The present Helmingham Hall may have been initially constructed in 1510 on the site of an earlier house called Creke Hall. The exterior was altered between 1745 and 1760, again in 1800 by John Nash, and in 1840. The original half-timbered walls have been concealed by brick and tiles.[3] The house is surrounded by a moat 60 feet wide, over which it is reached only by two working drawbridges, which have been pulled up every night since 1510.[4] These were originally operated with a windlass but in recent years this has been replaced by an electric motor.[5]
In addition to the house and gardens, several other buildings and structures on the estate are listed Grade II. The garden wall to the south west of the hall,[6] two urns and a male and female statue,[7][8][9][10] a sundial and an obelisk,[11][12] the tea rooms, bridge, game larder, and revetment are all listed Grade II.[13][14][15][16]
The gate lodge to the north east of the hall and the left and right front lodges are also listed Grade II, as is the entrance gateway and piers between the front lodges.[17][18][19][20]
The Church of St Mary on the edge of the park has connections with the Tollemache family dating back to the Middle Ages. The church is filled with memorials to several generations of the family, including a large tomb with a verse describing four generations of Tollemaches.
Though the house is not open to the public, Helmingham is best known for its fine gardens which are open to the public from May to September. There are semi-formal mixed gardens with extensive herbaceous borders, a rose garden, a knot garden, a parterre, a walled garden, an allée and an orchard. Beyond the gardens there is a 400-acre (1.6 km2) deer park with herds of red and fallow deer.[24]
The Tollemaches of Helmingham own one of the only two English Orpharionviols.[26] Their instrument is dated 1580 and bears the label of John Rose, a 16th-century English viol-maker. Of the four John Rose viols which survive, this is the only one in private hands. It is believed to have been made for Queen Elizabeth I who presented it to them during one of her visits to Suffolk.[27]
The "Tollemache lute manuscript" was acquired from the Helmingham Hall collections and sold by Sotheby's in 1965 to Robert Spencer.[28] It was written by Henry Sampson. Robert Spencer, the present owner of the manuscript, maintains "Tollemache" in its common reference, despite the change of owner.[29]
Catherine Tollemache lived at the hall from 1581 to 1612, many household papers from her time survive, with her collection of contemporary and medieval recipes.[30]
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