Norfolk Heritage Explorer

Location

Full description

Visited 29 July 1986. No remains visible of hall.
Present Old Hall Stables and Kennels are made in stable block and coachman's house?, all 19th century red brick, not of especial interest.
Old kitchens, proposed for conversion to house, is a red brick building, one large room with arch braced roof and central glass louvre.
19th century arched openings in wall, very impressive but in very bad condition.
On old main road, good 19th century brick gate pillars with finials and iron gates.
E. Rose (NAU) 29 July 1986.

Copy of (S2) in file shows unusual building.
Façade has two half polygonal bay windows, with apparently half plus one plus half bay between them containing door. Three dormers. Side elevation of four bays all of two storeys.
Rear, lower two storey wing of eight bays.
The latter may be the older house but the main block looks about 1800.
E. Rose (NLA) 5 January 1990.

(S3) however states that the first hall dated from the late 17th century and stood further north than its successor, demolished in 1775 because its site no longer lay within the park.
The later house is dated to 1775 to 1781, demolished about 1950.
It is difficult to judge where the earlier hall could have been to the north and outside the park, as this area is occupied by Manor Farm (site NHER 1448) an earlier building.
E. Rose (NLA) 17 March 1994.

20th century postcard reproduced in (S4) shows a very different building to the older engraving, there are two extra bays each side of the half polygonal bays, but the side elevation is the same; the rear wing has a division halfway along. Can the hall really have been widened or is the earlier drawing inaccurate?
The postcard shows flat topped dormers in each roof slope.
E. Rose (NLA) 14 January 1997.

(S5) notes iron gates dated 1908 at Shrublands, Nether Row, Thetford said to have come from Heacham Hall.
E. Rose (NLA) 14 July 1998.

The building was indeed extended after 1840, though the postcard is misleading, two additional bays were added to the right hand end alone and the doorway brought forward onto a porch. The right hand side elevation of the new extension was made to imitate the old wall but with different windows. The division in the rear wing is where a single storey end section has been raised since 1840. These details come from a photo of 1890 in (S6) showing the house before the extension. (S6) also states house was rebuilt 1774 to 1778 and confirms rear wing was the older hall and that (S3) is incorrect; also many other details of the estate.
E. Rose (NLA) 26 January 2001.

February 2022. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of the significance Heacham Park (NHER 30507) and the potential impact of a proposed new house (to be built close to the the site of the hall that burnt down in 1941).
The hall that previously occupied the site had been erected by the Rolfe family, who had been buying up land in Heacham, including Heacham Manor. The hall built by Edmund Rolfe (1738-1817) was though not at the original site of the manor house, which is shown by a map of 1623 to have lain to the north, on or close to what is now Heacham Manor Hotel (NHER 1448). The new hall was though not erected on virgin ground, a large house being shown at this location, fronting onto a north-south road known as 'The Drove'. Notebooks detailing the construction of the new hall confirm that it incorporated elements of this earlier house, as although they document payments for "…taking up foundations of old house…" there is also references to work on "…the gable walls of old house…", "…altering chimney new room old house…" and "…repairing old wall by servants passageway…".
It is suggested that the hall was most likely extended by Holcombe Ingleby in the short period between him acquiring the estate in 1899 and its sale to C.E. Strachan in 1902.
The hall was requisitioned by the army during World War Two and accidentally burnt down in 1941. The former kitchen range was extensively rebuilt in the 1980s to create the dwelling now known as 'The Old Hall'. Little of the original structure now remains. The stable block and kennels survive and have also been converted. Other surviving structures of historical interest include the walls of the kitchen garden (which now enclosure light industrial units) and a low brick wall and ha ha to the south of the hall that had once separated the pleasure grounds from the hall. The latter was a relatively late addition, having been constructed at some time between 1887 and 1904.
See report (S10) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 July 2025.

May 2022. Desk-based Assessment and Photographic Survey.
Further studies undertaken ahead of the proposed development of 'The Old Hall' and the construction of a new dwelling. As noted above 'The Old Hall' was created by the conversion of the old kitchen range following the demolition of the actual hall following the fire in 1941. The proposed development would also see the construction of a home office building, a new driveway providing direct access to the Hunstanton Road from the east and a parterre garden on the site of the original hall.
A photographic survey of The Old Hall demonstrates that any remains of the original brick and Carstone kitchen range are largely concealed – only being visible in a few select areas. It is clear that substantial sections of the kitchen range were demolished during the conversion work. Overall it is assessed that the architectural/aesthetic interest of the building is negligible due to how little of the original fabric survives.
Groundworks at the site of the original hall will almost certain encounter surviving structural remains. It was noted during a site visit that the foundations of the main, southern façade were clearly visible as parchmarks and these can also be seen on recent aerial imagery. These remain are though adjudged to be of only limited, local significance.
See reports (S11) and (S12) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 July 2025.

June 2023. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of site of proposed new dwelling and associated landscaping.
Two of the six trenches excavated revealed in situ structural remains associated with the demolished late 18th-century hall, including external walls, internal partition walls, external surfaces, internal floor preparation layers and a downpipe and gully drain. Deposits of made ground and demolition rubble were also encountered and similar material was seen in a trench to the east. No features likely to predate the hall were recorded.
No finds were recovered during this work.
See reports (S13) and (S14) for further details.
P. Watkins (HES), 12 July 2025.

Monument Types

• GREAT HOUSE (Medieval to World War Two - 1500 AD to 1941 AD)
• GATE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• KITCHEN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
• LIVERY STABLE (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds - none

Protected Status - none

Sources and further reading

Related records

Find out more...

• Parish Summary: Heacham (Parish Summary)