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Melford Hall

Beatrix PotterCountry houses in SuffolkGrade I listed buildings in SuffolkGrade I listed housesHistoric house museums in Suffolk
Long MelfordNational Trust properties in SuffolkUse British English from February 2023
Melford Hall
Melford Hall

Melford Hall is a stately home in the village of Long Melford, Suffolk, England. Since 1786 it has been the seat of the Parker Baronets and is still lived in by the Hyde Parker family. Since 1960 it has been owned by the National Trust. The hall was mostly constructed in the 16th century, incorporating parts of a medieval building held by the abbots of Bury St Edmunds which had been in use since before 1065. It has similar roots to nearby Kentwell Hall. It passed from the abbots during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and was later granted by Queen Mary to Sir William Cordell. From Cordell it passed via his sister to Thomas and Mary Savage before being sold back into another male Cordell line. James Howell described the hall and garden in the times of Elizabeth Savage, Countess Rivers in a letter in 1619. During the Stour Valley Riots of 1642 the house was attacked and damaged by an anti-Catholic crowd. In 1786 it was sold to Sir Harry Parker, 6th Baronet, son of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 5th Baronet. Beatrix Potter was a cousin of the family and was a frequent visitor to the hall from the 1890s onwards. One wing of the hall was gutted by fire in February 1942 but rebuilt after World War II, retaining the external Tudor brickwork with 1950s interior design. The hall was first opened to the public in 1955 by Ulla, Lady Hyde Parker. In 1958 Sue Ryder leased the south wing to house her holiday scheme for concentration camp survivors from Poland. This scheme, which ran at Melford Hall for 11 years, eventually grew into her work with charity Sue Ryder. In 1960 it passed to the National Trust. It is generally open on weekend afternoons in April and October, and on afternoons from Wednesday to Sunday during May to September. The Hall grounds host a number of events including the "Big Night Out" every November to mark Guy Fawkes Night and from 2013 the annual LeeStock Music Festival

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Melford Hall (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.08254 ° E 0.72291 °
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Melford Hall

High Street
CO10 9AA Babergh
England, United Kingdom
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Website
nationaltrust.org.uk

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Melford Hall
Melford Hall
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Nearby Places

Borley Rectory
Borley Rectory

Borley Rectory was a house located in Borley, Essex, famous for being described as "the most haunted house in England" by psychic researcher Harry Price. Built in 1862 to house the rector of the parish of Borley and his family, the house was badly damaged by fire in 1939 and demolished in 1944. The large Gothic-style rectory had been alleged to be haunted ever since it was built. These reports multiplied suddenly in 1929 after the Daily Mirror newspaper published an account of a visit by Price, who wrote two books supporting claims of paranormal activity. Price's reports prompted a formal study by the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), which rejected most of the sightings as either imagined or fabricated and cast doubt on Price's credibility. His claims are now generally discredited by ghost historians. However, neither the SPR's report nor the more recent biography of Price has quelled public interest in these stories, and new books and television documentaries continue to satisfy public fascination with the rectory. A short programme commissioned by the BBC about the alleged manifestations, scheduled to be broadcast in September 1956, was cancelled owing to concerns about a possible legal action by Marianne Foyster, widow of the last rector to live in Borley Rectory. In 1975 the BBC aired a programme entitled The Ghost Hunters that focused on the house and conducted interviews with several psychic researchers, including Peter Underwood. It also featured a late-night psychic investigation of nearby Borley Church.