Somerleyton Hall, Lowestoft, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

A formal 19th-century garden partly by W A Nesfield, with pleasure grounds and walled gardens containing plant houses probably influenced by Joseph Paxton, set in a park of 17th-century origin with 19th-century alterations.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Somerleyton lies midway between Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth on the northern edge of the Waveney estuary, about 6.5km from the coast on the B1074 Oulton to St Olaves road. The park covers about 80 hectares with a nine hectare garden and pleasure ground at its core. The B1074 forms the southern and western boundaries, Green Farm Lane the eastern boundary and estate farmland and woodland the northern boundary. The whole is set in a rural part of Suffolk, surrounded by farmland dotted with occasional woods and scattered small villages. The model estate village of Somerleyton sits immediately beyond the south-west edge of the park. The registered site is mainly flat to the east and more undulating to the west. The land rises up gently from the southern boundary road to a flatter plateau on which stands the main house. This landform, together with dense tree planting in the park to the north-west, precludes any grand views from the Hall but its position on the higher ground does allow views of the park to the south and west. To the east, flat land and tree clumps cut the view short, while the gardens and pleasure grounds lie mainly to the north and are backed by woodland plantations. The low park wall and the rising ground offer good views into the park from the southern boundary road and from here it is also possible to view the church in the park.

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

J P Neale, Views of seats of the noblemen and gentlemen...4 (1819)

The Garden, (20 April 1872), p 482; (27 April 1872), p 510; (13 January 1912), p 30

Gardener's Magazine, (6 January 1912), p 7

N Pevsner and E Radcliffe, The Buildings of England: Suffolk (1975), p 421

M Girouard, The Victorian Country House (1979)

Country Life, 171 (3 June 1982), p 1668

T Williamson and A Taigel, Somerleyton: a report on the history of the park and gardens (1992)

Maps [all held in East Suffolk Record Office]

Survey of the Wentworth estate in Lothingland, 1652 (AR 295)

J Hodskinson, The County of Suffolk, 1783

Tithe map, 1844 (544/36(7)

OS Maps

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1885; 2nd edition published 1906; 1928 edition

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1884; 2nd edition published 1904; 1927 edition

Archival items [all held in East Suffolk Record Office]

Sale Particulars, 1844 (GC15:52/6/9(4)

Sale Particulars, 1861 (HA236/2/165)

Somerleyton estate papers (from 1872)
 

Description written: September 1998

Amended: June 1999

Edited: December 1999