{{Short description|Moated manor house in Elsing, UK}} {{Use dmy dates|cs1-dates=ly|date=January 2025}} {{Use British English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox building | name = Elsing Hall | image = Elsing Hall (10743740756).jpg | location = Elsing, Norfolk | location_country = United Kingdom | coordinates = {{Coord|52.7033|N|1.01793|E}} | construction_start_date = 13th century }}
'''Elsing Hall''' is a Grade I listed<ref name="historicengland">{{Cite web |title=Elsing Hall, Elsing - 1169052 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1169052?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=Historic England |language=en}}</ref> moated manor house in Elsing, Norfolk, England. Likely first built in the 13th century and home to Hugh Hastings I, it was extensively remodelled around 1852 by Thomas Jeckyll.
== History == Work at the site likely began in the 13th century.<ref name="norfolk">{{Cite web |title=Elsing Hall |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF3009-Elsing-Hall&Index=2&RecordCount=2&SessionID=f740322b-459b-48a3-82e8-4ab5105c4036 |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=Norfolk Heritage Explorer}}</ref> It was the home of Sir Hugh Hastings I, who was later buried in St Mary's Church, Elsing which he had built with his wife Margery Foliot, the heiress of the Elsing Hall site.<ref name="Greater">{{Cite book |last=Emery |first=Anthony |title=Greater medieval houses of England and Wales. 2: East Anglia, Central England, and Wales |date=2000 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-58131-8 }}</ref> The oldest work now visible on the site is from the mid to late 15th century, when a gatehouse and bastions were built; these survive around the edge of the moated island.<ref name="norfolk"/>
In 1540 the site passed by marriage to the Browne family which held it until the mid-20th century.<ref name="Greater"/> In the early 19th century, James Bulwer painted the house in watercolour; this work shows the original form of the house prior to its 1852 refurbishment.<ref name="Greater"/>
90% of the hall's visible structure is likely from architect Thomas Jeckyll's work at the site around 1852.<ref name="norfolk"/> The house generally kept its medieval form despite the extensive refurbishments; Jekyll sought to reinstate the house's character with additional Tudorbethan style. These alterations included the enlargement of the moat's south side to form a lake, a new exterior hall built in flint, and rebuilt chimney stacks with ornamental bricks.<ref name="Greater"/>
The site first became a listed building on 4 December 1951.<ref name="historicengland"/> In 1989 the family of David Cargill, a national board member for the Arts Council for England, began to develop the grounds over 30 years, creating a garden with an arboretum.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cargill |first=Duncan |date=1 March 2023 |title=David Cargill obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/mar/01/david-cargill-obituary |access-date=2025-01-19 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==References== {{Commons category|Elsing Hall}} {{Reflist}}
Category:Grade I listed buildings in Norfolk Category:13th-century establishments in England Category:Houses with moats