Buckenham Tofts
. Demolished 1946
Buckenham Tofts is a now deserted historic parish and manor in Norfolk, England, situated about 7 miles north of Thetford, and since 1942 situated within the Stanford Training Area, a 30,000 acre military training ground closed to the public. It was situated about one mile south of the small village of Langford, with its Church of St Andrew, and about one mile west of Stanford, with its All Saints' Church and one mile north of West Tofts, with its Church of St Mary, all deserted and demolished villages. None of these settlements are shown on modern maps but are simply replaced by "Danger Area" in red capital letters. It is situated within Breckland heath, a large area of dry sandy soil unsuited to agriculture. The parish church of Buckenham Tofts, dedicated to St Andrew, was demolished centuries ago and stood to the immediate north of Buckenham Tofts Hall, the now demolished manor house, as is evidenced by a graveyard which was discovered in that location. The parishioners, few as they were, used nearby St Mary's Church, West Tofts, one mile to the south, where survive 18th c. monuments to the Partridge family of Buckenham Tofts. In 1738 the Norfolk historian Blomefield stated of Buckenham Tofts "there is nothing remaining of this old village, but the Hall, and the miller's house". The ancient manor house was rebuilt in 1803 by the Petre family in the Georgian style and on a grand scale, was sold with the large estate in 1904 and was finally demolished by the army in 1946, having suffered major damage from military training exercises and shelling. In the early 21 century the remains of the manor house were described as follows: "a grassy platform of raised ground and beside a short line of dilapidated stone steps. The raised ground made a sort of elevated lawn, large enough for a tennis court or two, and the steps went to the top of the platform, and then went nowhere."
Descent (Buckenham Tofts)
The Domesday Book of 1086 records two manors at this location, one held by Hugh de Montfort and the other by Roger, son of Renard.Early holders
This lordship was held of the Montforts soon after the Conquest, by the de Bukenham family which took its name from the manor. William de Bukenham, son of Sir Ralph de Bukenham, had a charter for free-warren here, in Ellingham, and Illington, 38th Henry III and before this, in the 4th of King John, a fine was levied between William de Bukenham tenant, and Petronilla de Mortimer, petent, of the advowson of the church of Bukenham-Parva, and the moiety of a mill. In the 3d year of King Edward I Simon de Nevyle was lord, and had the assize of bread and beer of his tenants, and was patron of the church. In 1300, Hubert Hacon held it, and presented; after this, Margery, relict of Roger Cosyn of Elyngham-Magna, presented in 1313, as lady of the manor; and in 1323, John Polys of Wilton; but in 1337, Sir Simon de Hederset, Knt. was lord and patron, and 20th Edw. III. Sir John de Hederset, Edm. Le-Warde, and Edm. LeHall, held here and in Stanford half a quarter of a fee of Richard de Belhouse, as of his manor of Bodney, which Richard held it of the King. In the years 1349 and 1357, William de Hedersete was lord and patron, but soon after, it was in the hands of Richard Gegge of Saham-Tony, who presented to the church in 1367. In 3d Henry IV. Richard Gegge and Edmund de Hall held here, and in Stanford, half a quarter of a fee of John Reymes, as of his manor of Bodney, and in this family of Gegge it continued till about the reign of Edward IV, when it came to John Austeyn, Esq. by the marriage of Margaret Gegge, one of the daughters and coheirs of Rich. Gegge, Esq. After this, in Easter term, 17th Henry VII. a fine was levied between Thomas Spring, and others, querents, and Margaret Austeyn widow, defendant, of this manor, with lands in Stanford and Linford; and in Michaelmas term, in the 23d of the said King, another fine was levied between Thomas Spring and others, querents, and Hugh Coo, and Ann his wife, defendants, which Ann was daughter of John Austeyn, and Margaret his wife;Spring (& Wright)
Sir John Spring (d.1547)
Sir John Spring, knighted by King Henry VIII, died lord of the manor of Buckenham Tofts. He was the son and heir of Thomas Spring "an opulent clothier" and one of the richest men in England, by his wife Anne King. Thomas Spring was the son of Thomas Spring whose monumental brass in Lavenham Church states that he built the vestry. The will of Thomas Spring makes bequests to "the friars of Thetford and the nuns of Thetford". Sir John Spring married Dorothy Waldegrave, daughter of William Waldegrave of Smallbridge in Suffolk, by whom he had a son and heir William Spring and two daughters:- Frances Spring, who married Edmund Wright of Sutton Hall in the parish of Burnt Bradfield in Suffolk, a Member of Parliament for Steyning in Sussex in 1559 who became seated at Buckenham Tofts, his father-in-law's manor. He was the second son and eventual heir of Robert Wright of Sutton by his wife Jane Russell, a niece of John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford. Sutton Hall had been inherited by Jane Russell from her mother Jane Jervace , daughter and heiress of John Jervace of Sutton. The arms of Wright were: Sable, a chevron engrailed between three fleurs-de-lys or on a chief of the last three spear heads azure. Edmund Wright by his wife Frances Spring left daughters and co-heiresses, one of whom was Anne Wright, heiress of Sutton Hall and of Barrett's Hall in Whatfield, who married Sir John Heigham of Barrough Hall. Edmund Wright sold the wardship of his nephew William Spring to Margaret Donnington .
