Somerleyton is a village and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the north of the

English county The counties of England are areas used for different purposes, which include administrative, geographical, cultural and political demarcation. The term "county" is defined in several ways and can apply to similar or the same areas used by each ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. It is north-west of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

and south-west of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

in the East Suffolk district. The village is closely associated with

Somerleyton Hall Somerleyton Hall is a country house and estate near Somerleyton and Lowestoft in Suffolk, England owned and lived in by Hugh Crossley, 4th Baron Somerleyton, originally designed by John Thomas. The hall is Grade II* listed on the National Heri ...

and was largely rebuilt as a

model village A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. Although the villages are located close to the workplace, they are generally phys ...

in the 19th century at the direction of

Samuel Morton Peto Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet (4 August 1809 – 13 November 1889) was an English entrepreneur, civil engineer and railway developer, and, for more than 20 years, a Member of Parliament (MP). A partner in the firm of Grissell and Peto, he ...

. The parish was combined with

Herringfleet Herringfleet is a place and former civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is located north-west of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk district. The parish was combined with Somerleyton and Ashby to create the parish of Somer ...

and

Ashby Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and publi ...

to create the parish of

Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet is a civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is north-west of Lowestoft and the same distance south-west of Great Yarmouth and is in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district. ...

in 1987. The village is on the edge of

The Broads The Broads (known for marketing purposes as The Broads National Park) is a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Although the terms "Norfolk Broads" and "Suffolk Broads" are correctly use ...

national park with the

River Waveney The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The "ey" part of the name means "river" thus the name is tautological. Course The source of the River Wavene ...

forming the western boundary of the former parish. This forms the county border with

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and the Suffolk village of

Blundeston Blundeston is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is north-west of Lowestoft, south of Great Yarmouth and around inland from the North Sea coast. It is part of the area known as Lothingland in the Eas ...

is to the east. The village has a population of around 300.

History

At the time of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

, the manor of Somerleyton was held by the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

. It was named ''Sumerledetuna'' and was recorded as having 17 families living in the village. The manor was owned by the Jernegan family from the early 14th century. The family built

in around 1579. Suckling AI (1848) 'Somerleyton', in The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 2, pp. 43–58. Barsham: Suckling.
Available online
at Google Books. Retrieved 16 March 2021.) The hall was bought by Sir Thomas Wentworth in the early 17th century and was substantially remodelled by the Wentworth family as a mansion house. This included a deer park which was established by 1652. The estate was occupied by Parliamentarian troops a number of times during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and was purchased by Admiral

Sir Thomas Allin ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...

in 1669. It remained in Allin's family until it was acquired by railway developer

, who oversaw the latest rebuilding in 1843. The hall and the park and gardens are Grade II* listed buildings. Peto directed the rebuilding of the village at the same time, creating a

based on

Blaise Hamlet Blaise Hamlet is a group of nine small cottages around a green in Henbury, now a district in the north of Bristol, England. All the cottages, and the sundial on the green are Grade I listed buildings. Along with Blaise Castle the Hamlet is lis ...

near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. The development of both the hall and village was designed by John Thomas. The rebuilding process bankrupted Peto and the estate was sold to Sir

Francis Crossley Sir Francis Crossley, 1st Baronet, of Halifax ( Halifax, 26 October 1817 – 5 January 1872), known to his contemporaries as Frank Crossley, was a British carpet manufacturer, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician. He was founder of the ...

, a carpet manufacturer from

Halifax, West Yorkshire Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cen ...

. The title of

Baron Somerleyton Baron Somerleyton, of Somerleyton in the County of Suffolk, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 26 June 1916 for the Liberal Unionist politician and former Paymaster-General Sir Savile Crossley, 2nd Baronet. The ...

was created for Crossley's son, Savile in 1916. A memorial to two airmen killed in a friendly fire incident during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

is on Waddling Way, an un-metalled road east of the village which runs towards Flixton. A

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

DeHavilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, shoulder-winged, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its frame was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden ...

nightfighter being flown by two

American Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

pilots was mistakenly shot down by British

anti-aircraft fire Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

. In the 1950s,

Christopher Cockerell Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE RDI FRS (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft. Early life and education Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cocker ...

designed and tested the first

hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...

at his boatyard in the village. A column was erected in the village in 2010 on the 100th anniversary of Cockerell's birth.

Somerleyton Hall

The Victorian rebuilding of

created a mainly two-storey mansion, mainly in the

Jacobean style The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James VI and I, with whose reign (1603–1625 in England) it is associated. At the start of James' reign there ...

. It features a French Renaissance inspired

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

and a square

belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa *Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zim ...

clock tower, although the house has a 17th-century core and some of the wood panelling from the original building has been reused internally. The rebuilding was led by

, who owned the estate in the 19th century, with the designs for the house the work of sculptor John Thomas. Thomas was also responsible for the designs for the rebuilding of the village and parish church. The clock was the work of

Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (25 January 1780 – 8 January 1854) was a clockmaker, active in 18th and 19th century Britain. He succeeded his father Benjamin Vulliamy as head of the firm and Clockmaker to the Crown. Biography The family was of Sw ...

