In 1635 a
licence was granted to Sir Thomas Meadowe to fell
trees. (On p.43‑) ..certain
lands and tenements, formerly of Sir Thomas Meadowe, knight, afterwards of Sir
James Hayes, since of William Browne, afterwards of the said William Newson,
the father of William Newson and the said John Newson, giveth sixpence
halfpenny for the Lords of this Manor for a relief, and his fealty is
respited.
There
are various accounts relating to Hopton
Hall, dated 22 May 1618 for Thomas Meadowe.
There is also a reference to Thomas Meadowe's will, dated 25th.November 1686. Also mentioned are Thomas Jernegan and
John Jernegan. (Thomas
Meadowe was a brewer in Yarmouth
with many estates and land including a
house on Fullers Hill, the brewery on
North Quay, public houses including the
"Mitre" on George Street,
the manor and farm
at Herringfleet.)
Meadows’
barn at Herringfleet.
William Browne
had a house built at 55 North Quay Great Yarmouth and owned many of the same
pubs and breweries
as Sir thomas Meadowe
had before him.
He passed these
on to the Fisher family of
Yarmouth, who also had connections with Lound.
Whalebone arch at Hopton Hall. Others were in Southtown Road
and by the Park Tower.
John
Jernegan was involved in the matter of
the dispute over the throne between Mary Tudor and Jane Grey.) On page 47 of the Manorial Book, dated
7th Dec.1813, Newson had land granted
by the Dean and Chapter of Norwich, east of
the turnpike. William Foster was
Deputy Steward of the manor.
Page 49 refers to "the private
road to the north". The Dean and Chapter were Lords of the
Manor.
On p.52,
7th.Nov.1826, James Sayers
purchased a messuage or tenement, barn, stable and outbuildings for 205
pounds. On p.62, William Everitt
was referred to as tenant,
3rd. May 1866,
and on p.63, William Jex Blake was tenant, Sept 1844. A Thomas Blake
was also mentioned, a doctor in
civil law. There is no doubt that these
lands as mentioned here were all east of the
turnpike, but had clearly been part of the Hopton Hall Manor as owned by Sir
Thomas Meadowe.
Thomas Meadowe had also been a contemporary
of Sir John Wentworth of Somerleyton Hall, and these men were strong
supporters of Cromwell, whose grand‑daughter lived in Southtown,
and Cromwell himself
lodged at Somerleyton hall.
James Sayers, also just mentioned, was an
attorney in Yarmouth, and was
buried in the old parish church at Hopton, now a ruin (above as photographed by
P.Rumbelow). Row 83 is named Sayers Row.
Sir Edmund
Henry Knowles Lacon, Baronet, held the manorial land at Hopton on the
surrender of Christopher Sayers. The Lacons were the
direct inheritors of the
breweries already referred to in Yarmouth, which were inherited
through the Wards, his wife's
family, and he had a house from them, on the site of one owned by Sir John Fastolf, which faces down the quay,
and is now the Quay Cub, and
Falstaff's Restaurant.
Edmond Lacon
also went into banking, and
moved his home from Hopton (12th.Nov.1859), purchasing Ormesby House.
His wife was Dame Eliza Giorgiana Lacon. Later the land at Hopton
was purchased by James Henry Orde.
(These lived at Hopton House, not Hopton Hall)
the old
scullery.
In 1809 Thomas
Anguish was Lord of the Manor of Gapton
with Belton. The Manor of Gapton with
Belton was granted from Hugh Fastolf to
John Fastolf in the second year of the
Reign of Richard Second. Sir
Henry Ingles married Ann,
daughter and heir of Robert
Gyney of Haverland by Margaret his wife, the daughter and heir of John Fastolf,
he died in 1451 and the Lordships of Gunton and Hopton were to
be sold to pay his debts.
Mrs Noel’s
bedroom with antique wheelchair. Dr Liddle related how he visited her here
prior to her death.
Robert
Ingles, one of the Trustees then
acquired it, from whom it was
passed to his daughter, Constancia, who married Ralph Blomvyle, (an alternative
spelling) who was fined for some
reason, and thence
to Edward Jerningham
by purchase.
