Bylaugh Hall

Bylaugh Hall, also known as Bylaugh Park, is a country house situated in the village of Bylaugh in Norfolk, England.

History

The estate was acquired by Sir John Lombe in 1796. There is some uncertainty regarding the exact nature of the transaction. The unsubstantiated traditional story is that he won it from the former owner, Richard Lloyd, in a card game, after Lloyd's butler drugged his wine, but a more prosaic explanation seems likely. Sir John died childless in 1817 and the estate passed to his brother Edward, together with a large sum of money left by Sir John in trust for the construction of a new mansion house.

After a long delay it was eventually necessary for the Court of Chancery to intervene and order the use of the trust funds for their appointed purpose, and the architects Charles Barry, Jr. and Robert Richardson Banks were at length commissioned to design a suitable house. William Andrews Nesfield advised on the position of the house, and was responsible for laying out the grounds and gardens. The clock tower and surrounding buildings are vaguely reminiscent of the new Houses of Parliament which were designed by Sir Charles Barry, Sr.

Bylaugh

Coordinates: 52°43′46″N 1°00′42″E / 52.729535°N 1.011772°E / 52.729535; 1.011772

Bylaugh /ˈbiːlə/ is a civil parish in the Breckland district of Norfolk, England 4.5 miles (7.2 km) north-east of East Dereham and 13.5 miles (21.7 km) WNW of Norwich. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 65.

Topography

This smaller than average parish has three farms and is bounded to the south by the River Wensum. The rest of its people have smallholdings, live in the distant row of three cottages or live in homes in the Bylaugh Hall grounds. Its shape, due to the river bends immediately south, resembles a molar (tooth). Approximately one sixth of Bylaugh is made up of its northern woodland, Bylaugh Wood, which adjoins Bawdeswell Heath, separated by the road between that village and Dereham, the nearest main town. Elevations range from 47 m in the grounds of Bylaugh Hall at its centre, to 22 m above mean sea level in the southwest corner, just above Elsing mill. Like much of north Norfolk, the parish is has a significant minority of woodland, its other named (and largest) woods being the Elsing Lodge/Jubilee Plantation and Sparhamhole Planatation.