.History

. Retrieved 17 March 2021. The park surrounding the hall was established in the 17th century and expanded during Peto's ownership to one of . This included the building of a series of formal gardens designed by

William Andrews Nesfield William Andrews Nesfield (1793–1881) was an English soldier, landscape architect and artist. After a career in the military which saw him serve under the Duke of Wellington, he developed a second profession as a landscape architect, designing so ...

and includes a kitchen garden with glasshouses probably designed by

Joseph Paxton Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

.Walled Garden

. Retrieved 17 March 2021. The only other example of similar work by Paxton is at

Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in the Derbyshire Dales, north-east of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Chesterfield, England. The seat of the Duke of Devonshire, it has belonged to the House of Cavendish, Cavendish family sin ...

. The park features two sculptures by Thomas and one by Gustav Natorp as well as a yew hedge maze.Somerleyton Gardens

. Retrieved 17 March 2021. The house is the home of the Crossley family and both the house and grounds are open to the public as a tourist attraction. The estate owns a wide range of assets throughout the local area, including the Somerleyton village pub and a country park at

Fritton Lake Fritton Lake or Fritton Decoy is a lake on the border of the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk close to the towns of Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. It is located within the parishes of Fritton and St Olaves and Somerleyton, Ashby and Herring ...

Culture and community

Somerleyton has a primary school, built as part of the development of the model village, a village hall and playing field as well as a public house, the ''Dukes Head''.Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet
Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2021.Lound with Ashby, Herringfleet and Somerleyton Neighbourhood Plan
Lound Parish Council, 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2021. The Somerleyton Estate remains a major landowner throughout the surrounding area. Many of the houses in the village are listed buildings and development is restricted to preserve the period style of the village.Waveney Local Plan

Waveney District Council Waveney may refer to: * River Waveney, a river that forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England * Waveney District, a local government district in Suffolk, England * Waveney (UK Parliament constituency) * Waveney class lifeboat, a class ...

, adopted 2019, published by

East Suffolk District Council East Suffolk is a local government district in Suffolk, England, which was established on 1 April 2019, following the merger of the existing Suffolk Coastal and Waveney districts. At the 2011 census, the two districts had a combined population of ...

, 2019, pp.155–159. Retrieved 10 February 2020.Somerleyton Conservation Area: Character Appraisal

, 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2021. The Lowestoft to Norwich railway line runs through the parish close to the Waveney, crossing the river at Somerleyton Swing Bridge.

Somerleyton railway station Somerleyton railway station is on the Wherry Lines in the east of England, serving the village of Somerleyton, Suffolk. It is down the line from on the route to , and is less than from Somerleyton Hall on foot. Its three-letter station code ...

on the edge of the village has operated since 1847. The lines passes close to Cockerell's boatyard, Somerleyton Marina, and the site of the former Somerleyton brickworks which produced bricks for the buildings such as

Liverpool Street railway station Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

. The brickworks closed in 1939 and the chimneys were subsequently demolished.

Church of St Mary

The parish church is dedicated to St Mary and stands in Somerleyton Park close to the hall. The building retains a 15th-century tower but was otherwise rebuilt at Peto's direction, the design again completed by Thomas. The rebuilding process discovered a medieval stone slab with the symbols of the Four Evangelists beneath the floor boards. It is presumed to have been hidden during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

and has been replaced over the south doorway. The

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

and

baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

both date from the 15th century, the former with 16 panels with paintings of saints. The building is a Grade II* listed building.Knott S (2008
St Mary, Somerleyton
Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 16 March 2021.

In literature and television

The

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's ''

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people (g ...

'' took place at Somerleyton Hall in 2009, with selected excerpts to form a one-hour broadcast in 2010. An episode of Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected TV series was filmed at Somerleyton Hall in 1979, and the house was used as a stand in for

Sandringham House Sandringham House is a country house in the parish of Sandringham, Norfolk, England. It is one of the royal residences of Charles III, whose grandfather, George VI, and great-grandfather, George V, both died there. The house stands in a estate ...

in the 2003 television drama ''

The Lost Prince ''The Lost Prince'' is a British television drama about the life of Prince John – youngest child of Britain's King George V and Queen Mary – who died at the age of 13 in 1919. A Talkback Thames production written and directed by Stephen ...

''. The house was used for the same purpose in the 2020 series ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

''. The house and the maze, where the narrator becomes lost, feature prominently in W. G. Sebald's 1995 novel-memoir ''

The Rings of Saturn ''The Rings of Saturn'' (german: Die Ringe des Saturn: Eine englische Wallfahrt - An English Pilgrimage) is a 1995 novel by the German writer W. G. Sebald. Its first-person narrative arc is the account by a nameless narrator (who resembles the ...

''.Doyle RB (2011
Footsteps: Rambling With W. G. Sebald in East Anglia
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 22 April 2011. Retrieved 17 March 2021.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Former civil parishes in Suffolk Waveney District