- Bridget Spring, who married firstly Thomas Fleetwood, and secondly to Sir Robert Wingfield of Letheringham.
William Spring (1532/4-1599)
John Spring (1559-1601)
John Spring who married Mary Trelawny, a daughter of Sir John Trelawny of Trelawny in Cornwall. He died shortly after his father and left a son and heir Sir William Spring of Pakenham, MP, then aged 12, whose son was Sir William Spring, 1st Baronet, MP, created a baronet in 1641.Rich
In the reign of King James I it was held by the Rich family and in 1614 Sir Robert Rich presented as lord; His son Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick "of Buckenham Tofts" served as "Lieutenant of Norfolk", evidenced by Ewing by the fact that "upon a small full length print of him, is said to be his Majesty's Lieutenant of Norfolk, Essex, etc. but without the prefix of Lord, his name is considered to be inadmissible on this list ". He married Frances Hatton, the daughter of Sir William Hatton, Knight, and grand daughter of Sir Francis Gawdy, Knight, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and became lord of the manor of Barton Bendish and other manors, about 1610.Crane, Appleton
of Chilton, near Sudbury in Suffolk also had his residence at Buckenham Tofts. He was 6 times an MP for Sudbury and twice for the county seat of Suffolk. He died without leaving a male heir, but left four daughters as co-heiresses. His mural monument, with kneeling effigies of himself and his two wives, survives in St Mary's Church, Chilton. His second wife Susan Alington, a daughter of Sir Giles Alington of Horseheath, Cambridgeshire, survived him and remarried to Isaac Appleton, of Holbrook Hall, Little Waldingfield, Suffolk, a Member of Parliament for Sudbury in Suffolk in 1661, who resided at Buckenham Tofts until the second year of the reign of King Charles II, in which he died intestate after which his estates were divided between his three sisters. Buckenham Tofts was then conveyed to Samuel Vincent by Robert Fairford, Isaac Preston and Mr. Cradock.Vincent
Samuel Vincent acquired the estate and in about 1670/80 rebuilt the manor house as a typical Restoration-style house, as is depicted onan estate map circa 1700, held by the Norfolk Record Office. Vincent's house was still standing in 1738, when Blomefield commented on it as follows:
It was surrounded by walled formal gardens, typical of the period, as shown on the map of 1700. The grounds included a canal, a garden building, parterres and topiary. Samuel Vincent was an entrepreneur and land speculator in London, who was associated with the great and unscrupulous Nicholas Barbon, a self-made man who "dominated the late 17th century London building world". The Great Fire of London in 1666 had opened up great opportunities for building developers. Vincent was a pioneer in the field of insurance and in 1681, together with Barbon and ten other associates, he established the "Fire Insurance Office", which provided insurance for 5,000 houses. Barbon explained the principle of the business as follows to a correspondent in 1684:
In 1686 the company sought to obtain a patent for the exclusive use of the "invention" of fire insurance. In 1688 it was granted a patent or incorporation papers by King James II and adopted the symbol of a phoenix to be displayed as a "fire mark" on all insured houses, which would be recognised by its fleet of fire-engines in case of a fire breaking out. In 1705 it adopted the name "Phoenix Office".
