Wiveton Hall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wiveton Hall | |
|---|---|
.JPG) | |
 Interactive map of the Wiveton Hall area | |
| General information | |
| Location | Wiveton, NR25 7TE, England |
| Coordinates | 52°57′18″N 1°02′03″E / 52.9551°N 1.0342°E |
| Current tenants | MacCarthy |
| Website | |
| http://www.wivetonhall.co.uk/ | |
Wiveton Hall is a country house in Wiveton, Norfolk, England. It is Grade II* listed.[1] It was built in 1652 and extended in 1908. However there are remains of an older building in the garden[2] which could date back to 1280.[3] It was the residence of many notable people over the next three centuries and is now the home of the MacCarthy family. The Hall provides holiday cottage accommodation, a restaurant café, a farm and gift shop and has garden tours.[4] The West Wing is available for weddings and other special events.[5]
It was the setting for the observational documentary Normal for Norfolk.[6]
John Gifford (sometimes spelt Giffard) built Wiveton Hall in about 1652. There are two pieces of evidence which reveal the age of the building – a garden door dated 1652 and the date 1653 on the door from the hall to the garden. This door also bears a brass plate with the initials J. F. G. linked by a knot.[7] These initials appear to stand for John and Frances Gifford. John who is referred to in some historical texts as "John Gifford the younger of Gloucester"[8] was the son of a wealthy merchant. The historian Nick Poyntz has identified him as a person who was involved in an historical incident in 1642. He says he was a wealthy man who owned Barton House in Cirencester, Gloucestershire and in 1647 stood for election to Parliament. After his interests in some iron works in the Forest of Dean foundered he decided to move to Norfolk and bought from Edmund Britiffe the Wiveton Estate.[9] He mentions Edmund Britiffe in his will. He may have moved here to become involved in trade as it this time the ports of Blakeney and Cley were thriving.
In about 1624 he married in Gloucester Frances Poyntz the daughter of Sir John Poyntz. In his will which was proved in 1661 John left the Wiveton estate to her and other property in Cley and Blakeney to his son Thomas. A photo of his grave in Wiveton Church showing his coat of arms can be seen at this reference.[10]
During the 1700s it is possible that the house was owned by the Garrett family who have memorial inscriptions in Wiveton Church.[11] In his will William Garrett who died in 1786 mentions that he owned the “mansion house” at Wiveton.[12] He seems to have been living at the Hall with his sister Catherine Jennis and her friend Ann Fleming. William left a life interest in the house to both Catherine and Ann with appropriate income. Catherine died in 1787 and is buried with her parents at Wiveton and Ann died in 1795. There is a death notice in the “Gentleman’s Magazine” which says that Ann Fleming died at Wiveton Hall.[13]
The house eventually passed to William Buck (1772-1845) of Morston. He was born in 1772. His father William Buck (1732-1823) was a wealthy estate owner in Morston. William (the younger) died in 1845 at the Wiveton Hall estate and there is a memorial inscription in the Church to him and his wife Mary Anne who died in 1861.[14] Their son William Henry Gifford Buck inherited the hall.
