Record Details
| NHER Number: | 8159 |
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| Type of record: | Building |
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| Name: | Sprowston Hall |
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Summary
Sprowston Hall was originally built in the 16th century. The site was bought in 1869 and the house rebuilt between 1872 and 1876, on an 'improved Elizabethan pattern'. The building itself is of red brick, of two and three storeys, and has additions from 1905 and 1973, when it was converted to a hotel and country club. During World War Two the hall was the headquarters of GOC Eastern Command, though the air-raid shelters and associated structures have now been cleared away, and the grounds landscaped to form a golf course.
Images
Location
| Grid Reference: | TG 2599 1265 |
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| Map Sheet: | TG21SE |
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| Parish: | SPROWSTON, BROADLAND, NORFOLK |
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Full description
Sprowston Hall.
Original hall built by John Corbett who died in 1559. Rebuilt 1876. There formerly stood an oak in the park planted on the day Charles I was executed, by Miles Corbett, who signed his death warrant. (S1).
Ordnance Survey say the Hall has date stones of 1877, 1880, and 1900.
Visited E. Rose (NAU), 20 July 1977.
Hall is in redbrick, 'Tudor' style, on an unusually irregular plan, perhaps preserving the old layout. The Ordnance Survey are wrong in their last date which should be 1907, on the porch. 1877 appears on the east wing and 1880 on the west and south. Heavy beamed ceilings in interior. Good condition, used as country club. Owner of White House Farm, Sprowston says that the tree was cut down in 1943, and he obtained part of it to make a door. He also knows of a story that there was a chapel here. Above informant was owner of Heggatt Hall, Horstead. He later said in a letter that carved stones from the chapel were built into a rockery by his parents in 1905.
See letter and sketch in file.
Site revisited 1977 but occupied by air raid shelters etc. from last war - no trace of stones.
E. Rose (NAU), 1 December 1977
Acting on information received from Broadland District Council that an underground beer store had been erected without permission and that 'lumps of stone' had been found, E. Rose (NAU), visited site 13 October 1978.
Trench immediately east of Hall around 4m x 2m with store inside was cut through around 30cm topsoil over 1.5m sandy soil on light grey sandy natural. 'Stones' were large cobble-like blocks, probably natural. Some 18th century bricks dumped nearby were apparently from elsewhere.
E. Rose (NAU).
During World War Two the hall was the headquarters of GOC Eastern Command.
E. Rose (NLA), 22 January 2002.
Monument Types
- GREAT HOUSE (16th Century to 19th Century - 1560 AD? to 1872 AD)
- GREAT HOUSE (19th Century to 21st Century - 1872 AD to 2100 AD)
- MILITARY HEADQUARTERS (World War Two - 1939 AD to 1945 AD)
Associated Finds - none
Protected Status - none
Sources and further reading
| --- | Record Card: Ordnance Survey Staff. 1933-1979?. Ordnance Survey Record Cards. TG 21 SE 2. |
| --- | Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card. |
| --- | Monograph: Pevsner, N. and Wilson, B. 1997. Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 672. |
| --- | Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Medieval. Sprowston. |
| --- | Secondary File: Secondary File. |
| --- | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1998. Hotel takeover get shareholder backing. 15 April. |
| --- | Newspaper Article: Eastern Daily Press. 1999. Soaring expansion plans for Swallow hotels. 12 May. |
| <S1> | Article in Serial: Cozens-Hardy, B. 1961. Some Norfolk Halls. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XXXII pp 163-208. |
Related records
| 50997 | Parent of: World War Two activity within Sprowston Park (Monument) |
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