Somerleyton Hall, Lowestoft, England

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

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

Sir Thomas Wentworth purchased the Somerleyton estate from the Jerningham family at the beginning of the 17th century. His son John inherited in 1612 and subsequently passed the estate to his own son, another John, who managed it until his death in 1651. It was sometime during the first half of the 17th century that the Wentworths constructed a mansion house at Somerleyton and surrounded it with innovative gardens: a geometric 'Great Garden'; an orchard, the Firrendale Yard; and most remarkably, an irregular 'wilderness' garden. A map produced in the year following the younger John's death records that the estate was already a large one and that the house and garden were set in a 53ha deer park, newly created to accompany the mansion (1652 estate map). This all passed to John's nephew John Garney before being sold to Sir Thomas Allen of Lowestoft in 1669. The property remained in the hands of the Allen and Anguish family until 1844 when it was put up for sale. Very little documentary evidence survives to record what happened to the estate between the late 17th and late 18th century; no written records, maps or illustrations have so far been found. A selection of county maps published during this period do not help to illuminate the landscape since some record a park at Somerleyton and others do not. Both the 1805 Enclosure map and the 1844 Tithe map record only a small park with field boundaries closely related to the 1652 survey (Williamson and Taigel 1992).

In 1844 Sir Samuel Morton Peto purchased Somerleyton and he began an extensive phase of rebuilding and remodelling. The present mansion was constructed by the architect John Thomas in 1844, retaining the 17th-century house at its core. The park was greatly extended from 53 hectares to about 140 hectares, an area almost entirely enclosed by a low brick wall. Complex formal gardens were laid out beside the mansion, partly to a design by William Andrews Nesfield (1793-1881). The wider estate was also improved and a model village, also by Thomas, was constructed. The character of the surroundings of the mansion today (1998) owes more to the time of Sir Morton's ownership than to any other period. Over-expenditure on Somerleyton however forced Sir Morton to sell up in 1862 at which time it was purchased by Sir Francis Crossley. His son, Sir Savile Crossley, became the first Baron Somerleyton in 1916. The estate remains (1998) in private hands.