This room
had been used for dances, we did likewise
On Edward's death in 1515 it went to Sir John
Jerningham who died in 1558, and to
his grandson, subsequently John Jernegan and then to his third daughter
Francis and her second husband,
Henry Jerningham. Her first
husband was Thomas
Bedingfield of Oxborough. They sold to John Wentworth, Ashby Corton and Newton.
John
Wentworth died in 1618 and thence it
passed to his son, Sir John Wentworth.
Thereafter it passed to John Garnese, his nephew, as he had no other heir. It was sold subsequently to Admiral Sir Thomas Alan Burnett by
his son Thomas Garnese 1672. Thence it passed to the son, also Sir Thomas Allen and then to his sister
Alice, the wife of Edmond Anguish
whose son Richard took the name
of Allen and through the Anguish family and eventually sold to Samuel Morton Peto in 1844.
Richard Henry Reeve was Lord of
the Manor in 1855.
The front
Hall clothed with Admiral Noel’s old prints.
In Palmers
Perlustration, it is related how an estate at
Hopton was in the
possession of John Bell, the attorney of Row 97 in Great
Yarmouth. This was the Hopton Hall
estate that was subsequently
passed to his son, William Bell, whose memorial
is in Lound Church.
In the
walled garden.
John Bell
was in residence at Hopton Hall towards the latter part of the 18th.c.,
and was at this time instrumental in arrangements to relieve the disastrous
famine in the winter of 1776 in Yarmouth,
with the distribution of
thousands of cheap loaves of bread.
Another
part of the Bell family had
a brewery in Gorleston. This
must have been the
maltings on High Road that were destroyed by fire in
1980. (thought to be arson)
The estate
passed from the Bells*4 to Major General Cock, and thence to Admiral
Plumridge, who had been a
midshipman at the Battle of Trafalgar. There is a biography of Admiral
Plumridge from the "National Biography"
It was William
Bell who made substantial alterations
to the hall, building on "two large airy front rooms".*1
In the
Deeds of Hopton Hall it
would appear that it was transferred by conveyance to Sir J. Hanway
Plumridge K.C.B. in October 1885.
There is a
copy of a plan showing the substantial estate at that time which was said to be some seventy acres.
(the first
of those shown above)
By his Will
of the 17th. October 1862 Sir J. Hanway Plumridge K.C.B. gave and devised all his real estate unto
James Fisher German and John Baker their heirs and assigns upon trust, until
his younger child should attain
twenty one years.
The said J.H. Plumridge died 29th. November 1863, was said to hold lands
of the Manor of Lound. The
property is described as, all that one messuage and one piece of land
copyhold containing by
estimation, 1A, 2R theretofore called Bridges Close Site, and being
in Brotherton*11 in
Hopton between the way formerly called
see history of the Leaking Way, leading from Corton towards Hopton aforesaid on the part Thomas de Brotherton of the east, and land
formerly of Elizabeth Hearne and
afterwards of William Lincoln on the part of the west, and
abutting upon lands formerly of the
said E. Hearne and late of William Lincoln towards
the south and lands formerly of Sawes and
afterwards of Richard Vesey towards the north with the appurtenances as
the same messuage and piece of land were then bounded by freehold land formerly of Thomas Morse*5
afterwards of James Cock*6 and late of the said J.H. Plumridge towards
the north or north west by the public
road in the award of the Commissioners
named in the Corton, Hopton and
Gorleston Enclosure Act
No.5 towards the east or north east,
by freehold land formerly of the said T. Morse afterwards of the said J.
Cock and late of the said J.H. Plumridge towards the west or south west by land
late of John Thurtle, since
of William Danby
Palmer Esq., deceased afterwards of William Walpole
Esq., and now towards the south
or south west. And also to one
piece of land containing by
estimation seventeen feet in length and
three and a half feet in breadth. Upon the west, which the west end of a
stable was formerly built lying and
being in Brotherton aforesaid next
land late parcel of the common pasture there called Black Hill on
the part of the west with the
appurtenances as the same piece of land was banded on all sides
by freehold land formerly of the
said T. Morse etc.... called Black Hills, and also to one
piece of land enclosed
containing by estimation two acres lying next to the land late
parcel of common pasture of
Brotherton on the part of the west by land
formerly of William Woodruff in
part, and the lands formerly of Samuel Fenn in part on the part
of the east and abutting
on land late parcel of the common pasture of Brotherton aforesaid
towards the north, and the lands
formerly of John Bermont towards the south, and also to one
Close called Hopton Close formerly Calthorpes, containing by estimation eight acres laying
in Hopton, with the
appurtenances which said
last mentioned etc.....
