Manual Ref* NfnnWT001 Show 4 images 1039
Title*

Main facade of Wolterton Hall
County Norfolk   District Council North Norfolk District Council 
Civil Parish or equivalent Wolterton  Town/Village* Wolterton 
Road Wolterton Road 
Precise Location Grounds of Wolterton Park 
OS Grid Ref TG163318  Postcode NR11 
Previous location(s)  
Setting On building  Access Private 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Thomas Ripley  Architect(s)   
Joseph Stannard  Architect(s)   

Commissioned by

 Built for Horace Walpole (Robert’s brother 4th Earl 1717-1797) by Thomas Ripley 1727-41 

Design & Constrn period

 Palladian tower by Joseph Stannard & son, 1849 

Date of installing

 1741/1849 

Exact date of unveiling

  

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Coats of arms

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Walpole coat of arms  Stone  2m H x 10 L 
Saracen's head  Stone  2m H x 1 L 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 Lord and Lay Walpole 

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail:

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail:

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks  
Inscriptions  

Description (physical)

 The main pediment shows the Walpole coat of arms, with its quartered lions is framed by palms. Stannard's later tower shows the saracen's head decorated with a catherine wheel under a coronet, the arms of Sir Robert Walpole. These were derived from the Robsart connection following Edward Walpole's (1484-1559) marriage with Lucy Robsart (d.1560). The tomb in Westminster Abbey to Sir Lewis (de) Robessart, Lord Bourgchier (or Bourchier), Knight of the Garter (d.1430) is surmounted by a crest with a saracen's head with the catherine wheel. The connection with the crusades, the usual reason for this choice of crest, is unclear, since the family traces itself back one generation, to his father Sir Thierry de Robessart. 

Description (iconographical)

  

Photographs

 Date taken:  16/6/2010
Date logged: 

Photographed by:
Sarah Cocke

On Site Inspection

 Date:  10/7/2006

Inspected by:
Richard Cocke

Sources and References

 Information from Lady Walpole and with her kind permission from Christies 1999 valuation of the estate; Pevsner, N. and Wilson B., Buildings of England. Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East, New Haven and London, 1997, 731-2; westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/sir-lewis-robessart,-lord-bourgchier accessed 27/11/12 

Database

 Date entered:  19/6/2010

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke