"A Large Rural Manor House in the Depths of the Norfolk Norfolk Countryside.Norfolk has suffered the loss of many of it’s larger country houses but the smaller houses often not only survived but were much cherished as manageable but beautiful examples of local architecture. Yet, even today it’s possible for one of these lovely red-brick homes to slip into dereliction, at risk from the weather and criminals; Bessingham Manor has become another of these sad examples.”
"Built in 1870 for the Spurrell family, who had farming connections in Suffolk going back over 500 years, the house originally had 52-acres but this has now been reduced to a more manageable five. The house remained in the Spurrell family until the last member died in 1952. It was then bought by Robert Gamble who eventually found maintenance a significant challenge which was compounded by a poor quality roof repair which failed leading to massive water damage to part of the house, including the collapse of sections of the second floor. The near derelict state of the interior is mirrored in the exterior which is partially supported by scaffolding or probably held together by the extensive ivy" - Black Shuck
I’d wanted to do this for a long time. Feeling like it had been too long since a good explore, I decided to contact the original author of this post and see if he would be up for giving me the grand tour.
Turns out it was a bit of a grand tour for me too. It took 218 miles and a 5 hour drive for me to find here. But luckily the company of a seasoned explorer seem to fade the awful drive into the background.
In his original report access looks to be as simple as walking in. Black Shuck has visited the site on a regular basis - it should have been easy... but we found that even his recent access point had been sealed tight.
We scouted, and scouted for another way in, realising at some points we would be in full view of the adjacent farmhouse.
Added to this was the fact that it was currently on the market for £2m, so there was every chance an estate agent and client could wander in.
After we managed to find our way in without killing ourselves, the full splendour of the interior was shown to us.
It really was a relic. A snapshot in time:
Milk’s off…
Whisks still hanging up:
Massive atrium:
Nice organ…
39 Year old newspaper:
All in all a fantastic day out, thanks to “Black Shuck” for all the help getting in.
"Built in 1870 for the Spurrell family, who had farming connections in Suffolk going back over 500 years, the house originally had 52-acres but this has now been reduced to a more manageable five. The house remained in the Spurrell family until the last member died in 1952. It was then bought by Robert Gamble who eventually found maintenance a significant challenge which was compounded by a poor quality roof repair which failed leading to massive water damage to part of the house, including the collapse of sections of the second floor. The near derelict state of the interior is mirrored in the exterior which is partially supported by scaffolding or probably held together by the extensive ivy" - Black Shuck
I’d wanted to do this for a long time. Feeling like it had been too long since a good explore, I decided to contact the original author of this post and see if he would be up for giving me the grand tour.
Turns out it was a bit of a grand tour for me too. It took 218 miles and a 5 hour drive for me to find here. But luckily the company of a seasoned explorer seem to fade the awful drive into the background.
In his original report access looks to be as simple as walking in. Black Shuck has visited the site on a regular basis - it should have been easy... but we found that even his recent access point had been sealed tight.
We scouted, and scouted for another way in, realising at some points we would be in full view of the adjacent farmhouse.
Added to this was the fact that it was currently on the market for £2m, so there was every chance an estate agent and client could wander in.
After we managed to find our way in without killing ourselves, the full splendour of the interior was shown to us.
It really was a relic. A snapshot in time:
Milk’s off…
Whisks still hanging up:
Massive atrium:
Nice organ…
39 Year old newspaper:
All in all a fantastic day out, thanks to “Black Shuck” for all the help getting in.