Bounded by freehold land
afterwards of the said T. Morse late parcel of Hopton Common and
allotted to T. Fowler
by the Commoners, Commissioners
under the Corton, Hopton and Gorleston Enclosure Act No.57. And also to all that piece of land in the
said award of the Commissioners
named in the Corton, Hopton Enclosure
Act. No.65, situate
in Hopton aforesaid, allotted to
the said T. Fowler towards the south by the boundary ditch dividing the parishes of Hopton and Lound towards the
west, all of which premises the said J.H. Plumridge took up on surrender of the
said T. Morse, pursuant to the
statute of the
23rd October 1851. Indenture of this date between the said J.F. German
and J.
Baker of the one part, and Gertrude Somes of Hopton Hall in the County
of Suffolk, Spinster, on the other part, subject to the annual free rent of nineteen shillings
payable to the Lord of the Manor
of Caldecott Hall.*7
My
daughters in the garden.
The
youngest child of Sir J.H. Plumridge,
who was born after the decease of the
said testator, attained the age of
twenty one years on the 2nd December 1884. Thereafter
the estate was offered for sale in one
lot by public auction at the Star Hotel in Great Yarmouth, on the
24th day of June 1885 and the said
G. Somes as the highest bidder for the same, was declared the purchaser
at the price of Five Thousand Pounds.
Party time,
Malcolm King shown as an Arab, seated right.
The
schedule of lands included were, Nos.1 on
the plan, the Hall, gardens and pleasure grounds, Nos.2 & 3. the park‑like lawn and
plantation, No.4. Lodge and garden, No.5. Farmhouse and
premises, No.6. The Hills and
Home Piece, arable land, No.7. Carr
pasture, No.8. Low Meadow,
pasture, No.9. Fairs Hill,
pasture, No.10. Fenn,
pasture, No.11. House
from premises and garden, No.12. Fenn Allotment, pasture, and No.13.
Howes Ground Piece, arable. Next sale
by indenture dated 1887 October 14th. Between Gertrude Somes and
Harry Hutchinson Augustus
Stewart of Morningthorpe Manor, Long Stratton,
Norfolk a Lieutant Colonel (Retired) in
H.M. Army of the other
part. Then was sold, Parts Nos. 1,2,3
& 4 together with Part 11,12 & 13 for the sum of
Three Thousand Pounds, and let to Mrs.
Barber Nos. 5,6,7,8 &
9,10,11,12 & 13.
Total acreage of seventy one acres, two rods and nineteen
perches. Then October 19th. 1887 for
Two Thousand Pounds, between William Barlow Skinner and H.H.A. Stewart,
this simply seems to have been for a
year to be redeemed. In 1891 between Charles W.Willett late of Blofield then of
Acle, in the County of Norfolk, Barrister
at Law, and the
said Charles Thomas Turner
and H.H.A. Stewart reciting a Richard Henry Reeve late of Lowestoft,
Gentleman, deceased, being seized of or
otherwise well entitled to the Manor of
Lound for an Estate enhance in fee simple duly made
his Will dated 30th. December 1887, whereby he appointed the said C.W. Willett
and C.T. Turner the Executors. R.H.
Reeve died the 18th October 1888
and H.H.A. Stewart
was duly admitted 18th October 1887
upon the absolute surrender
of the said Gertrude
Somes to the
hereditaments thereinafter
mentioned, and reciting that on
the 18th October 1887, the said H.H.A. Stewart acknowledged that he
held of the Lord of
the said Manor certain lands and
tenements in Hopton and Brotherton, or one of them containing by
estimation, two acres by the yearly rent of Four Shillings and Tuppence,
and also of the Manor of Northleet certain other lands and tenements
in Hopton formerly Eldridges,
by the yearly rent of
Three Shillings, and also of
the Manor of
Eastleet, certain other lands in Brotherton by the yearly
rent of Four Shillings, being the annual
composition of two bushels of barley, all of which were formerly of David Henry Urquhart, it was witnessed
in pursuance of the said agreement and in
consideration of the sum of Seventy Eight Pounds, Seventeen Shillings and Five Pence, to the said C.W. Willis and C.T.
