NHER 30483 (Designed Landscape) - Rainthorpe Park

The earliest cartographic evidence of Rainthorpe Hall (NHER 10110) is on Faden’s map (S4), surveyed in 1794, but it does not give a clear idea of the size of the ornamental gardens. The Tasburgh Tithe Award 1840 map (S5) and the Flordon Tithe Award 1842 map (S6) shows the extent of the park, and the use of the land within the park. The immediate land around the Hall is labelled as pasture, so used as ornamental gardens, there is a patch of woodland north-west of the Hall; the land to the north of the Hall is given over to arable farming; and the land south within the park are used as meadows. Therefore this indicates that there was no aesthetic park by this date, the extent of it is only the land immediately around the Hall, and not the land used for agriculture.
The 1906 6 inch Ordnance Survey map (S7) depicts the park much as it is today. The grounds of the Hall have been extended to include the agricultural lands to the north and south, thereby creating a park. There has been much planting. A tree belt lines the northern boundary of the park, screening the park from view of the road. The plantation of trees north-west of the Hall has been extended so it surrounds the entirety of the north of the Hall. Avenues and walkways have been inserted. The dates of the trees indicate that this park was late out in the mid to late 19th century. There was a Road Closure Order in 1861, stopping the footpath with ran through the park leading from the Flordon to Newton Flopman road down to the Tasburgh to Norwich road.
The gardens consist of a nut garden, a lily pond, and a knot garden south-west of the Hall. North of the Hall, the gardens are partly enclosed by 17th century walls, which house a gazebo, a Ha-Ha and a stream. South-west of the Hall are two terraces which lead to a lawn bounded by a river. There is a 19th century walled kitchen garden.
The predominant tree in the park is oak, which is 150-200 years old. The park is now given over the sheep grazing, in summer, and the grounds cover an area of 49 hectares. The park slopes slightly to the south-east because it is sited on the side of a valley.
See (S1), (S4), (S5), (S6) and (S7).
E. Rose (NLA), 14 March 1994.
Updated by C. Hurst (UEA), 15 November 2011.