Gillingham Hall is a Jacobean manor house in the village of

Gillingham, Norfolk Gillingham ( ) is a small village located just off the A146 in South Norfolk, about 1 mile north of the market town of Beccles. The full name of the parish is Gillingham All Saints and St Mary. It covers an area of and had a population of 650 ...

, England. It is a

Grade II* Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

. The house has 10-bedrooms and was built in the early 16th century. It was altered and enlarged in the 18th and 19th centuries, including an 18th-century walled garden, and 19th century additions to the stable block.

History

16th century: The Gillingham Estate was founded by Sir Nicholas Bacon,

Lord Keeper of the Great Seal The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This position evolved into that of one of the Great Officers of S ...

in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Gillingham Hall was built by his son,

Sir Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both n ...

, Lord Chancellor and the first baronet of Gillingham, in the early 1600s. Gillingham Hall remained in the family, always passing through the female line, until it was sold in 2000. 19th century: Gillingham Hall passed to Admiral

Henry Eden Admiral Henry Eden (1798 – 30 January 1888) was a senior British Royal Navy officer who went on to be Second Naval Lord. Naval career He was born the fourth son of Thomas Eden of Wimbledon, Surrey, the Deputy-Auditor of Greenwich Hospital ...

in 1849 when he married Elizabeth Harriet Georgiana Beresford, daughter of

Lord George Beresford Lord George Thomas Beresford GCH, PC (12 February 1781 – 26 October 1839) was an Anglo-Irish soldier, courtier and Tory politician. He served as Comptroller of the Household from 1812 to 1830. Background Beresford was the fourth son of Geo ...

. They had no children, so on Elizabeth's death, the Hall was inherited (much to his surprise) by John George Kenyon, Elizabeth's nephew. Kenyon, a passionate follower of

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

, had converted to Roman Catholicism in 1870, fought as a

Papal Zouave The Papal Zouaves ( it, Zuavi Pontifici) were an infantry battalion, later regiment, dedicated to defending the Papal States. Named after the French zouave regiments, the ' were mainly young men, unmarried and Catholic, who volunteered to assist P ...

against

Garibaldi Giuseppe Maria Garibaldi ( , ;In his native Ligurian language, he is known as ''Gioxeppe Gaibado''. In his particular Niçard dialect of Ligurian, he was known as ''Jousé'' or ''Josep''. 4 July 1807 – 2 June 1882) was an Italian general, pat ...

and was made a Knight of the

Order of St Gregory the Great The Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great ( la, Ordo Sancti Gregorii Magni; it, Ordine di San Gregorio Magno) was established on 1 September 1831, by Pope Gregory XVI, seven months after his election as Pope. The order is one of ...

and

Papal Chamberlain A Papal Gentleman, also called a Gentleman of His Holiness, is a lay attendant of the pope and his papal household in Vatican City. Papal gentlemen serve in the Apostolic Palace near St. Peter's Basilica in ceremonial positions, such as escorting d ...

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

and to Pope Pius X. Kenyon immediately set about supporting the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Catholic mission at nearby

Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London as the crow fl ...

. He helped to build two churches locally: Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Gillingham (a private Chapel of Ease which remains in family ownership) and St Benet's Minster, Beccles. 21st century: In 2000, Gillingham Hall was sold to Hassanain al-Nakeeb, a hotel owner and breeder of Arabian horses. In 2005, al-Nakeeb put Gillingham Hall up for sale. It was bought by

Edward Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond Edward Enda Haughey, Baron Ballyedmond, OBE, FRCVS, (5 January 1944 – 13 March 2014) was an Irish-British entrepreneur and politician. With an estimated personal wealth of €780 million (£650 million/USD$1,078 million), he was the second-ric ...

. On his death in 2014, the house passed to his son Edward Haughey, the current owner.

References

{{coord, 52.47503, N, 1.55189, E, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title South Norfolk Country houses in Norfolk Grade II* listed buildings in Norfolk