Record Details

NHER Number:10738
Type of record:Building
Name:Gillingham Hall

Summary

This Jacobean house may have been built around an earlier structure built between 1536 and 1556. Alternatively it has been interpreted as dating to around 1600. It was altered and enlarged in the 18th and 19th centuries. The building has three storeys with three projecting bays with pointed gables. There is a central cupola. The interior of the main building contains a staircase of around 1700. The 19th century stables are built around an earlier core. There is an 18th century walled garden.

Images - none

Location

Grid Reference:TM 4131 9229
Map Sheet:TM49SW
Parish:GILLINGHAM, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Full description

Gillingham Hall.
Described by (S1) as Jacobean, altered in 18th century, with staircase of around 1710 to 1720. Plate in (S2) shows building of three storeys, with three projecting bays having pointed gables and finials almost like porch towers. Between each of these six bays, and one bay beyond at each end; total eleven bays. One gable end has a bay window. Central cupola. Not yet visited.
E. Rose (NAU), 1 July 1985.

(S3) states that first house was built between 1536 and 1556, part of which was incorporated into the Jacobean house which had an octagonal stair tower. Altered 18th century.

See (S4) Grade II* which broadly follows above but goes into greater detail. Notes later bathroom wing to north and says the bay window to south is 19th century. But as noted above this is shown in a plate of 1819. Leaded windows to former chapel, and nesting boxes in south gable. Early 19th century block at southeast corner. Off centre tower on east wall with ovolo moulded windows. 18th century service range at northeast corner. Interior of main building has fine staircase of around 1700. The house is dated to around 1600, with 18th to 19th century additions, rather than 1536 and Jacobean as in the (S3). Also listed are the stables, 19th century but 'with earlier fabric' and the 18th century walled garden.
See NHER 30504.
E. Rose (NLA), 2 August 1994.

2001.
Stable block destroyed by fire, to be restored as was.
See (S5).
E. Rose (NLA), 6 November 2001.

July-September 2008. Building recording.
The principal façade is of an extended E plan with an off-centre axial chimney stack with four octagonal shafts, parapeted gables with formal finials to the kneelers and early brickwork. A Jacobean octagonal bell tower and belvedere with its original stair and ovolo- moulded mullion windows is located in the courtyard. The main block was remodelled in the early 18th century and included the rebuilding of the west façade to incorporate sash windows and the addition of a second staircase outshut with a stair of twisted balusters on open strings with carved tread ends, which is typical in great houses of the late 17th- early 18th- centuries. The L-shaped north-east wing was also added in the 18th century. It is constructed of brick with a plain dentil cornice and a hipped roof. It was initially built as service rooms but has since become part of the main house. The south elevation contains a pair of French windows under semi-circular arches with brick voussoirs.
See (S6) for further details.
H. White, (NLA), 24 August 2009

November 2008.
Proposed alterations to include the formation of ensuite bathrooms, a dining room, 2 residential units, kitchen, laundry faciliities, staff accomodation and an Orangerie.The existing building is of red brick, formerly lime washed with red pantiles on the west slopes and slate on the east.
See (S6) and (S7) for further details.
H. White, (NLA), 24 August 2009

Monument Types

  • GARDEN WALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • GREAT HOUSE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
  • STABLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status

  • Listed Building
  • Listed Building
  • Listed Building

Sources and further reading

---Aerial Photograph: TM4192 G,J.
---Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1999. [Article and a sale advertisement for Gillingham Hall].
---Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 2005. Hall yours - it's a snip at £2.25m. 28 December.
---Illustration: Cotman, J.S.. 1818. Gillingham Hall.
---Illustration: Davy, H.. 1863. Gillingham Hall.
---Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, W. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 359.
---Secondary File: Secondary File.
---Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Post-Medieval. Gillingham.
<S1>Monograph: Pevsner, N. 1962. North-West and South Norfolk. The Buildings of England. 1st Edition. pp 171-172.
<S2>Serial: 1819. Excursions Through Norfolk. 2.
<S3>Unpublished Document: Norfolk County Council. [unknown]. Inventory of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Norfolk..
<S4>Designation: English Heritage. National Heritage List for England.
<S5>Illustration: Various. Various. Architectural plans.
<S6>Designation: Listed Building Consent.
<S6>Unpublished Document: Heywood, S. 2008. S. Heywood Report, Gillingham Hall, Gillingham.
<S7>Unpublished Document: Architects Plus (UK) Limited. 2008. Design and access statement, Gillingham Hall, Gillingham.

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