Spixworth Park

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Spixworth Hall
The former Spixworth Hall, Norfolk, the seat of the Longe family from 1693 - 1952.
Spixworth Park is located in Norfolk
Spixworth Park
Location within Norfolk
General information
TypeHistoric house
Architectural styleElizabethan
Town or citySpixworth, Norfolk, England
Coordinates52°40′47″N 1°18′26″E / 52.6796°N 1.3073°E / 52.6796; 1.3073
Completed1607
Demolished1952
Design and construction
Architect(s)William Peck

Spixworth Hall was an Elizabethan stately home situated in the civil parish of Spixworth, Norfolk, located just north of the city of Norwich on the Buxton Road.

Location

The Hall was located in Spixworth, close to the Buxton road and was 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Norwich and some 10 miles (16.1 km) south of North Walsham.

History

File:Coat of arms of the Longe family.jpg
Coat of arms of Longe of Spixworth. A saltire engrailed or, on a chief of the second three cross-crosslets of the first. Motto – Pro fide ac patria.


The hall was constructed by William Peck in 1607. The park itself was 200 acres which ran parallel to the present Buxton Road whilst the complete estate was in excess of over 2,000 acres (8.1 km²) situated on the edge of Norwich with land bordering the present Norwich International Airport. Both Longe Road and William Peck Road are named in honour of the former owners of Spixworth Hall.[1]

The Longe family, who were considerable land owners, owning Reymerston Hall, Norfolk, Hingham Hall, Norfolk, Dunston Hall, Norfolk, Abbot's Hall, Stowmarket and Yelverton Hall, Norfolk, bought the estate from the Pecks in 1693. Spixworth Hall and the surrounding parkland remained in the Longe family for 257 years until 1950, when it was demolished.[1] In 1920, the hall was tenanted to Reginald and Maud Gurney of Gurney's Bank, Norwich who had recently moved from Earlham Hall. Many buildings of the former estate still remain including the gate house, dove cote, stable block and the ice house.[1] The Longe family were traditionally clergymen and lawyers.

The halls library consisted of one of the most extensive collections of first-edition books of any stately home in the UK with works by William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens and Miquel de Cervantes. As was fashionable with large households, records show that the Longe family kept animals including a large monkey who used to live in the stable block and a bear who lived in the butler's cottage and the wine cellar.[1]

There are in existence, but now dispersed, a number of paintings of notable Bacons and Longes, perhaps the most famous being the Gainsborough of the Longe family in Spixworth Park. This must have been painted pre-1788 for that is the year in which Gainsborough of Sudbury died. The superb Temple cabinet which housed Sir William Temple's old medals and seals stood in the library. Another treasure was Dorothy Osborne's plain gold engagement ring engraved ‘the love I owe I cannot showe’. Sir William Temple of Moor Park was married to Dorothy Osborne and they were close friends of the Longes. Until 1787, when it was unbricked, an alcove in the gallery contained the ‘soul’ of Sir William Peck. Documents do not state when this act occurred, but it is documented that Sir William desired this ‘bricking up’ to save his soul from adversaries.[1]

The hall viewed from the South drive

Longe family

A number of the Longe family served as High Sheriffs of Norfolk and High Sheriffs of Suffolk:

High Sheriffs of Norfolk:

High Sheriffs of Suffolk:

  • 1984: Nicholas Longe of Grange Farm, Hasketon, Woodbridge.

Other notable members of the Longe family:

William of Wykeham, Bishop of Winchester and Chancellor of England.Founder of New College Oxford, Winchester College and New College School
Abbot's Hall, Sotwmarket, was placed into trust by Ena and Vera Longe, daughters of Herbert Davy Longe to become a museum. Since 1967, it has served as the Museum of East Anglian Life
  • Vera Mabel Wilhelmina Longe (1904 - 1985), daughter of Herbert Davy Longe, was an artist and co-founder of The Stowmarket Art Club in 1960. She and her sister Ena, both unmarried, placed 70 acres of farm land together with Abbot’s Hall, its gardens, as well as 18/20 Crowe Street, in trust to be used as a Museum which opened in 1967 and is now The Museum of East Anglian Life.[13]
  • Col. Francis Bacon Longe, of Spixworth Park, C.B., J.P, (b. 31 Oct 1856 - d. 2 June 1922) Lord of the Manor of Spixworth Park.[14]
  • John Charles Longe (b. 1859 - d. 21 May 1939) Educated at Sherborne School and Jesus College, Cambridge. Ordained deacon (Worcester) 1882; priest, 1883; C. of Upton-on-Severn, Worcs., 1882-7. V. of Linton, Cambs., 1887-1905, R. of Catton with Stamford Bridge, Yorks., 1905–19, R. of Yelverton with Alpington, Norfolk, 1919-39. Holder of Royal Humane Society bronze medal (1887) for saving life.[2]
  • John Norman Sullivan Longe, OBE.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g http://www.eleanor19.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/files/spixworth.pdf
  2. ^ a b c d e f g http://venn.lib.cam.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search-2016.pl?sur=longe&suro=w&fir=&firo=c&cit=&cito=c&c=all&z=all&tex=&sye=&eye=&col=all&maxcount=50
  3. ^ http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/the_amazing_story_of_a_norfolk_soldier_and_an_operation_which_it_is_claimed_provided_inspiration_for_james_bond_1_1790058
  4. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1220968/My-family-misfits--Britains-intrepid-explorer-Ranulph-Fiennes-tells-stories-ancestors.html
  5. ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=PTkJAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA354&lpg=PA354&dq=william+longe+of+wykeham&source=bl&ots=AD5Cs6uhSy&sig=QKfQK7VYs373S0I0ZyQ9WF_5eNk&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjt6LbrhNrMAhUkJ8AKHQvFCOgQ6AEISTAH#v=onepage&q=william%20longe%20of%20wykeham&f=false
  6. ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=DDxNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR27
  7. ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=ubY8AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA179
  8. ^ "CODDENHAM | joemasonspage". joemasonspage.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  9. ^ https://books.google.com/books?id=H8F0yP4Kf_wC&printsec=frontcover&dq=john+longe+coddenham&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjH3rjBkejLAhUD7hoKHRTrAl4Q6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=john%20longe%20coddenham&f=false[dead link]
  10. ^ http://www.suffolkpainters.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=1584
  11. ^ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 2016-03-30.
  12. ^ "SuffolkPainters". suffolkpainters.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-04-03.
  13. ^ http://www.suffolkpainters.co.uk/index.cgi?choice=painter&pid=2949
  14. ^ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28388/supplement/4476/data.pdf
  15. ^ "Person Page". thepeerage.com. Retrieved 2016-04-03.