Registered Park or Garden: Parkland and garden of Cockfield Hall (DSF18590)

Parkland and gardens of Cockfield Hall, a multi-phased designed landscape developed from at least the C15, mainly laid out in the late C18 and early C19. Cockfield manor and hall reputedly take their name from the Cockfeud family who held the lordship of the manor from at least the mid-C13, however the manor predates their lordship being one of those described in the Domesday Survey of 1086. Sir John Hopton acquired Cockfield Hall in 1440, and had an extent of the leased estate produced in 1472, recording ‘a manor built both within and without the moat with garden, curtilage and the Stews and a certain pightle adjacent to the west side of the outer court, called the Swinesyard; which contains in all by estimation seven acres.’ Archaeological and documentary evidence indicates the manor house was surrounded by a moat, likely separating what is now the inner and outer court (Rolfe, 2008). The fish or stew ponds, recorded in 1472 as being newly-built, were probably located in the ‘Lockmeadow’ to the west of the house. Hopton owned 14 manors in Suffolk, two in Norfolk and many more in Yorkshire where he was born. Following his death in 1478 his widow Thomasin moved to Cockfield Hall, and in 1483 was recorded as managing the land, meadow, pasture, manor house, dairy, gardens and ponds at Cockfield Hall. Later she leased the dairy, and was resident in the Hall until her death in 1497. Their grandson Sir Arthur Hopton (1488-1555) carried out rebuilding work around 1520; the north wing of Cockfield Hall (listed at Grade I) survives from a mid-C16 manor house constructed around this time. North of the Hall, a surviving gatehouse (listed at Grade II*) and wall (listed at Grade II) were also constructed in the mid-C16, creating an inner or house court and a great or outer court to the north. The outer court had its own gateways and ranges of estate buildings including the surviving north-east gateway and a C16 dairy range (each listed at Grade II). A visit by Henry VIII to Sir Arthur Hopton’s house, Cokfeld Haule, is recorded for one of the king’s projected ‘summer gests’ or travel itineraries from London to Norwich in 1541. In 1567, Lady Catherine Seymour, sister of Lady Jane Grey, was sent to Cockfield Hall by Queen Elizabeth and held in Sir Owen Hopton’s custody, where she fell ill and died in January 1568. Sir Owen Hopton, Lord Lieutenant of the Tower of London, had an extent of the estate prepared in 1583 which records ‘the manor of Cockfeilde whose capital mansion or lord’s mansion is built within a square moat (infra motam quadratam) and outside the moat, bakehouse, brewhouse, stable, barn, one dovehouse, and another house the lord’s guest-house (hospitio domini), accommodation and kitchen, curtilage and garden, orchard and Les Stewes…’ Fishponds or ‘stews’ consisting of a moat surrounding an island, perhaps for waterfowl, are recorded elsewhere in Suffolk (for example at Giffords Hall in Wickhambrook and Rishangles Park in Thorndon) and the L-shape pond at Cockfield Hall is perhaps indicative of a similar feature. Cockfield Hall was purchased by Sir Robert Brooke, Alderman of London in 1597. He was succeeded by his son Sir Robert Brooke, Sheriff of Suffolk, who remodelled the Hall in the Jacobean style between 1613 and 1614. Sir William Blois of Grundisburgh married Martha Brooke, the daughter of Sir Robert Brooke the younger around 1648; their son, Sir Charles Blois, 1st Bt. (1657-1738), succeeded his aunt, Mary Brooke, at Cockfield Hall in 1693, and Cockfield remained the Blois family home until 1997. In his will of 1734 Sir Charles Blois described Cockfield Hall as ‘my capital messuage or mansion house called Cockfield Hall tog with the houses. Outhouses, barns, stables, yards, gardens orchards, lands, meadows, pastures, floodings, wood grounds and appurtenances’. It is likely that the walled garden north-west of the Hall was constructed in two or three phases in the C18 and early C19. A great deal of improvement took place in the late C18 and early C19 during the ownership of Sir John Blois, 5th Baronet (1740-1810) and Sir Charles Blois 6th Baronet (1766-1860). Hodskinson map of Suffolk of 1783 does not show a distinct park at Cockfield Hall but does show the Hall with an avenue to the north-east. The closure of several footpaths and rerouting of the medieval Erlesway between 1790 and 1794 indicate that improvement or indeed creation of the park was taking place at this time. Two bridleway and footpath closure maps of 1792 and 1793 provide detailed information about the layout of the estate; the Hall is shown with a ‘lawn’ to the east, ‘gardens’ to the west, a tree-lined avenue north of the Hall, and a grove north-east of the hall containing what appear to be two medieval ponds. From the