Wolterton Hall

Wolterton Hall is a large country house which is located in the ecclesiastical parish of Wickmere with Wolterton and the civil parish of Wickmere in the English county of Norfolk, England, United Kingdom. The present hall was completed in 1742 and was designed by the architect Thomas Ripley who was a protégé of the Walpole brothers.

Etymology

The name Wolterton (Ultretune) devolved from the Anglo-Saxon language and has the meaning of Wulfthryth’s (a woman) enclosure (tun or ton) settlement or farm.

History

The present hall and estate was once occupied by an early manor house, owned by Sir Henry Spelman, and the village of Wolterton which was abandoned leaving only the remains of the parish church tower which stands a short distance north of the present hall. Evidence shown on a map produced in 1733 shows that the deserted settlement of Wolterton lay a little north of the church and consisted of several houses clustered around a village green. The village of Wolterton is mentioned in the Domesday Book where it is listed under the names Ultertuna and Wivetuna. The survey shows main landholder of Wolterton was the Norman nobelman William de Warenne. The listing shows 4 smallholders on the land with ½ a plough team on 16 acres. Land was also held by the Abbot of St. Benedict of Holme before 1066 and was valued at 16 shillings (80p) but at the time of the survey it was valued at 20 shillings (£1). The manor is 6 furlongs in length and 5 in width and had a tax value of 2½d (approx. 1p). The main tenant was Ralph of Beaufour.