion. It then passed to the Garney family. The next owner was
Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
Sir Thomas Allin, a native of Lowestoft. He took part in the
Battle of Lowestoft The Battle of Lowestoft took place on during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. A fleet of more than a hundred ships of the Dutch Republic, United Provinces commanded by Lieutenant-Admiral Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, Jacob van Wassenaer, Lord Obdam, at ...
(1665) and the
Battle of Solebay The Battle of Solebay took place on 6 June 1672 New Style, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, near Southwold, Suffolk, in eastern England. A Dutch States Navy, Dutch fleet under Michiel de Ruyter attacked a combined Kingdom of England, Anglo-King ...
at
Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the North Sea, in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth, Suffolk, River Blyth in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths ...
in 1672. Eventually, the male line of that family also died out. In 1843 Somerleyton Hall and Park were bought by the prosperous entrepreneur and MP
Samuel Morton Peto Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet (4 August 1809 – 13 November 1889) was an English entrepreneur, civil engineer and railway developer, and, for more than 20 years, a Member of Parliament (MP). A partner in the firm of Grissell and Peto, ...
. For the next seven years he carried out extensive rebuilding, creating an Anglo-Italian architecture masterpiece. Paintings were specially commissioned for the house, and the gardens and grounds were completely redesigned. Peto had garden features designed by
William Andrews Nesfield William Andrews Nesfield (1793–1881) was an English soldier, landscape architect and artist. After a career in the military which saw him serve under the Duke of Wellington, he developed a second profession as a landscape architect, designing so ...
and
Joseph Paxton Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde ...
. Peto's son,
Harold Peto Harold Ainsworth Peto FRIBA (11 July 1854 – 16 April 1933) was a British architect, landscape architect and garden designer, who worked in Britain and in Provence, France. Among his best-known gardens are Iford Manor, Wiltshire; Buscot ...
, became a noted garden-designer, but it is not known whether he was influenced by the gardens of Somerleyton. In 1863 the Somerleyton estate was sold to Sir Francis Crossley of
Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woo ...
, a carpet manufacturer, who, like Peto, was a philanthropist and a Member of Parliament. Sir Francis' son
Savile Savile is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Arthur Savile (1819–1870), English clergyman and cricketer * David Savile, actor, married to Lois Baxter * Douglas Barton Osborne Savile (1909–2000), mycologist * Dorothy Savil ...
was created Baron Somerleyton in 1916. The family motto is 'Everything that is good comes from above'. Hugh Crossley, 4th Baron Somerleyton inherited the hall in 2012 where he lives with his family. The lake at Somerleyton Hall was used by
Christopher Cockerell Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft. Early life and education Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cockerell, was curat ...
, the inventor of the
hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...
, to carry out his early experiments in 1955.


Description


Hall

The hall is a
Grade II* listed 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, H ...
building. It was designed by John Thomas, an architect who had previously worked for
Prince Albert Prince Albert most commonly refers to: *Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1819–1861), consort of Queen Victoria *Albert II, Prince of Monaco (born 1958), present head of state of Monaco Prince Albert may also refer to: Royalty * Alb ...
, and was completed in 1850. The clock tower houses a clock designed by
Benjamin Vulliamy Benjamin Vulliamy (1747 – 31 December 1811), was a British clockmaker responsible for building the Regulator Clock, which, between 1780 and 1884, was the main timekeeper of the King's Observatory Kew and the official regulator of time in Lo ...
. It is 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, ...
.


