NHER 33731 (Designed Landscape record) - Gunthorpe Park

It is likely that the park was created in the 1790s when the new Hall (NHER 3233) was built, but there is no evidence. The park is first shown on Faden’s map, surveyed in 1794 (S2), covering an area of c.80 hectares. It was bounded to the south, south-west and south-east by Stock Heath, a large common. It was bounded on the other sides by public roads. This map shows a lake within the park.
By the 1836 Ordnance Survey 1 inch map (S3), the road to the east had closed. This map and the 1838 Tithe Award map (S4) shows that large blocks of woodland had been installed for privacy. The road closure does not appear to have allowed the park to expand, it just adds privacy. In fact, it appears as though the park has shrunk, as a large area to the west was converted to agricultural use, and so the park was only c.45 hectares.
In 1829 Stock Heath was enclosed by an Act of Parliament, and was planted with trees, labelled on the 1906 6 inch Ordnance Survey map (S5) as ‘Little Heath’, ‘Middle Heath’ and ‘Great Heath’ plantations. The park expanded before 1886 to link up with woods.
The 1906 map shows that the park was created at the expense of agricultural fields, as there are clear lines of trees on the map indicating old field boundaries, especially west of the Hall. That the lines were still clear in 1906 suggests that the park was not very old. The park was linked with the Heath plantations by this point, giving the park an area of c.60 hectares. This map also shows a tree belt along the northern boundary of the park, screening the Hall from the adjacent road, so now the park was completely screened from view in all directions. In addition, a few small clumps of woodland within the park have appeared.
The park contains mostly oak trees with some exotics. The park contains a late 19th century Italianate Garden. The kitchen garden is north-east of the Hall and once contained a famous greenhouse.
See (S2), (S3), (S4) and (S5).
E. Rose (NLA) 27 July 1998.
Updated by C.Hurst (UEA) 8 November 2011.