NHER 30471 (Designed Landscape record) - Mannington Park

Mannington Hall (NHER 6690) is a late medieval moated site. The earliest map showing Mannington Hall dates from 1565 (S2). It shows the Hall lying within the rectangular moat, and some other buildings outside of the moat to the north-west. There is a long linear lake east of the Hall with small pictures of fish drawn inside it, suggesting it was a fish pond. The fields immediately around the Hall are enclosed and are partly planted with trees. The lands further away from the Hall are open-fields, probably for agricultural use.
The 1742 map (S2) shows more of a landscaped park with a long tree lined avenue leading north-west of the Hall which extended nearly 2 kilometres. It started 100 metres west of the moat, on the west of the ‘Ash yard’ and outbuildings. This long avenue was the main entrance to the Hall. There are two arching road leading off south-west and north-east of the main avenue; the south-west ones runs south of the ruined church (NHER 6663) (S1), Hall and moat, and the north-east one leads to the Farm Yard and outbuildings north-west of the Hall. The park south of the Hall is planted with trees and interspersed with areas of grassland, however the map is stylised. The area within the moat is labelled as ‘Gardens’.
By the 1839 Tithe Award map (S3), there was a decline of woodland in the vicinity of the Hall. The majority of the land has been given over to farming. There is a long stretch of woodland east of the Hall, seemingly running inline with the lake, and an area of woodland south-east of the lake. The church is sitting within a small plantation. The tree-lined avenue remains, but the arching road extending north-east from it has vanished.
The 1886 First Edition Ordnance Survey map (S4) shows a pattern of paths cut into a block of woodland directly south of the moat, and the lake has been extended north. The church’s tree plantation has extended south and north. The tree plantation south-east of the lake has extended north so it is now a parallel stretch of woodland to the lake
Today a Rose Garden is sited within the moat immediately south of the Hall. There is a kitchen garden c.50 metres north-west of the moat which has 19th century walls. The trees are mainly oak and ash, with a few exotics.
See (S1), (S2), (S3) and (S4).
E. Rose (NLA), 7 March 1994.
M. Horlock (NLA), 3 March 2003.
Updated by C. Hurst (UEA), 14 November 2011.