Hurts Hall
Believed to be the site of an earlier manor house, Hurts Hall lay at the centre of an extensive estate that became the property of the Long family in the eighteenth century. The family had made their fortune from their Jamaican plantations. Designed by Samuel Wyatt, a Regency house was built on the site in 1803. It was set within an oval-shaped pleasure garden enclosure created by a belt of trees and a ha-ha, with a five-sided walled garden within. This was surrounded by a landscape park, including a boating lake. After a fire in 1890 the Regency house was replaced by the present Jacobean-style house. Gradually reduced in size, the estate was owned by the Long family until after World War II. During the second half of the twentieth century the house deteriorated and part of the parkland was converted to arable. A major restoration of the house and development of the gardens began in 2012. Today the parkland is much-reduced, although the oval enclosure has survived. A small number of residential properties have been built within the remains of the walled garden and converted from barns and stables, all now in separate ownership. The pleasure gardens attached to the Hall have been restored and substantially expanded. However, today the landscape setting of the house and park is threatened by the cumulative impacts of housing development and energy infrastructure projects.
Not open to the public
