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| Erwarton Hall and Gatehouse | |
|---|---|
 "in the first generation of English Renaissance architecture" | |
| Type | House and gatehouse |
| Location | Erwarton, Suffolk |
| Coordinates | 51°58′12″N 1°14′06″E / 51.9701°N 1.2349°E / 51.9701; 1.2349 |
| Built | 16th century, with earlier origins and later additions |
| Architect | Sir Philip Parker |
| Architectural style(s) | Elizabethan architecture |
| Owner | Private |
| Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Erwarton Hall Gatehouse |
| Designated | 23 February 1989 |
| Reference no. | 1193599 |
| Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Erwarton Hall |
| Designated | 23 February 1989 |
| Reference no. | 1351638 |
  Location of Erwarton Hall and Gatehouse in Suffolk | |
Erwarton Hall and Gatehouse stand to the north of the village of Erwarton, on the Shotley Peninsula in Suffolk, England. Although earlier structures stood on the site, the present hall was rebuilt in around 1575 by Sir Philip Parker. The gatehouse is earlier, dating to around 1549. The hall is a Grade II* listed building while the gatehouse is separately listed at Grade I.
History
The village of Erwarton (alternatively Arwarton) is recorded in Domesday. The lordship of the manor was held the D'Avillars, descending to the Calthorpes. The last of this line, Sir Philip Calthorpe, married Jane Boleyn, becoming uncle-by-marriage of Queen Anne Boleyn. Calthorpe died c.1549 and the Erwarton Gatehouse may have been built to commemorate his memory. Calthorpe's tomb is situated in the south aisle of the Church of St Mary in the village.
Peter Ashley, in his study Comings and goings: Gatehouses and Lodges published in association with English Heritage, notes that while gatehouses have their origins in defensive architecture, they evolved from being "the first line of defence the first line in a style offensive". The Erwarton Gatehouse belongs to the second type, Historic England suggesting that a strong central gate was never installed, and that the gatehouse has always stood in isolation without the encircling curtain walls that would have been necessary to make it effective as a bar to encroachment. In the Tudor era, from which the Erwarton Lodge dates, this trend accelerated, and East Anglia contains some important examples, such as the gatehouse at Layer Marney in Essex and that at Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk. Timothy Mowl, is his work on lodges, Trumpet at a Distant Gate writes that "the desire of an owner to impress a visitor outweighed his wish to repel an attacking force".
In 2024 an appeal to allow a housing development at Erwarton Farm, immediately adjacent to the hall, was turned down. Objections to the proposal had been lodged by the hall's current owners, and by Griff Rhys Jones and the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Suffolk Coastal, John Gummer.
Architecture and description
The gatehouse is of red brick with a central tunnel supported by four buttresses. The hall is listed at Grade II* while the gatehouse is separately listed at Grade I.
Gallery
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Erwarton Hall
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The hall viewed through the gatehouse arch
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The gatehouse from the road
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Footnotes
- Nikolaus Pevsner, in the second edition of his Suffolk volume in the Buildings of England series published in 1974, described the church as "nicely neglected".
References
- ^ Historic England. "Erwarton Hall Gatehouse (Grade I) (1193599)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
- https://cornerstonebarristers.com/planning-hearing-to-consider-impact-of-proposals-on-heritage-assets-with-royal-connection/
- ^ Pevsner & Radcliffe 1974, pp. 201–202. sfn error: no target: CITEREFPevsnerRadcliffe1974 (help)
- Ashley 2002, Introduction.
- Mowl & Earnshaw 1985, pp. 3–4.
- "Erwarton Hall owners delighted as farmyard development appeal dismissed". Shotley Peninsula Nub News. 8 February 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
- Bettley & Pevsner 2015, pp. 209–210.
- Historic England. "Erwarton Hall (Grade II*) (1351638)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
Sources
- Ashley, Peter (2002). Comings and goings: Gatehouses and lodges. London: Everyman Publishers. ISBN 978-1-841-59081-3.
- Bettley, James; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2015). Suffolk: East. Pevsner Buildings of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-19654-2.
- Mowl, Timothy; Earnshaw, Brian (1985). Trumpet At A Distant Gate: The Lodge as Prelude to the Country House. London: Waterstone. ISBN 978-0-947-75205-7.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Enid, Radcliffe (1974). Suffolk. Pevsner Buildings of England. Harmsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-140-71020-5.