History

Besthorpe Hall, also known as the New Hall, stands on a site at the east end of the village. An earlier hall, know as Besthorpe Old Hall, Plassing Hall or Plassett Hall still exists aswell in the south-west corner of the parish. It was probably built around the twelfth or thirteenth century and is now used as a farmhouse.

The New Hall was built as a seat for the Drury family. Work began on the house in 1560 but it was not completed until thirty tree years later in 1593. The first resident was Sir William Drury, son of Sir Anthony Drury and grandson of Drue Drury, one of Mary Queen of Scots keepers. At this time, the Drury family were very prominent in East Anglia, owning around 30,000 acres of land in Norfolk and Suffolk. They were also an important family nationaly. They gave their name to Drury Lane in London, site of the famous theatre.

Sir William's main house was in Riddlesworth, Suffolk but Besthorpe Hall was still a large house all the same. Originally, the hall had been four times the size it is today. There was a moat surrounding the mansion and a tilting ground for jousting. The gardens were, and still are, very formally arranged and are among the best in Norfolk. The hall itself is a red brick structure. There are many coats-of-arms above the windows and on the chimneys.

Taken from Rev Francis Blomefield's "History and Antiquities of the County of Norfolk" 1781

To 'impale' used in this context, means to split a shield in two with the arms of one family on one side and the arms of another family on the other side. All the families mentioned above inhabited Besthorpe Hall during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Sir William married Mary, the daughter of Sir William Cockayne or Cokain, the Lord Mayor of London. William died in 1639 and his estate passed to his only son Anthony. However, a year later, Anthony died at the age of two and the hall passed to his sisters Bridget and Anne. The estate was split equally between them and each sister gained a half share or a moiety.

Bridget married Charles Needham, Viscount Kilmorrey and they had one son called Robert who died at the age of thirteen on May 29th 1668.It was alledged that the young Viscount had been murdered and suspicions grew when in 1877 the Kilmorrey vault in Besthorpe Church was opened. The boys coffin, which did not appear to have been tampered with, contained not a body, but a pile of old books. This event gave all the colour for a ghost story in the village of Besthorpe!

On the death of Robert, Anne, who had married Phillip Harbord of Stanninghall and Besthorpe Esquire, moved into the hall with her husband. The Harbords were a strict Catholic family and this may account for the priest hole in the house and an underground passage running from the hall to the church. This passage would have enabled someone to visit the church without being seen. The Harbords had one sone, William, but tragically, he died young and was buried in Besthorpe Church graveyard in September 1678. His mother followed him and was buried a few months later leaving Phillips the sole lord of Anne's moiety.

When Phillip Harbord died his moiety was split equally between his three daughters: Sarah, Anne and Elizabeth. Sarah died unmarried in 1689. Anne married Robert Paston and they sold their share of the moiety to Charles Shaw, son of Sir John Shaw of Eltham, Kent. Sir John had married Elizabeth, the youngest of Phillip's daughters of thus became the sole lord of the Harbord moiety. Sir John had also previously married Bridget, daughter of Sir William Drury, in 1675 and became the 755th baronet by creation in Norfolk. On her death he became the sole lord of her moiety. Now with both moieties, Sir John Shaw became the sole lord of Besthorpe Hall.

When Sir John died in 1716, his son John Shaw of Besthorpe Esq. inherited the hall. John was a Captain in the guards who had no children and so when he died in 1722 the estate passed to his brother Charles. Charles married Francis Lightfoot and had one daughter, Elizabeth, who became sole heiress on her father's death.

Elizabeth Shaw married 5th Lord Byron, uncle of the famous poet. The 5th Lord was known as 'The Wicked Earl' - he is reputed to have shot his coachman and murdered his cousin, Viscount Charworth, after a quarrel. However he lived quietly at Besthorpe during his later years. When he died, the hall and estate was bought by Sir Edward Turnour who later became the Earl of Winterton. The Earl carried out many repairs to the house during the late nineteenth century and othe modifications have been made since.

In 1881 the hall was sold to Richard Bryant, a farmer. It was sold again in 1923 to the Alston family. The current owner is Mr John Alston.