Formal gardens

Landscaped park and formal gardens are also Grade II* listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The formal gardens cover and form part of the estate (7.7 square miles). They feature a
yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...
hedge maze, one of the finest in Britain, created by
William Andrews Nesfield William Andrews Nesfield (1793–1881) was an English soldier, landscape architect and artist. After a career in the military which saw him serve under the Duke of Wellington, he developed a second profession as a landscape architect, designing so ...
in 1846, and a ridge and furrow greenhouse designed by
Joseph Paxton Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde ...
, the architect of
The Crystal Palace The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and plate glass structure, originally built in Hyde Park, London, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. The exhibition took place from 1 May to 15 October 1851, and more than 14,000 exhibitors from around ...
. There is also a walled garden, an aviary, a
loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior Long gallery, gallery or corridor, often on an upper level, sometimes on the ground level of a building. The corridor is open to the elements because its outer wall is only parti ...
and a long
pergola A pergola is most commonly used as an outdoor garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway, or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support crossbeams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are t ...
, covered with roses and
wisteria ''Wisteria'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae (Leguminosae). The genus includes four species of woody twining vines that are native to China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, southern Canada, the Eastern United States, and nor ...
. The more informal areas of the garden feature
rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; : ''rhododendra'') is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the Ericaceae, heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are native to eastern Asia and the Himalayan ...
s and
azalea Azaleas ( ) are flowering shrubs in the genus ''Rhododendron'', particularly the former sections ''Rhododendron sect. Tsutsusi, Tsutsusi'' (evergreen) and ''Pentanthera'' (deciduous). Azaleas bloom in the spring (April and May in the temperate ...
s and a fine collection of specimen trees. The kitchen garden and the stable court are both listed Grade II*. The ridge and furrow glasshouses north of the kitchen garden are listed Grade II. Several garden ornaments and statuary are listed; these include the statue of
Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...
, the group of four urns around the sundial, as well as the sundial, all are listed Grade II. In the formal gardens, the four urns in the centre and the four stone troughs are both listed Grade II. The remains of the Winter Garden and the boundary walling to the formal gardens are listed Grade II. The cistern at the south of the terrace to and the retaining wall to the garden front are listed Grade II. The screen wall to entrance front of the hall is Grade II listed. The South Lodge and the gates to Somerleyton Hall are listed Grade II.


Estate

Inspired by the success of Knepp Wildland, a pioneering
rewilding Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from other forms of ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. It is also d ...
project started by Sir Charles Burrell, 10th Baronet in
West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...
, Somerleyton has fenced and is rewilding of the estate (7.7 square miles), has introduced large black pigs, Exmoor ponies and 100 free-roaming cattle. The plan is to extend the scheme to (20% of the estate), including the Fritton Lake and Suffolk Sandlings. Somerleyton is a founding
trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...
of WildEast, a
charitable foundation A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating d ...
that promotes regenerative farming and rewilding in the
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
.


In popular culture

* In 1970 the house was the main set for the movie The Weekend Murders * In 1998 Lord and Lady Somerleyton commissioned the English artist Jonathan Myles-Lea, a specialist in country houses, gardens and estates, to paint Somerleyton Hall. * The house and the maze, where the narrator becomes lost, feature prominently in W. G. Sebald's 1995 novel-memoir ''
The Rings of Saturn ''The Rings of Saturn'' ( - An English Pilgrimage) is a 1995 novel by the German writer W. G. Sebald. Its first-person narrative arc is the account by a nameless narrator (who resembles the author in typical Sebaldian fashion) on a walking tour ...
''. * The house and grounds were used to stand in for
Sandringham House Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a est ...
in
Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, Film director, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" and that he had "inherited Dennis Po ...
's 2003 television drama ''
The Lost Prince ''The Lost Prince'' is a 2003 British television drama about the life of Prince John – youngest child of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary – who died at the age of 13 in 1919. John had epileptic seizures and an autism-like developme ...
'', * The house in
Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan (born 10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written for theatre, films and television, often writing about historical events or figures such as Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II, whom he has ...
's 2020 series ''
The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...
''. * The house and its grounds featured as the principal location in "Neck", the sixth episode in the first series of '' Tales of the Unexpected'' (1979). * The house and gardens were used in the ''Norfolk'' episode of the 1989 gameshow ''
Interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Interceptor'', a British drama series on BBC One * Interceptor (game show), ''Interceptor'' (game show), a British television game show that ran during 1989 * Interc ...
''. * The 1993 gameshow ''
Time Busters ''Time Busters'' is a British children's television series created by Tim Child and the same producers of '' Knightmare''. It was first shown on BBC2 from 17 January 1993 to 22 January 1995. Format Each run of the game involves a team of child ...
'' episode ''The Strange Legacy of Somerweston Hall''.


Gallery

Somerleyton from Morriss Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen (1880).JPG, Somerleyton Hall in 1880. The Winter Garden (conservatory) on the left was demolished in 1914 Somerleyton hall.JPG, Somerleyton Hall in 1930 Somerleyton Aerial.jpg, aerial view Somerleyton chateau 3.jpg, The entrance to the hall Somerleyton Hall - the orangery - geograph.org.uk - 1506656.jpg, The Orangery EB1911 Labyrinth - Somerleyton Hall.jpg, The maze garden map Topiary archways at Somerleyton Hall - geograph.org.uk - 3137956.jpg, Topiary archways


References


External links

*
Somerleyton Hall Garden
*{{NHLE , num=1198046 Country houses in Suffolk Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Suffolk Historic house museums in Suffolk Houses completed in 1844 Italianate architecture in England Jacobethan architecture Mazes Waveney District