Turner, paid by H.A. Stewart, that H.H.A. Stewart then stood admitted as
aforesaid in the said Manor of Lound
in every part and parcel of the same including all timber mines, minerals and all other rights
reserved by Section 48 of the Copyholder Act 1852, to hold unto and to the use
of the said H.H.A. Stewart in fee simple
freely and absolutely enfranchised released and discharged forever, of
and from all manner of yearly and other
payments quit rents, free rents, chief rents, customary or
copyhold rents, fees, fines,
heriots fealty Suit of Court and other customary payments etc.......
Admiral
Noel’s prints hung in the upstairs corridor also. The collection was passed to
Miss Noels Nephew, but she left a few which hung here a while and at Leonard
Ley surgery and now at the Orangery. Items left included fascinating photos of
the Noels house in Hunstanton in 1886, again showing the same prints. One print
of Admiral Rodney I hung a few months at 13 Rodney Road, named after the same
Admiral. Another, of Lady Hamilton I have hung alongside and took as a talking
point to an evening recreating Nelson’s visit to the home of
Lord Walpole.
Now in 1906
February 21st by indenture, between
H.H.A. Stewart and Frederica Elizabeth
Stewart his wife, and by
an indenture dated the 1st May 1901 and made between H.H.A. Stewart of
the one part and Lowestoft, Water and
Gas Company of the other part, convey such part of parts of the last
mentioned hereditaments unto the use of
the said company in fee simple,
and conveying the residue of the
hereditaments unto the said Frances Elizabeth Stewart and her
heirs and assigns. Twenty acres were conveyed to the Water Company,
comprising No.2. on the plan,
rough grassland with side strip next to
the run, No.3. grassland, No.4. rough ground and carr, No.5.
old sandpit, No.6. arable
land severance, No.7.
old cottage garden outbuildings
and yards, No.8. pasture ground, No.9 & 10. rough ground and
pond, No.11. arable land
including fence and four feet hole, No.12. rough sedge‑ground,
No.13. half Hopton Run, also all that
messuage or tenement formerly two cottages with a garden thereto
belonging containing an unspecified size bounded on the north east by
the High Road and on all other sides by the lands intended to be hereby assured for many years in the
occupation of John Gillings, as tenant for the said H.H.A. Stewart. It
would appear that
by means of selling this land off to the Water Company, the Stewarts
cancelled off a mortgage to John L. Clarke and remained owing Five
Hundred Pounds to the Water Company.
The mortgage having been the Two Thousand Pounds mentioned earlier.
Then by Will of
June 17th 1907, Frances
Elizabeth Stewart of Hopton Hall, wife of H.H.A. Stewart appointed her
eldest son, Walter
Stewart and William Archer Thompson,
Executors and in
trust for her daughter Marjory
Augustus Stewart, absolutely in case she should survive her and attain the age of twenty one years
or marry under that age. On the 28th
June 1912 F.E. Stewart
died. 17th March 1913 an
Indenture was made between the
Executors, Marjorie Augustus Stewart of
St. Phillips Vicarage, Bethnal Green,
Middlesex,(which implies she was already married) and the Caister Freehold Land and Investment Co. Ltd., whose
registered office was at
Caister, for the sum of Two Thousand Six Hundred Pounds,
reciting that the sum of Five Hundred
Pounds still remained owing. There was
at that time remaining a free rent of Nineteen Shillings, to the Manor of Caldecott. A total of fifty one acres and twenty two perches was sold,
comprising: the Hall, gardens, pleasure
grounds and farm buildings, the Lodge and garden, the pasture land, cattle, yard and lean‑to
corrugated roof cow shelter, and arable
land, Three Thousand Pounds was paid for this property.
