Lost Country Houses of Suffolk

Book excerpt: Lavishly illustrated account of forty magnificent country houses, destroyed in the last century. The Lost Country Houses of Suffolk, well-researched and written and copiously illustrated, will help the reader to imagine the county's landscape refurnished with the many elegant mansions which are now sadly lost. JOHN BLATCHLY During the twentieth century some forty of Suffolk's finest country houses vanished forever, a few by fire, but more frequently through demolition, either because uneconomic to run, or through the deterioration oftheir fabric. This book relates their tragic stories, with lavish use of engravings, images and pictures to bring to life what has now gone forever. It offers an account of each house [its history, its family, its architect], with a description of the buildings, and particular information on how it came to be destroyed. The houses are put into their wider context by an introductory section, covering the economic and social circumstances which caused difficulties for the owners of country houses at the time, and comparing the loss in Suffolk with losses in England as a whole. Houses covered: Acton Place, Assington Hall, Barking Hall, Barton Hall, Boulge Hall, Bramford Hall, Branches Park, Bredfield House, Brome Hall, Campsea Ashe High House, Carlton Hall, Cavenham Hall, Chediston Hall, Downham Hall, Drinkstone Park, Easton Park, Edwardstone Hall, Flixton Hall, Fornham Hall, Hardwick House, HenhamHall, Hobland Hall, Holton Hall, Hunston Hall, Livermere Hall, The Manor House Mildenhall, Moulton Paddocks, Oakley Park, Ousden Hall, The Red House Ipswich, Redgrave Hall, Rendlesham Hall, Rougham Hall, Rushbrooke Hall, Stoke Park, Sudbourne Hall, Tendring Hall, Thorington Hall, Thornham Hall, Ufford Place.