Orwell Park was an estate in the village of

Nacton Nacton is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The parish is bounded by the neighbouring parishes of Levington to the east and Bucklesham in the north. It is located between the towns of Ipswich and Felixs ...

developed by

Edward Vernon Admiral Edward Vernon (12 November 1684 – 30 October 1757) was an English naval officer. He had a long and distinguished career, rising to the rank of admiral after 46 years service. As a vice admiral during the War of Jenkins' Ear, in 1 ...

, who lived there from 1725 until he died in the mansion on 30 October 1757. It was further developed by George Tomline during the late nineteenth century. It has been the premises for

Orwell Park School Orwell Park School is a day and boarding preparatory school for boys and girls in the village of Nacton on the edge of Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. Founded in 1868 in Lowestoft, the school currently accommodates around 300 boys and ...

since 1936. In contains several Grade II listed buildings.

Vernon family period

Francis Vernon Francis Vernon (1637?–1677) was an English traveller and author. Early life Born about 1637, near Charing Cross, he was the son of Francis Vernon of London and brother of James Vernon. He was admitted in 1649 to Westminster School. He matricul ...

, his cousin, inherited the estate and he rebuilt the mansion. He also expanded the estate with additional land for an extensive deer park. Thus the estate was known as Orwell Deer Park, or, more simply, Orwell Park. Following his death in 1783, the mansion was bequeathed to his nephew, John Vernon (1776-1818). Upon his death the estate was inherited by his sister, Arethusa, wife of Sir Robert Harland.

George Tomline period

Orwell Park School Water Tower - geograph

George Tomline bought the estate following the death of Sir Robert Harland in 1848. He made substantial additions to the buildings of the estate, employing

John Macvicar Anderson John Macvicar Anderson (11 July 1835, Glasgow – 9 June 1915, London) was a Scottish architect. He was born in Glasgow in 1835, the son of John Anderson, merchant and the nephew of architect William Burn and his wife, Eliza Macvicar. He was e ...

as architect.

Water Tower

The water tower 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 Irel ...

. It was completed in 1873 and is situated 50 metres to the west of the main school building. It is composed of 4 stages and is in total about 20 metres high. The brickwork of the base stage has banded rustication angle-buttresses at the corners, each displaying an urn

finial A finial (from '' la, finis'', end) or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a d ...

. The second stage sports paired blind windows with semicircular heads. The corners feature less prominent angle-buttresses with

fleur-de-lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

finials. The third stage has more but smaller paired windows and the buttresses are here clasped. At the fourth stage there is a single large window featuring a balustrade. At the top there is a parapet with open balustrading and obelisk finials at each corner.

Observatory

Pretyman family period

After George Tomline's death in 1889, the estate was inherited by

Ernest George Pretyman Ernest George Pretyman, (13 November 1859 – 26 November 1931), known as E. G. Pretyman, was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician. Background and education Born on 13 November 1859 and christened on 1 January 1860 at Great Ca ...

. Pretyman was elected

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the local constituency of

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

, defeating the liberal candidate

Robert Lacey Everett Robert Lacey Everett (28 January 1833 – 21 October 1916) was an English farmer and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons three times between 1885 and 1910. Life Everett was born at Rushmere St Andrew, Suffolk, the son of Joseph Da ...

. After Everett regained the seat in 1906 Pretyman held the parliamentary seat of

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of London a ...

from 1908 until 1923. This enabled him to continue his political career. After Ernest's death in 1931, the estate was inherited by his eldest son George Pretyman, who sold the estate in 1936.

Orwell Park School

George Pretyman sold the estate to Aldeburgh Lodge School, which renamed itself Orwell Park School. It remains the current occupier of the premises.

References

{{reflist Nacton