NHER 30527 (Monument record) - Wallington Park

Historic Parkland on (S1), but not included in (S2).
Wallington Hall (NHER 2425) is a sixteenth century house, extensively altered in the eighteenth century. Within the park and 150 metres to the north-west of the hall lies the ruined parish church of St Margaret’s (NHER 50899). Sir Francis Gawdy is supposed to have depopulated the village of Wallington (NHER 2421) to create the park, and although the earthworks of the village were visible until recently, there is no documentary evidence that Sir Francis Gawdy created the park or depopulated the village to do so. None of the maps before (S3) show a deer park at Wallington. (S3) suggests that there was a small park of about 20 hectares to the south and south east of the hall in 1797. (S4) suggests that the park had been extended to the north through which ran a serpentine drive. In 1820 the park covered about 82 acres but was ringed by a further 90 acres of pasture containing a large number of trees, apparently planted in an aesthetic manner. The ruined church was used as a landscape feature.
An ice house is indicated 200 metres to the north east of the house on (S5). The kitchen garden covered nearly three acres, of which an acre was enclosed by a brick wall. Both (S4) and (S5) show a sunken enclosed area to the south of the hall in which the brickwork of the walls is varied and difficult to date although some of it possibly dates from the sixteenth century with substantial later alterations. Lodge by Donthorne around 1853.
(S6) suggests that the core of the park covered the same area as in 1840, but the fields had lost some of their free-standing timber and much of their park-like appearance. Ponds were in existence by the 19th century, but extended in the 20th century. During the twentieth century most of the park was ploughed, during which the ice house and village earthworks were destroyed.
In the area south of the main drive there are one or two slight earthworks, which are probably old field boundaries. The drive itself lies in a Holloway perhaps indicating it originated as a lane, which was then incorporated into the parkland when it was created. There are few trees of great antiquity at Wallington, an exception being the sycamore near the church which has a girth of 7 metres.
E. Rose (NLA) 23 March 1994.
Updated by E. Nicholl (UEA), 15 November 2011.