NHER 3681 (Monument record) - Site of Weasenham Hall

Late 19th/20th century.
30 August 1979. Visit. Large Late Victorian or Edwardian extravaganza with shaped gables, twisted chimneys, strapwork balustrades etcetera, all in red brick and terracotta. Good iron gates.
E. Rose (NAU).

Built in 1905 on site of an earlier hall that appears from photographs kept in the house to have been Georgian. Another pair of gates, dating back to the previous hall, are overgrown on the Swaffham road.
See account in file of heraldry, and turret formerly over door.

Map of 1590 shows drawing of Manor House on this site, removed west from Easthall medieval site. Two storeys (only such house in village) and chimney at each end. See (S2).
P. Wade Martins (NAU).

March 2000. Cross Reference with NHER 18306. Owner (source [3]) refers to map of 1600, showing farm buildings on the site of the later halls. The Georgian hall may be early 18th century.
See letter (S3) in file.
D. Gurney (NLA), 31 March 2000.

Source [2] disagrees with last statement and says this is only a farmhouse not a manor, and dates map to 1600 not 1590. However it is clear there was a two storeyed house with chimneys and outbuildings on the site.
A. Rogerson (NLA) notes that the Mr Brown noted on the map was indeed lord of the manor according to Bloomfield.
The long pond to the west is not shown on the 1590 map and is probably not a moat as owner suggested.
Copy of correspondence and architectural plans (S4) in file.
E. Rose (NLA), 27 June 2000.

Press cuttings (S5), (S6), (S7), (S8), (S9), (S10), (S11), (S12) and (S13) in file.

January 2010. Trial Trenching.
Evaluation of proposed development site.
The single trench excavated lay within the footprint of the 1905 hall and revealed several elements of this demolished building, including the remains of the south wall and the footings of one of the towers that had projected from its southern façade. The only earlier features were two north-to-south aligned ditches, neither of which produced any finds. There was therefore no evidence for surviving remains associated with the earlier buildings that had occupied the site.
Information from report uploaded to OASIS. HER copy awaited.
It is apparently intended that a surviving cellar associated with the 1905 hall will be incorporated into the new building.
P. Watkins (HES), 14 September 2022.