In 1920
March 31st. an Indenture between the Honourable Mary Janet Lindsay of 7 Charles Street,
Mayfair in the County of London, Widow the
vendor, and Hugh Graham Aldiss of 35 Colehern Court in
the County of London, for the
sum of Four Thousand Pounds. 28th April 1925 an Indenture between Hugh Graham
Aldiss, of 35 Colehern Court and David Cecil Thomas of Gorleston, subject to
an annual free rent of Nineteen
Shillings payable to the Lord of the Manor of Caldecott Hall and a commutation
tithe rent charge of Sixteen Pounds, Sixteen and One Penny, but otherwise
free of incumbrances, for the sum of
Four Thousand Pounds. Next was an
indenture conveying 22nd. February 1926
D.C. Thomas Esq., to E.C. Peers Esq.
Edward Crosby Peers of Burton House*12, Regent Road, Great
Yarmouth in the County of Norfolk, Gentleman, the amount purchased on this occasion was now twenty nine point three
acres comprising; Hopton
Hall, garden and stabling, the entrance lodge, parkland
of seven acres, spinney Regent Road.
point one acres, pasture
of seventeen acres, the Hopton Hall garden and stabling ‑ four
point nine six one acres.
This
excluded Fenn Cottages, and the land to the west which clearly must
have been sold on again to the
Water Company. (It now belongs to them)
In 1926,
4th.March, Edward Crosby Peers of
Burton House, Regent
Road had a mortgage with George William Chapman of Martham, for the sum
of Two Thousand Pounds secured
on the property. This was discharged on
the 31st Day of March 1931.
A Deed was
made the 4th Day of August 1932, between the Midland Bank, Executor and Trustee Company,
the Right Honourable
Saville Brinton Crossley,
Baron, Lord Somerleyton, P.C.G.C.B.O. and Major the
Honourable Francis Saville Crossley of Somerleyton Hall in the County of Suffolk, (the vendors) on the one part and Edward Crosby Peers of Hopton Hall,
Medical Practitioner, on the other part. (The vendors were in
possession of the Manor
of Caldecot)
Peers’
house and surgery in Regent Road
Edward Crosby
Peers was acknowledged to hold
of the Lord of the said Manor to pay
the annual rent of eleven shillings
on certain hereditaments
situated in Hopton.
The vendors agreed with Edward Crosby Peers for the release to him of
these hereditaments from the
said free rent
for the sum of eleven pounds.
This was signed by Baron
Somerleyton in the
presence of Samuel Cole, Butler,
and Francis Saville
Crossley, at the
Estate Office, Lound, witnessed by the Estate Agent with
the title, Captain M.C. Can this have been Captain Flatt? I cannot
make out the signature, but the Estate Office
was at Mardle Farm, subsequently purchased and resided at by
me as the next resident of
that property in 1982, following
the death of Captain Flatt, who had tenanted Mardle Farm since 1921. Mardle House, Lound.htm I do not myself have the next Deed which is held by my
Solicitor of the
sale between Peers and Colonel F.A.G. Noel and Evelyn Noel, his wife,
however I do have certain
documents and Inventory
of fixtures, fittings and furniture and outdoor effects, from Doctor Edward Crosby Peers to Lieutenant Colonel Frank
A.G. Noel, dated 30th July 1937.
A number
of items in this inventory
have been passed on to me by Miss Susan
Noel on subsequent sale of the property this year 1990.
There is an
audio record of an interview I
made in November 1992, with Joan
Allen about life there in 1929. An
inventory remained of all the items in the
house when it was sold to the Noels. I wonder why everything was sold
with the house, but virtually no furniture
was included, so
Dr.Peers might have
sold that off
separately, but he moved to
Ormesby, his wife and himself she says, ended their days in separate
nursing homes.. Items on this inventory include a double-cylinder garden
roller ‑still here-
the club fender
in the morning‑room,
the roller-blinds with lace
edges ‑we still have one in use, but the others were past their
best!!
The morning
room full of Miss Noels belongings prior to removal. There is a thick tube
above the R in there, that might be Admiral Noel’s Map case which she left behind
with it’s wonderful maps.
An electric
floor polish was still present, also
the alabaster pendant bowls ‑one
still in decent condition, and various glass lamp
shades.
I suspect
that some of the garden tools are as on
this inventory, and that the atco mower listed
is the one that Miss Noel said
was under the wood pile.
The whole
contents were valued at 195 pounds
eight shillings and ninepence, by Gambling and Duffield.
