Morston Hall: A Historic House in Norfolk
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Medium
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- British, English
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Manor House
On this page5 sections
History
The Townshend estate
Morston Hall is a historic house in the parish of Morston, near Holt in Norfolk, United Kingdom. The Townshend family built its first part around 1640. In the sixteenth century, the Manor of Morston belonged to Sir Nathaniel Bacon of Stiffkey. In 1593, his daughter Anne married Sir John Townshend, and their marriage agreement provided for them to inherit several manors, including Morston. Sir John died before Sir Nathaniel, who died in 1622 and left the land to Anne’s son, Sir Roger Townshend (1596-1637).
The Townshend family, holders of the British peerage rank of viscount, owned Morston Hall from the seventeenth century until 1911.
The Wood tenancy
The 1838 tithe map, which recorded parish land parcels and related details, names Lord Charles Townshend as owner and George Wood as tenant. The Wood family lived at the Hall for about a century. George and his family farmed the adjoining 2,000 acres for roughly 40 years. After George died in 1865, his son William George Wood (1824-1903) took over the farm. William’s son, Robert Wrench Wood (1876-1949), moved into the Hall in 1903 and managed the farm until it was sold in 1911.
Sale and later owners
In 1911, the Townshend properties at Morston and Stiffkey, together covering more than 6,000 acres, were put up for sale. The Hall was advertised as a suitable residence for a gentleman farmer. After the sale, it continued as a rental property. Major Philip Hamond leased the Hall from 1914 and lived there with his wife, Rita, until about 1922, when they moved to Scaldbeck House, which he had built at Stiffkey. His son, Major Robert Hamond, and Robert’s wife, Elizabeth Marion, lived at the Hall from about 1958 to 1964.
Bernard Alan Copping owned the Hall for several years, until his death in 1986. Tracy and Galton Blackiston bought it in 1992 and ran it as a country-house hotel and restaurant awarded a Michelin star, a distinction given by the Michelin Guide. Hotelier Henry Elworthy bought Morston Hall in 2025.
Remains
The original house’s cellars and chimneys survive. The building was substantially altered in the eighteenth century, and a wing was added in the nineteenth.
