Record Details

NHER Number:5637
Type of record:Monument
Name:Site of Weeting Hall

Summary

This is the site of Weeting Hall, which was built before 1770 and demolished in 1954. Today the site is partially built over, but a red brick stable block with a tall cupola (NHER 64612), apparently built around 1900, remains. Construction work on the site noted the footings of the orangery, and some surprisingly large sewer tunnels. Some of the park features, including walls and ha has, survive in the nearby area, although the majority of the park (NHER 64615) has been built over.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TL 7749 8913
Map Sheet:TL78NE
Parish:WEETING WITH BROOMHILL, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Full description

Site of Weeting Hall.
Weeting Hall was constructed some time prior to 1770 and was demolished around 1954 (information from church guide for NHER 5639). The estate was owned by the 7th Earl of Mountrath, Charles Henty Coote (b.1725 - d.1802), who had purchased a house in Weeting by 1756 and had created a large estate by 1770 (S2). Historic documents indicate construction was taking place around 1780, possibly making changes to the existing house (S2), and in 1804 it was described as 'a noble, modern built, freehold mansion' in an Italianate style, in local white bricks (S2). In 1805 the house passed to the Angerstein family and at some point between 1823 and 1897 it was enlarged and refaced with red brick. See website (S2) for further details of owners of the estate prior to 1926.

Rev. Armstrong's Diary for 17 January 1872 (S1) refers to fact that Marengo, Napoleon's horse, died here at some previous date.

In 1926 the house was sold to the Ministry of Labour for use as a residential work camp to train men for settlement in the various polities in the British Empire and Commonwealth, usually Canada or Australia. The hall had the capacity for 200 men and up to 50 administrative staff. By 1929 high levels of unemployment in the British Empire and Commonwealth led to a decline in the demand for trainees and the centre was reused as an Instructional Centre undertaking similar work. The centre was closed during World War Two when the hall became a hospital for wounded Indian and Ghurkha soldiers and a holding camp for the Rifle Brigade of the 7th Armoured Division in the lead up to the Normandy landings. In the post-war period the house and grounds were used to accommodate people who were displaced by the war. The house was demolished in 1954.
See website (S2) and published monograph article (S3) for further details.

For additional information, see also press cutting (S4) and published summary (S6).
Amended E. Rose (NLA), 12 September 1997. Amended S. Howard (HES), 8 March 2011. Amended H. Hamilton (HES), 10 February 2021.

December 1979. Site Visit.
Site part built over, part empty. Good red brick stable block with tall cupola, apparently built around 1900, remains. Lodges, ha-ha, brick walls along roads etc remain for a considerable area, though inner park has been built over.
Information from record card (S6).
E. Rose (NAU), 5 December 1979.

2001.
Large brick and flint tunnels found on site of orangery, hall and near stables during building of houses.
See copies of photographs in file taken by developers [1]. Weeting History Group has also provided a copy of the 1883 Ordnance Survey map superimposed onto a modern map. The tunnels appear to be the type of sewers one would expect to find in a 19th century town. They presumably served the hall complex, but are unusually large.
E. Rose (NLA), 26 April 2001.

Monument Types

  • GREAT HOUSE (18th Century to Mid 20th Century - 1770 AD to 1954 AD (pre))
  • HA HA (18th Century to 21st Century - 1770 AD? to 2100 AD?)
  • TUNNEL (18th Century to 21st Century - 1770 AD? to 2100 AD)
  • WALL (18th Century to 21st Century - 1770 AD? to 2100 AD)
  • STABLE (19th Century to 21st Century - 1900 AD? to 2100 AD)
  • LABOUR EXCHANGE (Early 20th Century to World War Two - 1926 AD to 1945 AD)
  • MILITARY HOSPITAL (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
  • RESETTLEMENT CAMP (World War Two to Mid 20th Century - 1945 AD to 1954 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

---Secondary File: Secondary File.
<S1>Publication: Armstrong, H. B. J (ed). 1949. A Norfolk Diary. Passages from the Diary of The Rev. Benjamin John Armstrong. p 164.
<S2>Website: Beckett, M.. 2011. Lost Heritage: a memorial to the lost country houses of England, Weeting Hall. http://www.lostheritage.org.uk/. 10 February 2021. Weeting Hall [Accessed 10-FEB-2021].
<S3>Article in Monograph: Field, J.. 2009. Able Bodies: Work camps and the training of the unemployed in Britain before 1939.. The Significance of the Historical Perspective in Adult Education Research.
<S4>Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2008. Echoes of a lost heritage. 29 November. p5.
<S5>Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 756.
<S6>Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.

Related records

64610Parent of: 18th century icehouse, Weeting Castle (Monument)
64612Parent of: Former stable block to Weeting Hall (Building)
46525Parent of: Inner Lodge, All Saints' (Building)
46202Parent of: Lynn Lodge, Methwold Road (Building)
64613Parent of: Site of former orangery, outbuildings, and formal garden to Weeting Hall (Monument)
5633Parent of: Site of post-medieval garden features related to Weeting Hall (Monument)
64614Parent of: Site of walled garden to Weeting Hall (Monument)
64615Parent of: Site of Weeting Park (Designed Landscape)
64609Related to: Former medieval to post-medieval earthworks associated with the medieval manorial site of Weeting Castle and Weeting Park (Monument)
61476Related to: Second World War military camp, Gurkha hospital and post-war Polish resettlement camp at Weeting Hall (Monument)

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