A most remarkable
thing really were the
"two marble mantels
complete" in the coach‑house,which remained there
in 1990.*8 Now in late 2001,
these are installed as a fireplace at The Orangery in Filby, where the
Mantlepeice comes from the office at 43 King Street, the marble must have been put
in by Bell in 1832, and the mantelpiece at King Street in the rstoration of
1893.
In the cellar were the old
boiler, with a pile of coke and a pile of sticks. The sticks covered some old letters, of
which the youngest was written 1946, and amongst them was a bundle wrapped in brown paper and tied with string, containing a copy of a 1904
London Trades Directory, and a pencilled note saying that it had
been rescued from
a bombed post office. The newspaper was
dated 1917, and had a picture of
the Kaiser inside.
An old
tallow candle sat on the left side in the wine storeroom, and a crumpled
newspaper there was dated 1944, and
inside for some time resided a bat, which whenever I inspected it carefully
was seen to be breathing away
happily inside‑ though at first I had quite a shock and was
taken aback in alarm.
In the same
room, the entrance had
been walled off in the war by
the Butler. The family had sent half the furniture to Headington, Oxford, and
left half in the house. The butler
had walled the remaining half of the furniture in his safe‑keeping up
in the cellar. When the war
ended, the half of the furniture that was in
Oxford had been
destroyed by a bomb. That
which remained in the
cellar, had rotted away incarcerated in the airless walled
THERE ARE A
FEW OTHER DATES OF INTEREST-
The
overmantel of carved oak in the morning
room had two coats of arms carved on either side of the mantle itself, the left hand one was
a shield with
three lions rampant and a
chequered strip across
the centre. The right-hand one was a shield with three upright mallets,
grapeshot in the middle, a
small new moon above, and
an anchor in the left upper
corner.
The
mantelpiece.
The date
at the top of the
overmantel was 1889*9.
There is a
date on the garden wall of
1786,
The date is
in the brick above this arch.
and a date
on the coach house, again in the
brickwork, of 1832. My feeling is
that the cellars
predate the garden wall, and
that the house was remodelled in about 1832, whilst the overmantel, clearly put
in by Harry Hutchison Stewart may well have been later than the rest of
the mantlepiece.
There is a
photo published in the East Suffolk
Illustrated dated 1906, showing the house before the fire,
with a low slate roof,
a lower portico than at present,
fourteen chimneys (!), the original Georgian windows on the
ground-floor,which are much
taller than now ,going almost to the
ceilings; French windows on the S.W.
bedroom, and the window 2nd from the
right split into two, having apparently two rooms there one above the
other.
The French
Windows.
Presumably
all the extra chimneys in that picture demonstrate a number of extra rooms
at the
back of the house, in
rather a different
configuration.
Before the
fire I am told that the bedrooms were
all arranged along the south side, and
bathrooms with toilets ranged along the north
side of the
corridor. (according to Joan
Allen)
The
present bathrooms are post-fire: the
house mostly all burned down in
c.1931. It appears that Peers
was obliged to sell the land that now is owned by the woodyard, in order to
meet the huge costs of rebuilding the
hall, which were in fact equal to the
total value of the entire property, including coach‑house and
grounds.
The
ordinance survey map of 1889 shows
a "pheasantry", which must have been a substantial breeding
place for young birds, past the wall
to the South‑West, where at the time there were few trees.
*1 Palmer's Perlustration.
*3 Coppinger's "The Manors of
Suffolk".
*4 Charles Bell purchased a messuage
(dwelling) and lands from Johnathan Meek on 3rd.December 1811. (see general
court baron book, Manor of Lound, 1767-1817)This is in the Suffolk Record
Office, Lowestoft.
*5 Thomas Morse of Lound Manor.
*6 Major-General Cock's memorial tomb
is still intact to the south side of the old ruined church at Hopton.
*7 Ancient Deeds of Caldecott Hall are
in the appendix to these volumes.
*12 Burton House is now the "House
of Wax", on Regent Road.
*8 These two marble mantle-pieces are
still in my possession, to be restored.
*9 To my eternal sorrow, this has been
stolen in 1992.
*11 Thomas De Brotherton (1300-1338),
first son of the second wife of Edward Ist., had several local connections,
which is elsewhere examined in detail.