"Samuel Vincent of Buckingham House in Norfolk, Esquire" bore arms: Azure, three quatrefoils argent, as recorded in Essay to Heraldry by Richard Blome, published in 1684. These arms were also the arms of Sir Anthony Vincent, 4th Baronet of Stoke d'Abernon in the County of Surrey. Vincent mortgaged the estate to Sir Thomas Meers and eventually Buckenham Tofts was acquired by Robert Partridge.
Partridge
Robert Partridge (d.1710)
Robert Partridge purchased Buckenham Tofts. He was the eldest son of Henry II Partridge of Lowbrooke in the parish of Bray, Berkshire, Sheriff of Berkshire in 1670, by his wife Joanna Jaques, a daughter and co-heiress of Robert Jaques of Elmestone in Kent, Alderman of the City of London and Sheriff of Kent in 1669, by his wife Joanna Foy, daughter and heiress of William Foy.The earliest recorded ancestor of the Partridge family is Henry I Partridge of Lowbrooke, an Alderman of the City of London and member of the Worshipful Company of Coopers, whose monument with acrostic verse survives in St Michael's Church, Bray. He purchased the manor of Lowbrooke as property sequestrated by Parliament from Sir William Englefield of Catterington, in the County of Southampton, a recusant who had failed to pay his composition.
Henry III Partridge (1671-1733)
Henry III Partridge of the parish of St. Andrew, Holborn, City of London, was the second son of Henry II and heir to his brother Robert Partridge of Buckenham Tofts and Lowbrooke. He married firstly in 1701 to 15 year-old Elizabeth Holder, only daughter and sole heiress of Thomas Holder of Northwold in Norfolk, who died 2 years later aged 17, by whom he had no issue, but from whom he managed nevertheless to inherit Northwold. Secondly he married Martha Wright, eldest daughter of John Wright, merchant. Henry III's mural monument survives in St Mary's Church, West Tofts, as does one to his 5th daughter Elizabeth Partridge, wife of Rev. Samuel Knight, who bore the arms Argent, three pales gules in a bordure engrailed azure on a canton gules a spur or, of the family founded by the wealthy ironmaster Richard Knight of Downton Hall, Herefordshire.Henry IV Partridge (1711-1793)
Henry IV Partridge of Northwold, "late of Buckenham House and formerly of Lowbrooks", was the eldest son and heir of Henry III Partridge. He was a Bencher of the Middle Temple and Recorder of Lynn, as is stated on his monument in St George's Church, Methwold. In about 1736 he sold Buckenham Tofts to Hon. Philip Howard. Henry Samuel Partridge, grandson of Henry IV, sold Lowbrooks and in 1810 purchased Hockham Hall in the parish of Great Hockham, Norfolk from James Dover, where his descendants resided until shortly before 1937, in which year they still held the lordship of the manor of Northwold. Three good 18th century memorials to the Partridge family of Buckenham Tofts survive in the nave of St Mary's Church, West Tofts. The arms of Partridge were: Gules, on a fess cotised between three partridges rising or as many torteaux ; Crest: a partridge rising or.Howard
In 1736 the estate of Buckenham Tofts was purchased by Hon. Philip Howard, youngest son of Lord Thomas Howard and Mary Elizabeth Savile and younger brother of Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk. He was resident at Buckenham Tofts in 1738, at the time Blomefield published his Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk. As a Roman Catholic he was largely excluded from serving in public life. His will dated 1745, in which he calls himself "Philip Howard of Buckenham House in the County of Norfolk", directed his body "to be interred at the family burying place at Arundel Church in Sussex after as private and decent manner as possible", signifying the Collegiate Church of the Holy Trinity, now known as the Fitzalan Chapel, next to the family seat of Arundel Castle. He married twice:- Firstly on 7 January 1723/24 to Winifrede Stonor, daughter of Thomas Stonor by his wife Hon. Winifred Roper, by whom he had progeny:
- *Thomas Howard, who died in 1763 in Paris while on the grand tour, who had been heir presumptive to the dukedom following his father's death.
