DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6911#0129
94
ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES.
NORFOLK.
Conformably to the laws and customs of the times, the lord of this manor* obtained
a license, or grant, from king Edward IV. A. D. 1482, to erect a mansion on his
estate, and establish a market in the contiguous village, or town. This document,
replete with true law tautology and ambiguity, specifies, that ' we have given
licence to Edmundus Bedingfeld armig. at his pleasure, to build, construct, and
make, with stone, lime, and sand, certain towers and walls in and about his manor
aforesaid;' and to "batellare, kernellare, et machecollare" the same towers, &c.
The building surrounded a square area, or court, and was encompassed with a
moat.f It was wholly constructed with brick, and some of the rooms were also
roofed with the same material. Many alterations have been made since the first
erection, the principal of which was the demolition of the south side of the quadrangle
in the year 1778. The grand entrance tower-gateway is the most interesting fea-
ture, and this remains nearly in its original state. In the accompanying plate this
is represented, in almost a front view : and the number of compartments in both
towers, with the various apertures, and windows in each, also the two large
square windows in the centre, gateway-arch, parapets of bridge, battlements,
and dressings are all carefully, and I believe, accurately displayed. The towers
are eighty-feet in height; their battlements are rather peculiar, and in the centre
of the pediment, are the bases of two chimneys. Beneath the latter is an opening
* The Bedingfeld family was settled at a place of the same name in Suffolk, at, or soon after the conquest,
and obtained the estates, &c. at Oxburgh, by the marriage of Sir Edmond Bedingfeld with an heiress of the
Juddenhams and De Weylands, in the time of Henry V. Oxburgh has belonged to the same family ever since,
and is now the property of Sir Richard Bedingfeld, Bart, to whom and his lady, the author is indebted for the
chief information contained in this article.
t The annexed ground-plan displays the shape and arrangement of the basement-floor, which formed a square
of about 170 feet in the extreme. The moat was crossed by a bridge, which wa3 flanked by two towers, and the
following apartments constituted the ground-story. No. 1. Arched gateway; 2 and 3, porters' lodges ; 4, laundry ;
5, dairy ; 6, wood-house ; 7, wash-house ; 8, aviary; 9, baths ; 10, room for persons unwell; 11, dressing-room ;
12, bed-chamber; 13, drawing-room; 14, dining-room; 15, hall; 16, china-room ; 17, pantry; 18, closet;
19. passage; 20, staircases; 21, kitchen; 22, larder; 23, bake-house; 24, servants'-hall; 25, store-room;
26, housekeeper's-room ; 27, breakfast-room ; 28, bed-chamber ; 29, library. It will be observed that many of
these apartments are of modern appropriation. The plan was drawn in 1774, and was communicated to the
author by the Rev. Mr. Homfray.
ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES.
NORFOLK.
Conformably to the laws and customs of the times, the lord of this manor* obtained
a license, or grant, from king Edward IV. A. D. 1482, to erect a mansion on his
estate, and establish a market in the contiguous village, or town. This document,
replete with true law tautology and ambiguity, specifies, that ' we have given
licence to Edmundus Bedingfeld armig. at his pleasure, to build, construct, and
make, with stone, lime, and sand, certain towers and walls in and about his manor
aforesaid;' and to "batellare, kernellare, et machecollare" the same towers, &c.
The building surrounded a square area, or court, and was encompassed with a
moat.f It was wholly constructed with brick, and some of the rooms were also
roofed with the same material. Many alterations have been made since the first
erection, the principal of which was the demolition of the south side of the quadrangle
in the year 1778. The grand entrance tower-gateway is the most interesting fea-
ture, and this remains nearly in its original state. In the accompanying plate this
is represented, in almost a front view : and the number of compartments in both
towers, with the various apertures, and windows in each, also the two large
square windows in the centre, gateway-arch, parapets of bridge, battlements,
and dressings are all carefully, and I believe, accurately displayed. The towers
are eighty-feet in height; their battlements are rather peculiar, and in the centre
of the pediment, are the bases of two chimneys. Beneath the latter is an opening
* The Bedingfeld family was settled at a place of the same name in Suffolk, at, or soon after the conquest,
and obtained the estates, &c. at Oxburgh, by the marriage of Sir Edmond Bedingfeld with an heiress of the
Juddenhams and De Weylands, in the time of Henry V. Oxburgh has belonged to the same family ever since,
and is now the property of Sir Richard Bedingfeld, Bart, to whom and his lady, the author is indebted for the
chief information contained in this article.
t The annexed ground-plan displays the shape and arrangement of the basement-floor, which formed a square
of about 170 feet in the extreme. The moat was crossed by a bridge, which wa3 flanked by two towers, and the
following apartments constituted the ground-story. No. 1. Arched gateway; 2 and 3, porters' lodges ; 4, laundry ;
5, dairy ; 6, wood-house ; 7, wash-house ; 8, aviary; 9, baths ; 10, room for persons unwell; 11, dressing-room ;
12, bed-chamber; 13, drawing-room; 14, dining-room; 15, hall; 16, china-room ; 17, pantry; 18, closet;
19. passage; 20, staircases; 21, kitchen; 22, larder; 23, bake-house; 24, servants'-hall; 25, store-room;
26, housekeeper's-room ; 27, breakfast-room ; 28, bed-chamber ; 29, library. It will be observed that many of
these apartments are of modern appropriation. The plan was drawn in 1774, and was communicated to the
author by the Rev. Mr. Homfray.