NHER 56270 (Designed Landscape record) - Wretham Park

The hall (NHER 9018) was built in 1790 for William Colquhoun. On Faden's 1797 map (S2), the hall is shown as being situated in a barren unparked landscape. The tithe map, which itself is a copy of a map surveyed in 1811 (S3), shows that the emparkment of the landscape involved the restructuring of the road system. According to (S3) the road had been moved to include the church ruins (NHER 2741) as a picturesque element within the park. The owners utilised the existing features into their parkland such as the three meres (NHER 9001), and the ruins of the church, they added further planting around the boundaries to give it the character of a private enclosure. The stabling and kitchen garden area had been extended by 1811.
The map attached to the sale catalogue in 1873 (S1), shows that the park had contracted by about 30 hectares. It also shows a shrubbery and flower garden next to the house. By this time Wretham was used as a prominently sporting estate. By the 2nd edition ordnance survey map (S4), both the shrubbery and flower garden seem to have disappeared, but Scots Pine plantations had been planted in the north-east area of the site.
The site is no longer recognisable as parkland but the church ruins and the three meres remain, as do parts of the kitchen garden. The remains of an ice house (NHER 9015) can also still be seen (S1).
In 1925 Sir John Dewrance acquired the site and began using it as a stud farm. The parkland was used as paddocks for the stud farm and therefore the majority of the parkland trees shown on (S4) have gone. Shown on (S4) is an avenue of mature Red oak which probably once lined the drive towards the house from the south
Wretham Hall was demolished during the Second World War, as it stood in an area of the Brecklands that became a battle training area.
E. Nicholl (UEA), 21 November 2011.