Walled garden at Cockfield Hall

Summary

Walled garden of Cockfield Hall, probably built in at least two or three phases in the C18 and early C19.

Reasons for Designation

The walled garden at Cockfield Hall is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a multi-phased and impressive structure, constructed over at least two or three phases in the C18 and early C19;
* for the architectural quality and scale of the construction, illustrating the design ambitions and social pretensions of the Blois family in the C18 and early C19.

Historic interest:

* as a key design element of the historic designed landscape of Cockfield Hall, which has evolved over at least 800 years;
* as a walled garden of relatively early date, pre-dating the proliferation of detached walled gardens in the mid-C19.

Group value:

* for the strong functional and historic group value it holds with the nearby Grade I-listed Cockfield Hall, a large number of listed estate structures, and the historic parkland and gardens of Cockfield Hall which are registered at Grade II. Together they form a strong ensemble of designated heritage assets of historic significance.

History

Cockfield manor and hall reputedly take their name from the Cockfeud family who held the lordship of the manor from at least the mid-C13, however the manor predates their lordship being one of those described in the Domesday Survey of 1086. The north wing of the Hall (listed at Grade I) survives from a mid-C16 manor house, and a surviving gatehouse (listed at Grade II*) and wall (listed at Grade II) were also constructed around that time, creating an inner or house court and a great or outer court to the north. In 1597 Cockfield Hall was purchased by Sir Robert Brooke, whose son remodelled the Hall in the Jacobean style between 1613 and 1614. After the marriage of Martha Brooke and Sir Charles Blois, 1st Baronet in 1693, Cockfield became the Blois family home until 1997. A great deal of improvement took place in the late C18 and early C19 during the ownership of Sir John Blois 5th Baronet (1740-1810) and Sir Charles Blois 6th Baronet (1766-1860).

The walled garden north of Cockfield Hall was probably built in at least two or three phases in the C18 and early C19. The distinctive outline of the west and north boundaries of the walled garden is clearly shown on two bridleway and footpath closure maps of 1792 and / or 1793 (Rolfe, 2008). A path is shown running north-east from the river, along the west (outer) side of the boundary of the 'gardens' of Cockfield Hall. At the north-west corner of the gardens, the path meets the packway and turns 90 degrees south-east running along the north (outer) boundary of the gardens.

The 1822 Transactions of the Royal Horticultural Society of London include an article by Lord Rous describing a large peach tree growing in a glasshouse in the walled garden of Cockfield Hall. An 1836 estate map (copied from an 1811 version) shows the designed elements of the walled gardens in greater detail, with compartments within the main walled garden and curved extension, and a garden building nestled in the north corner of the extension (removed in the late C20 or early C21). The 1836 map shows an enclosed passageway running south-west to the river (the northern 75m of which survives), a paddock south of the walled garden, and an L-plan pond between the paddock and hall, likely originating as medieval fishponds or ‘stews’. The Tithe apportionment map of 1840 shows the boundaries of the main walled garden and its east extension combined, and names both it and the narrow pathway running south-west to the river as ‘part of garden’.

The 25-inch Ordnance Survey map surveyed in 1883 and published in 1884 shows the walled gardens in greater detail, with a large glasshouse and small glasshouse in the east extension (both removed in the mid-C20). By the time the 25-inch OS map was published in 1904, an additional glasshouse had been constructed in the southwest corner of the east extension, and in the late C20 a lean-to garden structure was added to the rear in the south-east corner of the main garden.

Details

Walled garden of Cockfield Hall, probably built in at least two or three phases in the C18 and early C19.

MATERIALS: the walls are constructed of red brick with terracotta coping.

PLAN: the walled garden stands approximately 100m north of Cockfield Hall. It is an irregular shape on plan and encloses an area of around 0.66 hectares. The main garden is roughly rectangular on plan and measures around 75m in length and 85m in width, with a curved north-east end and largely open south side. A curved extension was added to the east side, around 40m wide along its north side, and curves south-westwards to meet the south-east corner of the main garden. From the south-west corner of the main garden a wall extends south-west for around 75m bounding a pathway to the river.

DESCRIPTION: the main walled garden is largely three-sided, with red brick walls to its north-west, north-east and south-east sides. The walls are constructed of red brick laid in a variety of bonds, generally with a chamfered plinth, shallow buttresses and triangular terracotta coping.

In the main garden, the north-west wall stands around 2.5m high and is laid in monk bond (two stretchers and a header). Around half-way along its length the wall steps up to a height of around 3.5m from where it is laid in Sussex bond (three stretchers and one header). At the north-west corner the wall turns 90 degrees and continues south-east at the same height of around 3.5m, and returns to monk bond. Around half-way along, the wall is laid in alternating English bond (one row of stretchers and one row of headers) and Scottish bond (five rows of stretchers and one row of headers). The curved east wall is laid in English bond and runs for around 45m before it meets a straight section laid in Sussex bond which extends south-south-west for around 20m. At the junction of the two sections of this wall is a segmental-arched opening flanked by square-plan piers.

The curved garden extension to the east may have been added in the late C18 or early C19 and is certainly depicted on an 1836 estate map (copied from an 1811 map). The north-west corner of the extension projects slightly north of the main garden, creating a recess where a former garden building stood until the late C20 (no longer extant). The north wall is laid in Sussex bond and has a chamfered plinth, full-height buttresses, and triangular terracotta coping. At the north-east corner the wall steps up slightly with a curved corner bay, and the east wall south of the corner has been demolished.
Along the south side of the gardens, a low wall connects the south-east corner of the main garden and south-east and east side of the extension, measuring around 60m in length and standing around 1.2m in height. This wall appears to have been rebuilt in sections; a curved section on the south-east side retains shallow buttresses over a chamfered plinth and triangular coping.

At the south-west corner of the walled garden, a perpendicular red-brick screen wall with a segmental-arched gate opening and a wrought-iron openwork gate provide access to a pathway south-west to the river. The pathway is bounded to its north-west side by a red brick wall laid in monk bond, which stands around 2.5m in height and runs south-west for around 75m before it terminates with a square-plan pier; the wall formerly continued south-west to meet the river but has been reduced to ground level beyond the pier.

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, Nikolaus, Bettley, James, The Buildings of England: Suffolk: East, (2015)

Other
Tithe apportionment map (1840)
Ordnance Survey 25-inch map, surveyed in 1883 and published in 1884
Rolfe, J, Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, Report 2008/198 ‘Cockfield Hall A Desk Based Assessment’ (2008)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Print the official list entry