- *Winifred Howard, a co-heiress of her uncles Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk and Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk, to the titles Baron Mowbray, Baron Segrave, and many others. She married William Stourton, 16th Baron Stourton.
- Secondly he married Henrietta Blount, widow of Peter Proli of Antwerp and a daughter and co-heiress of Edward Blount of Blagdon in the parish of Paignton in Devon. Her younger sister Mary Blount, had in 1727 married Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk, Philip's elder brother. By Henrietta he had progeny:
- *Edward Howard, only son, who in 1763 became heir presumptive to the dukedom following the death of his half-brother. He was a special favourite of his childless aunt and uncle Mary Blount and her husband the 9th Duke, both blood relatives, who expected him to inherit the dukedom and considered him as their own child. The couple were devastated when he died in 1767, aged 23, due to a fever he caught while playing tennis not fully recovered from measles. The Duchess was affected "almost to distraction and she never recovered from the blow". All building at the palatial new house planned at Worksop was cancelled as the couple realised that their next heir was a distant male cousin they hardly knew and who was a "depressing" contrast to Edward.
- *Anne Howard, only daughter, who married Robert Petre, 9th Baron Petre, but who as a female was excluded from inheriting the Dukedom of Norfolk by a recent entail effected by the Act of Restoration 1664. Thus Buckenham Tofts passed to the Petre family.
Petre
Robert Petre, 9th Baron Petre (1742-1801)
Buckenham Tofts descended by marriage to the Roman Catholic Robert Petre, 9th Baron Petre, husband of Anne Howard. By 1797 he had expanded the deer park from 90 to 600 acres, with landscaping of trees and a serpentine lake created by damming a tributary of the River Wissey. In 1787 he obtained licence to close several public roads crossing the parkland. In 1796 Nathaniel Kent wrote:In 1790 the parliamentary constituency of Thetford, in which Buckenham Tofts lay, was a rotten borough controlled by the two largest local landowners, the 4th Duke of Grafton, who was also the Recorder, and the 9th Baron Petre, disbarred from serving in public office due to his religion.
Robert Petre, 10th Baron Petre (1763-1809)
In 1803 the house was rebuilt as a seven by seven bay structure by Robert Edward Petre, 10th Baron Petre to the designs of the architect Samuel Wyatt. In 1802 Bodney Hall, on the northern part of the estate, was inhabited by refugee nuns of Montargis, fleeing the French Revolution.William Petre, 11th Baron Petre (1793–1850)
In 1822 William Petre, 11th Baron Petre sold out his interest in the borough of Thetford, and also at about this time the estate of Buckenham Tofts, to the banker Alexander Baring, whose family subsequently used their control over the electors to have themselves selected as MPs on many occasions.Baring
Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton (1774–1848)
In 1821 the estate was purchased by Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton, raised to the peerage in 1835, the second son of Sir Francis Baring, 1st Baronet, a partner in Barings Bank, in 1818 deemed "the sixth great European power", after England, France, Prussia, Austria and Russia. The 1st Baronet was born at Larkbeare House near Exeter in Devon, 3rd son of Johann Baring, a German cloth merchant who had settled in England, by his English wife Elizabeth Vowler. Alexander nominated successively both his sons as MPs for the second of the two seats for Thetford, namely Bingham Baring, the eldest son and heir, being elected in 1826, followed by Francis Baring, the younger son, in 1830. Alexander himself followed Francis, serving as MP in 1831. He resided at Buckenham Tofts occasionally, with Francis. His other seats were The Grange, near Northington, Hampshire, and Ashburton in Devonshire. He and his descendants were many times Members of Parliament for Thetford. He died in 1848 and was succeeded by his eldest son Bingham Baring.Bingham Baring, 2nd Baron Ashburton (1799–1864)
married Lady Harriet Montagu, eldest daughter of George Montagu, 6th Earl of Sandwich. Bingham served as MP for Thetford in 1826 and 1841. The 2nd Baron died in 1864 and was succeeded by his younger brother Francis.Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton (1800–1868)
