the first haveringland hall
The first recorded owner of Haveringland Hall was Sir Thomas Hyrne in 1580. The first Haveringland Hall was medieval. Whilst the house itself has long gone, its moat is still there.
the second haveringland hall
The picture above is detail from a tithe map showing the design of the second hall and its location to the west of the lakes
William Fellowes replaced this hall about half a mile to the north of the original one, with plans for formal gardens in between. A plan of 1674 and an estate map of 1807 both show the second hall at the western end of a small artificial lake, leading east to a large fishing lake. A picture of the second hall drawn on a tithe map of 1738 shows two slightly projecting wings, a piano nobile and mansard roofs.
Various maps of the 1830s and 1840s show that the hall occupied one large plot of land, with the access road leading west through another plot.
William Henry Fellowes, was the second owner of the second hall until his death in 1837. His successor, Edward Fellowes, demolished this hall in 1840 and built the third. Cropmarks of its layout can sometimes be seen from the air.
the third haveringland hall
Photo of Haveringland Hall and museum walk; credit: Lost Heritage
The third Hall was commissioned by Edward Fellowes, the first Baron de Ramsey. It built in the early 1840s was designed in the Italianate Style by the architect Edward Blore, who also designed Buckingham Palace. the Clock Tower entrance, with working clocks similar to those of the Palace, is thought to be the only other example of its kind.
The drawing above is based on Edward Blore’s plans for the new hall. It includes an additional storey and tower in the east wing which were never built.
Built on the hill to the north of the lake, the new Haveringland Hall, was constructed to the south-east of the site of the former hall. The main building had three storeys plus a basement. There were corner attics and an observatory tower. It was in Italianate style., faced on the three main fronts in Bath stone. There were forty bedrooms. The entrance porch was on the west side. The south and east fronts overlooked terraces and had views of the lakes.
The new hall was surrounded by elaborate parkland gardens. The landscaped gardens to the south were demolished. An ice house, in the parkland south-east of the hall, was probably built at this time. There was a new entrance to the estate, with lodges each side, on the west.
The main entrance to Haveringland Hall, through a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates bearing Lord de Ramsey’s crest, was located at Bee Cross, the crossroads where School Road and Clay Lane meet Haveringland Road. The village post office was once here. However all these buildings were demolished to make way for Swannington Airfield. The great gates were moved to the safety of the family seat in Ramsey, Cambridge.
The second Baron de Ramsey, William Henry Fellowes, inherited Haveringland Hall in 1887. He usually spent the summers at Ramsey Abbey and the winters at Haveringland Hall. When he died in 1925, his son and heir to the estate, the third Baron de Ramsey, Ailwyn Edward Fellowes was aged just fifteen, so lived in Ramsey Abbey, and Haveringland Hall was mostly unoccupied.
When the third Baron de Ramsey came of age in 1931, the trustees of the de Ramsey estate decided to vacate both Haveringland Hall and Ramsay Abbey and a new family seat was established in Abbots Ripton Hall.
Photo: Five B-24 Liberators of the 445th Bomb Group fly in formation over Haveringland Hall, Norfolk. Credit: American Air Museum in Britain
During World War Two the house and parts of the estate were requisitioned for the construction of RAF Swannington. The demolition of the hall began after the decommissioning of the RAF station. Today, only the stable block remains, which has been converted to residential use.
Today only the foundations and cellars of the third hall and the ice house survive. The stable block, built in red brick, also in Italianate style, is approached from the back drive through an arched entrance with a clocktower over. This building is grade 2 listed. The two lodge cottages either side of the west entrance also survive.
There are more details about the listed buildings of Haveringland Hall here:
There is a selection of photos of Haveringland Hall on the “Lost Heritage” website:
Haveringland Chronicles 