NHER 7740 (Building record) - Great Witchingham Hall

A country house, now partly offices, Witchingham Hall was constructed in the late 16th to early 17th century but was extensively altered and remodeled in the 19th century. The house is two and three storeys, constructed in red brick with stone and plastered brick dressings and a steeply pitched slate roof. The three storey 17th century south front features a Tudor porch and two adjoining bays, mullion and transom windows with pediments, stepped gables and embattled parapets. The south wing was built by Timothy Tompson in 1812 while the north front was remodelled by Charles Kett Thompson in 1872. The interior features a good fireplace of 1609 with female figures against the ovemantel as well as some panelling, said to have come from Kirstead Hall.
Information from (S1). See listing for more detailed description.
H. Hamilton (NLA), 07 December 2007.

1830. Documentary Evidence.
Woodward (S2) saw here a collection of items including carved wood; stained glass; tapestries showing a Greek myth with arms of France and Navarre salvaged from a wrecked ship off Cromer; the chimneypice from Bacon's House; another from Benjamin Wrench's Court, Norwich; fragments from Green's House, Green's Lane, Norwich, with merchant's mark and a 2 gallon bronze pitcher inscribed with "Goddis Grace be in this place amen stond uttir from the fire and let onjust come nere" with arms of England and France quartered (temp Edward III?).
Information from (S2) and card in secondary file.
H. Hamilton (NLA), 07 December 2007.

1978. Field Observation.
The north front (as the outbuildings to the west) was constructed in 1871 and is Victorian Tudor style, with finials, chimneys, gables and a 'Renaissance' doorway. To the rear of this is an original 17th century façade with three bays and three storeys and a porch tower between two gables. The wall behind the porch is slightly recessed, just enough to provide the fashionable E-shape. The gables are stepped and the walls between are battlemented, although the upper brickwork has been replaced. The windows are mullioned and transomed and pedimented, but the side windows in the porch have been blocked up. There is a perpendicular style niche above the entrance and another with vaulting at the top of the porch (the latter is definitely genuine), and these must presumably be 15th century work reset at a later date. Either side of the entrance are carvings of a lion and a man under palm trees which are likely much later importations. The gables are crowned with quatrefoils as finials, which may be a later addition as they also appear on the south wing. This original façade is fossilised between 1871 work and the south wing of 1812, which are a much simpler Tudor style but with great pinacle shafts. Inside the house is a fireplace of 1609 from Bacon's House, Norwich, and a Jacobean table with barley sugar legs. Much of the woodwork has been reused.
Information from (S3).
E. Rose (NAU) 1980.

The stained glass observed by Woodward (S2) is now in the Norwich Castle Museum (St. Peter Hungate).
E. Rose (NAU) 2 December 1987.