Hunstanton Hall (The Gatehouse Record)

In the civil parish of Old Hunstanton.
In the historic county of Norfolk.
Modern Authority of Norfolk.
1974 county of Norfolk.
Medieval County of Norfolk.

OS Map Grid Reference: TF69164184
Latitude 52.94703° Longitude 0.51671°

Hunstanton Hall has been described as a probable Fortified Manor House.

There are major building remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

One of the great houses of Norfolk, this was the mansion of the L'Estrange family (the name was changed to Le Strange in 1839 and adopted by the Stylemans, who inherited in 1760). P.G. Wodehouse was a frequent visitor in the 1920s and 1930s and the house is featured in some of his stories. The moated site surrounds buildings which are said to have C14 cores and a gatehouse of 1487. The hall was rebuilt in 1618, and the side ranges in 1623, with a wall along the moat dated 1622. The Octagon is of 1640 and the formal gardens after 1686. There were fires in 1835 and 1853, followed in each case by rebuilding, with further work in the 1870s and up to 1900. A third fire followed in 1950. The wing north of the gatehouse that was gutted by the 1950 fire was restored in the 1980s. The earthworks to the south of the Hall and gardens have been recorded during the NMP mapping under the site number of NHER 26941. The extent of the moat has been mapped, although the aerial photograph evidence did not reveal anything that is not obvious on the ground or map. The area of water features, to the north of the hall, marked 'mill waters' has also been mapped. These appear to create three roughly oblong islands, surrounded by water, centred on TF 6907 4205. These 'moated' islands represent some form of water management, possibly to do with a mill, although they do not appear to form a standard mill pond or race. It is more likely that they are related to the supply of water for the hall moats. (Norfolk HER)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1171725
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 356768.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 1117.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 2 East Anglia, Central England and Wales (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 127n7
  Pevsner, N. and Wilson, B., 1999, The Buildings of England: Norfolk: North-West and South p. 213
  Cooper, Nicholas, 1999, Houses of the Gentry, 1480-1680 (Yale University Press) p. 206
  Bryant, A., 1826, Bryant's Map of Norfolk
  Blomefield, F., 1809, 'Smethdon Hundred: Hunstanton Lordship' An Essay towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk Vol. 10 p. 312-28 (tenurial history) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Hussey, C., 1926, Country Life Vol. 59 p. 552-9, 586-95
  1923, Norfolk Archaeology Vol. 21 p. 77-96 (C14 accounts)
  Le Strange, Hamon, 1920, 'A Roll of Household Accounts of Sir Hamon le Strange of Hunstanton, Norfolk, 1347-8' Archaeologia Vol. 69 p. 111-20 (C14 accounts) online copy
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Hunstanton Household Accounts
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Historic England, 2016, Heritage at Risk East of England Register 2016 (London: Historic England) p. 41 online copy
  Historic England, 2015, Heritage at Risk East of England Register 2015 (London: Historic England) p. 43 online copy
  English Heritage, 2014, Heritage at Risk Register 2014 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 45 online copy
  English Heritage, 2013, Heritage at Risk Register 2013 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 47 online copy
  English Heritage, 2012, Heritage at Risk Register 2012 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 57 online copy
  English Heritage, 2011, Heritage at Risk Register 2011 East of England (London: English Heritage) p. 52 online copy
  Faire, T., 2003, Historical Report and Evaluation of Gatehouse and South Wings
  Rose, E. (NLA), 2003, Building Report

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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