East Barsham Manor

History

The two-storey manor house was built for Sir Henry Fermor between circa 1520 and 1530. It was used as a base by Henry VIII when visiting the nearby Walsingham shrine.

After the Fermors the house passed to the Calthorpes who had married into the Fermor family. Later it was owned by the L'Estranges c1720 and then the Astleys. During these years, the house barely changed. However, in the 18th century it fell into decline.

By the 19th century it was largely derelict, and was visited by lovers of romantic ruins. It was restored in the 1920s and 1930s. The house was owned for many years by Sir John Guinness, a former diplomat who also helped found the National Heritage Memorial Fund. He sold it after the death of his wife in 2014 for £2.75m to Roy Griffiths who is now also trying to sell the property.

Brickwork

East Barsham is noteworthy for its ornate Tudor brickwork, and its cluster of 10 chimneys. Sir Henry built it not only with "a brick gatehouse, ribbed, turreted and emblazoned with his coat of arms, but a grand exuberance of chimneys, clustered together in double banks of five, each individual stack to a different design."

It was built contemporaneously with Sutton Place, Surrey (1520s), also built in brick, to which it is comparable.

Architectural legacy

The entrance front of Dalmeny House in Scotland, designed by William Wilkins in 1814, is based on the facade of East Barsham Manor.