NHER 33732 (Monument record) - Thickthorn Park

The old moated hall (NHER 9352) was replaced by the present Thickthorn Hall (NHER 9417) in 1812. It is most likely that the park was created at the same time as the house and it appears on (S3). (S3) also shows a continuous belt of woodland to the north of the house. A service drive approached the north of the hall. Two other drives approached the hall from the east and the west, both with their own lodge. (S3) also shows the kitchen garden and an area to the west of the house described as ‘pleasure grounds.’ Grigor writing in the 1840s (S4) states these were made out of marl or gravel pits. Within the kitchen garden is an octagon shaped building which possibly had an agricultural use. By the time of an 1890s painting (see (S1) for more details) a series of terraces, borders and lawns were in place to the south of the house. Within the park there is also a rustic summerhouse which dates to the late nineteenth century.
The moat was widened at some point between (S4) and (S5), to create a small lake and this is how it appears on (S5). A third lodge (NHER 42822) had also been built at the entrance to the middle drive and a north-eastern shelter belt planted. Since 1907 the area of parkland has been substantially reduced and the eastern half is now under the plough. The present glasshouses were installed in the 1930s. Wychwood House was built in 1957 and took over the pleasure gardens.
See (S1) for full details, not graded in (S2).
E. Rose (NLA) 27 July 1998.
Updated by E. Nicholl (UEA), 15 November 2011.