NHER 60776 (Monument record) - Site of Haddiscoe Hall and associated outbuildings

Site of Haddiscoe Hall, which was demolished in around 2016.

Haddiscoe Hall was presumably the building shown at this location on Faden's map of 1797 (S1). The building demolished in around 2016 was however principally of 19th-century date, as was an extensive range of outbuildings that extended to the west.
The Haddiscoe Tithe map of 1841 (S2) shows the hall to be separate from a westerly 'L'-shaped range, but by the time of the Ordnance Survey First Edition map was produced in the 1880s (S3) the building has largely acquired its final form. The large group of detached outbuildings that had lain to the south-west were also present by this time.
The hall itself lay at TM 4320 9678 (Context 1).
A. Cattermole (HES), 2 June 2015. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 6 September 2021.

October 2014. Desk-based Assessment.
Assessment of potential implications of a proposed redevelopment that would see the demolition of the hall and its associated outbuildings, followed by the construction of several new buildings.
This study revealed little in the way of new information.
During a brief site visit it was noted that some of the outbuildings had already been demolished.
See report (S4) for further details.

A Design and Access Statement produced to support the planning application for this redevelopment contains some additional information on the hall itself. It is noted that the tithe records describe a 'house and garden' but do not identify it as a hall. The name 'Haddiscoe Hall' does though occur in sale particulars of 1845, which describe it as follows: "...very substantially erected within the last 35 years...fronted with white brick and contains an entrance hall, dining, drawing and breakfast room of good dimensions, six capital bedrooms, three attics, kitchen cellar, brewhouse and requisite offices. Two excellent barns, riding and cart horse stables, chaise house, bullock lodges, neat house cart lodge and granary over".
See (S5) for further details.
Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 6 September 2021.

2014. Verbal Communication.
A local researcher[1] has provided some results of research on former owners of the hall along with historic photographs (S9-17).

July 2015. Building Survey.
Measured survey of hall and adjoining structures prior to their demolition. The latter included a curving Georgian garden wall extending from the north-east corner of the house. This had been later partially crenelated as a folly/grotto feature.
See report (S6) for plans, elevations and photographs.
The inner core of the house is identified as potentially 18th-century, with everything visible from outside the result of work that took place in two stages during the 18th century.
P. Watkins (HES), 6 September 2021.

March-April 2016. Watching Brief.
Monitoring of groundworks associated with redevelopment of Haddiscoe Hall site.
The excavation of foundation trenches for a new building close to the site of the hall revealed little of archaeological interest, with only a single ditch or pit of probable post-medieval date recorded. A layer of brownish black silt in this part of the site also produced a range of finds that were likely to represent domestic refuse. These were all of late 19th to early 20th century date and included pottery, bottle glass, glazed wall tiles, animal bone and an iron nail.
Levelling layers and 20th-century features encountered within the excavated trenches were associated with the various 19th and 20th-century buildings that had been demolished prior to the commencement of these works.
Information from report uploaded to OASIS. HER copy awaited.
The archive associated with this work has been deposited with Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.205). See note [1] regarding the composition of this archive.
P. Watkins (HES), 6 September 2021.

As noted in (S5) it was originally a condition of planning approval that the freestanding grotto wall adjoining the hall be "…retained in perpetuity as part of the redevelopment scheme". See short note (S7) for a more detailed description of this feature and photographs taken following the demolition of the hall and the construction of a replacement dwelling. This document argues that the wall is actually of little architectural or aesthetic value and that its demolition should be permitted. This was not the view of S. Heywood (HES), who had noted that the doorway encrusted with burnt and distorted bricks and flints remained in good condition that this at least warranted preservation. It is unclear at present how this situation was resolved and whether the wall is in fact still standing.
P. Watkins (HES), 17 February 2017. Amended 2 September 2018.