north side of High Street the maps show a ‘coach path’ travelling north-east to cross the river, sweeping west to meet the east side of the Hall, continuing north, and then turning east to exit at the road (now the A12) at a ‘white gate’. A long crinkle crankle wall was constructed as the south-west boundary of the gardens around 1795, separating the estate from the buildings fronting High Street. The main range of the Hall was altered in the late C18 and early to mid-C19, including the addition of a third floor and an extra bay to the facade. In the outer court a coach house and barn, gateways, walls and a dovecote were added or replaced in the early to mid-C19 (each listed a Grade II). An estate map of 1836 and the tithe apportionment map of 1840 illustrate the development of the estate in detail. These maps show the aforementioned buildings, the compartmented walled garden north-west of the Hall, an ice house yard north of the Hall, a large L-plan pond west of the Hall, a curved ha-ha east of the Hall, a gate lodge at the east entrance, and a pair of gate lodges at the south entrance from High Street. A substantial restoration and rebuilding programme was carried out between 1896 and 1898 to the designs of E F Bisshopp of Ipswich for Sir Ralph B M Blois, 9th Baronet; the great hall was rebuilt in the Jacobean style with richly carved woodwork. Cockfield Hall was requisitioned by the British Army during the Second World War, and suffered bomb damage in 1941 when the south side of the Hall and southeast corner of the outer court were hit; the south side of the Hall was rebuilt in 1952. OCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, AND SETTING: Cockfield Hall lies in the parish of Yoxford, to the north-east side of Yoxford village, largely to the north of the River Yox and to the west of the A12. The landscape park measures around 27 hectares in area, and is located within Yoxford Conservation Area, and within Suffolk Coast and Heaths Natural Character Area. The parkland is bounded to the north by Pigeon’s Lane, to the north-east by a perimeter belt, to the east by the A12, to the south by the River Yox, to the south-west by a crinkle crankle wall, and to the west and north-west by a walled garden. The land slopes gently from the north-east corner of the parkland (around 20m above sea level), south-west to the river (around 10m above sea level). ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES: the principal approach is from the east from the A12, to the north side of which is an early-C19 gate lodge in the cottage orné style (listed at Grade II). From the entrance lodge an avenue runs north-west with mature trees planted along its north side for around 320m to where it meets a mature lime avenue running north; formerly known as Erlesway, it is shown as a tree-lined ‘Avenue’ on maps of the estate of 1792/93, and on Ordnance Survey mapping as ‘Pigeon’s Lane’. From the junction with Pigeon’s Lane, a track turns south-west to run along the east side of the outer court, and another track continues north-west for around 50m before turning south-west between the walled garden and estate buildings to run along the west side of the outer court. The secondary approach is from the south and is flanked to its east and west sides by single-storey gate lodges, built in the early to mid-C19 (each listed at Grade II). Between the lodges are a pair of stone gate piers with wrought-iron vehicular and pedestrian gates bearing the Blois fleur-de-lis emblem; from the gateway wrought-iron railings continue along the south side of the east lodge. The gateway and railings south of the east lodge are together listed at Grade II. From the south gateway, a former carriageway leads east and north-east via a bridge over the River Yox; the bridge was realigned, and its carriageway replaced by concrete in the early C20 (not listed). The ornate bridge has three wrought-iron newel posts and two sections of railings to each side; the newel posts carry urns, while the railings are arched under their top rail and carry open arrow-head ornament over the bottom rail. North of the river, the former carriageway swept north-west to meet the east side of the hall, while a public footpath diverts north-east toward the east gate, from where it continues northward across the parkland. The 25-inch OS map published in 1884 and historic photographs in Historic England’s Red Box collection indicate that the carriageway from High Street crossed over a ha-ha south-east of the Hall, and exited north-east of the Hall via a gate and crossing over the ha-ha, travelling north-east to meet the east avenue. PRINCIPAL BUILDING: Cockfield Hall is a former manor house with a mid-C16 north wing constructed for Sir Arthur Hopton (listed at Grade I). The remainder of the house was rebuilt in the early C17 