Record Details
| NHER Number: | 22171 |
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| Type of record: | Building |
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| Name: | Welle Manor Hall, Upwell |
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Summary
Welle Manor Hall was originally a late 14th century hall house, modified in 1480 and surprisingly constructed largely from brick with slate and tile roofs. The front of the building has three storeys, and there is a full height porch to the left, dating to 1480, with a stone arched doorway. To the left of this porch is a large 19th century brick extension. The south front has a two gabled porch with a 15th century polygonal full height stair turret, and abutting to this to the left is a square turret probably dating to the 14th century.
Inside there is an ornate 15th century doorway from the porch into the hall, and the screens passage retains its service doors of 1360, although these are now blocked. A room on the first floor has two blocked lancets with leaded glass, and the roof has square sectioned crown posts, some of which date to the 15th century, although the majority have been replaced.
Just to the north of the house there are also towers. These interesting features flank the former courtyard entrance in the wall, which has since been demolished. They are octagonal and date to around 1480, constructed of brick and retain their original brick spiral staircases.
Images - none
Location
| Grid Reference: | TF 5059 0270 |
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| Map Sheet: | TF50SW |
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| Parish: | UPWELL, WEST NORFOLK, NORFOLK |
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Full description
Welle Manor Hall, formerly Rectory.
Mid 14th century, altered 1480, 17th century and 20th century. Brick slate and tile roofs. North front three storeys. Full height porch around 1480 to left, stone arched doorway with roll and hollow mouldings. Plank and muntin door to hall. First floor sash window of porch in original hoodmoulded opening. Stepped gable with ashlar pinnacle. Right of porch two bays with stepped gables seperated by buttress. Floors defined by arcade of brick trefoils, lower cut by buttress. Three wooden cross windows on ground floor, two on first, one in gable of each bay. Facade closed to right by polygonal stair turret with arched door. Left of porch, large brick 19th century extension, two bays and dormers, large external chimney. Ridge stack right of centre. West return with external stack rising from narrow brick bay. To left one two light rounded window. South front has two gabled bays with another, 15th century polygonal full height stair turret, but with 19th century roof. Abutting to left is square tower, two storeys, probably 14th century also with 19th century roof. Various window openings in these turrets. Stepped buttress supports western gable with segmental headed doorway to right. 19th century extension to east, two storeys and dormers. Gabled crosswing to right with bay window.
Interior: ornate 15th century doorway from porch to hall. Two service doors in hall now blocked, each of around 1360 with wave mouldings etc. Rear staircase turret has spiral brick stairs to attic. First floor music room with two blocked lancets with leaded glass. Crownpost roof with straight braces to tiebeams and 'crown purlin' (=collar purlin?). Crown posts square sectioned, 15th century, but most timbers renewed.
To north of house two towers flanking former courtyard entrance in wall. Wall now demolished. Around 1480, brick, octagonal, brick spiral staircase. Doors to south, three trefoils; crenellated parapet. East tower converted to dovecot.
Information from English Heritage Listing 1985 (S1).
Compiled by E. Rose (NAU), 31 January 1986.
Tourist advertising leaflet seen briefly by E. Rose (NUA) about 1980 described this wrongly as in Outwell [1], open to the public 'and including a Saxon grave and a Roman pavement'. No other details known of these.
E. Rose (NAU), 2 April 1986.
Source told E. Rose (NLA) that the Roman pavement refers to a small area of tessellation 'identical to that displayed in Upwell churchyard' exposed when a pipe trench was excavated past the gate towers. The 'Saxon grave' was newspaper exaggeration. [1]
E. Rose (NLA), 10 July 1997.
The same source told E. Rose (NLA) in 1997 that he uncovered an original doorway retaining hinge pintles behind a later fireplace and built a bay window with bricks from a demolished cottage which itself had been built with bricks from the demolished precinct wall.
E. Rose (NLA), 26 September 1997.
Extract from Cambridge Sites and Monuments Record (in which county this once was) in secondary file.
Monument Types
- TESSELLATED FLOOR (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- GREAT HOUSE (Medieval to 21st Century - 1066 AD to 2100 AD)
- HALL HOUSE (Medieval to 21st Century - 1300 AD to 2100 AD)
- TOWER (Medieval to 21st Century - 1400 AD to 2100 AD)
- DOVECOTE (Post Medieval to 21st Century - 1540 AD to 2100 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status
- Listed Building
- Listed Building
- Listed Building
Sources and further reading
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 741. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| <S1> | Designation: English Heritage. National Heritage List for England. List Entries 1171599, 1077708 and 1305536. |
Related records - none
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