Coldham Hall
Coldham Hall is a Grade I listed building, located in the parish of Stanningfield in Suffolk, that was built in 1574[1]. The Hall is very close to the village of Lawshall and part of the grounds of Coldham Hall are located within this parish.
Description
Coldham Hall is a large Tudor country house that was constructed in 1574 for Sir Robert Rookwood (or Rokewood) of Stanningfield. A notable feature of this fine two storey building is the great hall, with a long gallery in the roof space some 32 metres long, running from east to west. Internal alterations undertaken around 1770 include a Roman Catholic chapel leading from the long gallery with delicate plasterwork.
Mid nineteenth century alterations, including loggias on the east and south side, now removed, but various window alterations at the rear and a service wing at the north end remain. The house restored around 1980. [2]
History
Following its construction by Robert Rookwood in 1574, Coldham Hall remained the property of the Rookwood family for almost three centuries until 1869.[3]
The Hall has had a number of famous residents including Ambrose Rookwood who was involved in the Gunpowder plot and was executed in 1605. The Rookwood family continued in the Roman Catholic faith, as shown by the 2 chapels and several priest-holes at Coldham.[4] A remarkable feature of the history of Stanningfield and Lawshall has been the continuity of Roman Catholicism from the middle ages to the present day, in a predominantly Protestant area.[5]
While the property remained in the Rookwood family until 1869, the estate passed through the female line to the Gages of Hengrave and was let to a tenant, Robert Taylor in the 1840s. In 1869 the estate was sold to Richard Holt-Lomax whose family held it until 1893.
The purchaser in 1893 was Colonel Henry Trafford-Lawson who developed Coldham as a shooting estate with old clumps of woodland being enlarged and new blocks planted, some very close to the Hall. After the death of the Colonel's son, John Trafford-Lawson, in the First World War, the Coldham esate was purchased in 1918 by Colonel Everard Hambro who lived there until his death in 1952.
Since that time the property has been owned by [[David Hart (UK political activist)|David Hart] who was an adviser to Margaret Thatcher, a British writer and businessman, Jens Pilo and more recently Matthew Vaughn and his supermodel wife Claudia Schiffer, the current owners.[6] [7][8] David Hart maintained a link with the local community by inviting local residents to Coldham Hall on 5th November to acknowledge the estate's link with the Gunpowder plot by providing mulled wine, a fireworks display and synchronised music provided by a brass band.
Gardens and grounds
The house is approached down a a magnificent avenue of trees and corossed two small lakes in the valley bottom that drains to the River Lark. From "time out of mind" there has been a footpath alonside the grounds of the Hall, giving parishioners past and present a view of this historic mansion.[9]
Notable former and current residents
- Ambrose Rookwood
- [[David Hart (UK political activist)|David Hart]
- Matthew Vaughn
- Claudia Schiffer
Location grid
Neighbouring villages, and hamlets | |
|---|---|
References
- ^ "Coldham Hall, Bradfield Combust with Stanningfield". Retrieved 2011-03-18.
- ^ "Coldham Hall, Bradfield Combust with Stanningfield". Retrieved 2011-03-18.
- ^ Stanningfield Village Society, ed. (1997). A Stanningfield Century 1837-1939 - A portrait of a Suffolk village. ISBN 095320930X.
- ^ "Coldham Hall, Bradfield Combust with Stanningfield". Retrieved 2011-03-18.
- ^ Stanningfield Village Society, ed. (1997). A Stanningfield Century 1837-1939 - A portrait of a Suffolk village. ISBN 095320930X.
- ^ "Suffolk Churches - Stanningfield". Retrieved 2011-03-17.
- ^ "Celebrity couple's love for Suffolk". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 2011-03-17.
- ^ "Suffolk Churches - Stanningfield". Retrieved 2011-03-17.
- ^ Stanningfield Village Society, ed. (1997). A Stanningfield Century 1837-1939 - A portrait of a Suffolk village. ISBN 095320930X.