and was substantially altered and extended in the late C18 and throughout the C19. The south side of the Hall was altered and rebuilt in 1952 following bomb damage sustained during the Second World War. OTHER BUILDINGS: there are a number of listed estate buildings within the registered area: * around 15m north-east of the Hall, the gatehouse was constructed of red brick in the mid-C16 and is listed at Grade II*; it separates the inner or house court from a great or outer court to the north. In the outer court: * a wall was constructed to the north-west and west of the gatehouse in the mid-C16, and was part heightened in the C18 or early C19 (listed at Grade II); * a Dairy Range was constructed on the west side of the outer court in the C16; it was later extended northwards in the 1840s (listed at Grade II); * a gateway was constructed immediately north-east of the Dairy in the early to mid-C19 (listed at Grade II) connecting the dairy and coach house and barn; * the coach house and barn were constructed on the north side of the outer court in the early to mid-C19 (listed at Grade II); * a gateway adjoining the south-east of the coach house and barn was constructed in the mid-C16 (listed at Grade II); * a gateway was added 20m east-north-east of the gatehouse in the early to mid-C19 (NHLE 1030623, listed at Grade II); * a dovecote was constructed in the centre of the outer court in the mid-C19 (listed at Grade II). At the east entrance from the A12, a gate lodge was built on the north side of the entrance in the early C19 in the cottage orné style with an overhanging thatched roof supported on rustic timber columns (listed at Grade II). At the south entrance from High Street are a pair of gate lodges, probably built soon after the east lodge in the early to mid-C19, and each is listed at Grade II. The gateway between the lodges and railings south of the east lodge are also listed at Grade II. THE PARK: the parkland lies mainly north-east and east of the Hall, and gently slopes from around 20m above sea level at the north-east end to around 10m above sea level at the south end at the River Yox. The parkland east of the Hall features specimen and clump planting, while the parkland north of the east avenue retains one specimen oak and one horse chestnut tree. There are woodland belts to the north-east and along the south boundary with the River Yox. South of the Hall there are woodland belts on both the north and south banks of the river, framing the former carriageway from the south gateway and woodland paths, bounded to the south-west by a late-C18 crinkle crankle wall. GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS: the gardens and pleasure grounds lie immediately east, south and west of the hall. Around 30m east of the Hall, a semi-circular ha-ha sweeps from north-east of the Hall to south of the Hall, separating the pleasure gardens from the parkland to the east. A lawn south of the hall features a mature cedar tree to the south and topiaried yew hedge to the east. West of the Hall is a large L-plan pond, likely incorporating medieval stew ponds; at the east end of the north arm of the pond there is a paved landing platform flanked by red-brick screen walls. The 25-inch OS map published in 1884 shows a pleasure walk leading from the south-west corner of the Hall west to the south end of the L-plan pond. From there the path crossed a pedestrian bridge (no longer surviving) over the river to a path running east-west along the south bank of the river, bounded to the south by a crinkle crankle wall. The crinkle crankle wall, built around 1795, measures around 260m in length and around 2.8m in height; sections of the wall have required rebuilding over the past two centuries. At the west end of the crinkle crankle wall where it curves to meet the river, another pedestrian bridge crossed north-east over the river (replaced in the late C20) to a path which ran north-east between a red-brick boundary wall and a drain to meet the south-west corner of the walled garden. The red brick boundary wall was originally around 150m long; the south-west half was demolished to ground level, and the north-east end remains standing. KITCHEN GARDEN: the walled garden (listed at Grade II) is located around 100m north-west of Cockfield Hall and was probably constructed in at least two or three phases in the C18 and early C19. It is irregularly shaped on plan comprising a main garden, roughly rectangular on plan, laid out north-west to south-east with a curved east end. A curved extension was added to the east side of the main garden, and a walled passageway to the river was added to the south-west corner, probably in the late C18. The walls are multi-phased and constructed of red brick laid in various bonds, with shallow brick plinths, buttresses and triangular terracotta coping.