In 1864 Francis Baring, 3rd Baron Ashburton inherited the titles and estates of his elder brother, having served as MP for Thetford in 1830, 1832 and 1848. He married Hortense Maret, daughter of Hughes-Bernard Maret, 1st Duc de Bassano, the Prime Minister of France. The couple lived in Paris. Alexander Baring, 4th Baron Ashburton, son of the 3rd Baron, during his father's life was elected unopposed for Thetford at a by-election in December 1857 and was re-elected in 1859 and 1865, and held the seat until he succeeded to the peerage in 1868 on the death of his father. In 1864 Alexander was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Norfolk. In 1869 his mother the newly widowed Hortense sold Buckenham Tofts to William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney.Tyssen-Amherst
In 1869 Buckenham Tofts was sold by Lady Ashburton, complete with furniture, toWilliam Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney, who also owned Didlington Hall, where he kept his valuable art collection, including objects from ancient Egypt. He had served as High Sheriff of Norfolk in 1866 and served as MP for West Norfolk and for South-West Norfolk. He was descended in the male line from the Daniel family, originally MacDaniel "of good repute in County Mayo, Irland, in the 17th century", and in a female line from Francis Tyssen of Flushing in Holland, who owned plantations in Antigua in the West Indies, and who in 1685 purchased the estate of Shacklewell in Hackney. The latter's great-grandson Francis John Tyssen left the reversion of his estate to his illegitimate daughter Mary wife of Capt. John Amhurst, RN, of Court Lodge, East Farleigh, Kent, whose daughter Amelia Amhurst in 1794 married William George Daniel of Foulden Hall in Norfolk, of Westbrooke House, Upwey, Dorset and of Foley House, Maidstone, Kent, High Sheriff of Kent in 1825, who in 1814 adopted the surname Daniel-Tyssen and became the largest landowner in Hackney. His son and heir was William George Tyssen Daniel-Tyssen of Foulden Hall in Norfolk, who in 1852 adopted the surname Tyssen-Amhurst and at about the same time purchased Didlington Hall, one mile south-east of Foulden. His son was the 1st Baron, who changed the spelling of his surname to Tyssen-Amherst.
In 1906 he was ruined by a fraud perpetrated by Charles Cheston his solicitor and land agent in Hackney who had managed the construction of much of Dalston and Stoke Newington on his behalf and was a trustee and treasurer of the East London Hospital for Children. Over time he had gambled £250,000 of Lord Amherst's assets on the Stock Exchange and the losses were discovered following Cheston's suicide on 8 May 1906. Lord Amherst was forced to sell a large part of his remaining assets to cover the loss and the subsequent law-suit he was subjected to by his mother's family the Fountaines of Narford Hall in Norfolk, whose trustee he was. It appears however that the estate of Buckenham Tofts had already been advertised for sale in 1904 as: "The Buckenham Tofts Estate, near Brandon, a grand sporting and residential estate", and included the following lots: Buckenham Hall, Stanford; Gardens, Buckenham Hall; Glasshouses, Conservatory, Mound Cottages; Bodney Warren Lodge, Buckenham Hall, Hilborough; Buckenham Home Farm, Stanford; Bodney Lodge Farm, Hilborough; Bodney Hall Farm, Bodney, Hilborough; Bodney Hall, Bodney, Hilborough; Stables, Bodney Hall; Red Buildings, Hilborough. The 1st Baron died in 1909, of apoplexy probably caused by his financial problems, six weeks after the first auction of his art collection by Sotheby's, his probate valuing his net assets at just £341. He was buried at Didlington, and having died without a male heir, he left six daughters, of whom the eldest was Mary Tyssen-Amherst, who succeeded to his title by special remainder. She was the wife of Lord William Cecil, a younger son of the Marquess of Exeter. In 1910 Mary sold Didlington Hall to Colonel Herbert Francis Smith and moved back to their more modest house at Foulden.
Clearly Buckenham Tofts did not sell as During WWI the house was operated as a hospital for wounded soldiers, by the 1st Baron's widow, Margaret Susan Mitford and their unmarried daughters, especially Sybil, and Florence.