Return To Bessingham Manor - March 2011

Had a terrific Spring morning explore in this fantastic rural derelict manor house. Loads of info on other reports so will skip that.

Visited with two other explorers, our mission to get to the upper floors of this rickety crumbling old shell. We achieved this, but I'm paying a little bit of a price for it.

Now, let's get it clear here, I'm not good with heights and I'm worse with ladders. I can get up them, as quick as you want, my problem is getting back down again. So on our descent, I opted to lower myself over the edge of the first floor landing - doing it this way meant that I could do it slowly and then the drop would only have been a couple of feet - no big deal. Please keep in mind here that I was shitting bricks through this whole process. I got my legs over the side and started to shuffle back over the edge, one of my companions was already down and waiting to help me out if needed. And the the corner of the door frame I was holding onto gave and away I went like the proverbial sack of potatoes. It was neither elegant or pretty and thankfully, my companion (who luckinly for me is in the Armed Forces) pushed me away from the cellar access which was in my flight path. The result was a professional "para" roll, an afternoon in A&E and torn ligaments in the ankle and knee with impact bruising and swelling up my right leg.

But......

I got the shot

Here we go:

1. First Floor Front Bedroom


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

2. First Floor Front Bedroom with Dressing Table


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

3. First Floor Front Bedroom: my round is it?


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

4. First Floor Front Bedroom


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

5. Looking to the Second Floor - gradual collapsing of the water tank in progress


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

6. First Floor Landing - looking through


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

7. First Floor - looking out at a Spring morning


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

8. First Floor - decaying bureau


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

9. Looking down from the First Floor into the Ground Floor Kitchen


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

10. Second Floor - bathtime


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

11. Second Floor: decaying dreams


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

12. Second Floor - looking across the landing to the water tank room


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

13. Staircase up to the third floor - skylight in view


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

14. First Floor - demi-john view


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

15. First Floor - view of a Spring morning


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

16. The Front Door - taken from teh spot where I landed


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

17. Wallpaper and Decay


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

18. Getting a handle on things


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

19. Bottles in the kitchen


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

20. Kitchen Plumbing


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

21. Kitchen Light


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

22. Looking up from The Kitchen


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

23. Light by the Front Door


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

Absolutely stunning pics. Love pic 11, and pic 13 looks like one of those optical illusion pics, difficult to distinguish if looking up or down the staircase! Hope you're leg's on the mend! Well done, and thanks for sharing

Fantastic pics, will have to make a trop!

Brilliant pics of upper floors! You've had a lucky escape, phew.

Stunning photos!

22 wins it for me

I sympathize with you about the ladder thing, useful as they are, if I ran the world they would all be piled up and burnt

Hope you mend soon

Ace pictures there

Nice location, shame about the eye blood inducing photos.

Great Location and pics - close run thing between pic 11 and 22 as favourite

Thanks for the great comments

@jjstenso: do what I do - wear sunglasses

nelly said:

I sympathize with you about the ladder thing, useful as they are, if I ran the world they would all be piled up and burnt

Click to expand...

LOL! My thoughts exactly!

Well done that man for risking life & limb. Hope that all's well now.
Stunning place and pics.

Visited with wagg20 this morning to have a look around the cellar, of which I've not seen any photos posted as yet. Very much surprised to see how quickly the house has deteriorated since my last visit about a month ago, and after a climb up "that" ladder and a look at the landing I decided not to go there. As the history of the house has already been posted I'll just add a few photos of its cellar, and a piece of information that I've found about the last Spurrel to own it. Edmund Denham Spurrell is described as having been a bit of an eccentric: he used to keep a bear at the manor which one day escaped and attacked one of the housemaids.

The cellar comprises eight rooms that are connected by a central corridor, with steps leading down to it off the kitchen. A door in the south wall which gives external access to the cellar would have been an alternative route. This is a view up the steps to the kitchen.



The central corridor.







But there is a third route. A hatch built into the wooden floor of one of the sitting rooms - I am guessing that it would have been concealed by a carpet to be used as an emergency bolt-hole - links via a short ladder with the room below. This is the only room in the cellar that has a fireplace.









Some of the compartments contain shelves for storing fruit and vegetables, another was used as a wine cellar and a third houses an old rusty boiler.















I have also found one of the toilets on the ground floor, tucked away at the very end. The sliding door is stuck but I managed to get a shot of the high level cistern and the pull handle by sticking my hand and camera through the gap.

That looks really interesting. Definately one for the list if ever up that way

Great pics Evelyn and good to see you've linked up with Wagg20 - a thoroughly decent chap.

Here are my cellar pics from a previous visit:

1. Stairs from the kitchen into the cellar


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

2. Fireplace room lit by LED light pods and natural light


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

3. The cellar corridor


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

manof2worlds said:

2. Fireplace room lit by LED light pods and natural light


Bessingham Manor House, Norfolk, U.K. by manof2worlds, on Flickr

Click to expand...

That's come out really well, love this one.

Tstranger1066 said:

That looks really interesting. Definately one for the list if ever up that way

Click to expand...

Thank you. I believe it will be demolished very soon.

Thanks, manof2worlds. Great to see your comparison shots!

Cool wallpaper / tiles in pics 1 and 2!

Pamela Wisker

I am really upset seeing the state of Bessingham Manor, I used to visit in the 1940's, spent 6 weeks there one summer.
I visited with my Mum and younger brother, we were made very welcome, we were visiting the Manor to see my Grandma, she was taken into hospital before we got there, and Denholme (who we called Grandad Spurrell) made us very welcome. I have never forgot him and have happy memories of our time at Bessingham Manor.
Denholme Spurrell was a lovely man, I was 6 and my brother was 3. Denholme Spurrell used to sit in his study, I remember my brother and I going in and talking to him
I have a lovely picture of him, taken standing by his car.

Pamela, thanks for posting here, how interesting! Would you mind if I'd forward your information to Jonathan Spurrell who takes great interest in his ancestors and is planning to write a book about his family. He is always interested to hear from people who know Bessingham Manor from the times it was owned by his family, and also in any information concerning Denham. Perhaps you would like to add the photo of him and the car to this thread?

Pamela

Many thanks for posting here and sharing your story.

Whilst it was a place that, in reality, I should not have been in, with room I entered I still felt like a time-traveller walking through the past and it is such a shame that the building cannot be saved from demolition.

Having seen much of the inside of the manor now, I can understand how sad you must feel. As I walked around the upper floors, one had a real sense of history and a pervading atmosphere that almost the place back to life again as though it wanted it's grandeur to be experienced one last time. I was very touched by the sight of the bed on the top floor - made a long time ago and never slept in since.