NHER 30466 (Designed Landscape record) - Kimberley Park

The Norfolk Heritage Explorer is a filtered version of the Norfolk HER intended for casual research. Please to consult the full record.

See also further .

Summary

A deer park has been in existence in Kimberley since at least 1400, and the park was expanded in the early 18th century when the present Hall was built. By the mid 18th century the formal gardens that originally surrounded the Hall had vanished, replaced by geometric planting and an ornamental lake. In 1762 Brown re-designed aspects of the park and naturalised the planting. His changes included softening the edges of the lake and planting perimeter belts of trees. In 1778 Brown further altered the lake, creating two islands that were planted as pleasure grounds. In the 19th century formal terraced gardens were created to the west of the Hall. The park includes various earthworks relating to the pre-park landscape, as well as a number of ancient trees that pre-date the creation of the park.

Protected Status/Designation

Location

Map sheet TG00SE
Civil Parish KIMBERLEY, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK
Civil Parish WYMONDHAM, SOUTH NORFOLK, NORFOLK

Map

Find a placename, postcode or grid reference

Map layers

Base layers

Info

Record list

Tools

Historic Parkland Grade II*.
Capability Brown employed 1762 to redesign existing park; Tiffey dammed to form lake, plantations made; work completed 1788. Formal garden between park and hall probably by Salvin 1835.
See NAU air photographs.
Information from (S1).
(S2) states: deer park in existence pre 1700, formalised by 1755. Canal and lake made 1720 to 1739 when long southwest avenue was made. Brown's work 'softened' these; further work by John Hare 1786. At largest extent 1827, since shrunk. Remains of 1760s wilderness, cascade, walled garden 1755 to 1778.
Many old trees including yews remain.
E. Rose (NLA) 4 March 1994.

See under site NHER 8927 for comments and plan of some features outside moat including original course of stream and banks of woods in southeast corner.
E. Rose (NLA) 17 February 1998.

1998. Earthwork Survey.
Earthwork survey of western part of park surrounding NHER 8918 and extending to the village to west. Extremely important water garden.
See report (S3) for plan and further details. This site was included in (S4) and the results of this survey are also summarised in (S5).
A number of the earthworks identified at the western edge of the park are now recorded under NHER 54661.
B. Cushion (NLA) 21 April 1998. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 4 March 2014.

RAF air photograph shows soil marks of former road line in southeast of park.
Sketch plotted and 1:10,000 extract.
B. Cushion (NLA), 15 September 1998.

August 2010. Trial Trenching and Contour Survey.
Contour survey and evaluation of site on proposed pipeline route.
Confirmed a medieval date for one of the earthwork features now recorded under NHER 54661.
See report (S6) and NHER 55535 for further details.
S. Howard (HES), 10 May 2011. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 8 April 2015.

September 2012. Norfolk NMP.
Remnants of field systems, trackways and possible enclosures, of probable medieval to post medieval date, are visible on aerial photographs within Kimberley Park, and have been recorded as NHER 57399 and 57449.
A medieval to post medieval hollow way and road, together with an adjoining field or property boundary, is also visible as earthworks and cropmarks on aerial photographs, partly within Kimberley Park, and has been recorded as NHER 54661. This leads towards the deserted medieval village to the south (NHER 54660).
Further sites within Kimberley Park that have been amended as a result of the NMP mapping include the moated site of Old Hall (NHER 8918), and the earthworks of drainage ditches (NHER 18906).
Evidence of World War Two military activity, including a Prisoner of War camp is also visible on the aerial photographs (NHER 54691).
S. Tremlett (HES),27 September 2012.

  • --- Aerial Photograph: Edwards, D.A. (NLA). 1995. TG0904/AD - AF.
  • --- Aerial Photograph: TG 0904/Y-AC; TG 00/TG 0702/B.
  • --- Designation: English Heritage. 1990-2013. English Heritage Parks and Gardens Notification. Notification. DNF535.
  • --- Monograph: Pevsner, N and Wilson, B. 1999. Norfolk 2: North-West and South. The Buildings of England. 2nd Edition. p 458.
  • --- Monograph: Williamson, T. 1998. Archaeology of the Landscape Park: Garden Design in Norfolk, England, c. 1680-1840. BAR (British Series). Vol 268. pp 81-82, 108-111.
  • <S1> Designation: English Heritage. Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England..
  • <S2> Unpublished Report: Norfolk County Council. 1992. Inventory of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Norfolk. NCC Parks and Gardens Survey.
  • <S3> Unpublished Report: Cushion, B. 1998. Kimberley SMR 8918 & 30466(part). Earthwork Survey Report.
  • <S4> Monograph: Cushion, B. and Davison, A. 2003. Earthworks of Norfolk. East Anglian Archaeology. No 104. p 215.
  • <S5> Article in Serial: Gurney, D. and Penn, K. (eds). 1999. Excavations and Surveys in Norfolk 1998. Norfolk Archaeology. Vol XLIII Pt II pp 369-387. p 376.
  • <S6> Unpublished Contractor Report: Crawley, P. 2010. An Archaeological Evaluation of the Proposed B1108 Drainage Scheme, Station Road, Kimberley, Norfolk. NAU Archaeology. 2516.

Object Types (0)

Record last edited

Aug 12 2025 8:20AM

Comments and Feedback

Your feedback is welcome; if you can provide any new information about this record, please contact the Norfolk Historic Environment Record.