The park was the last design by Humphry Repton (1752-1818) (His first paid commission being Catton Park, to the north of Norwich, dating back to 1788.) who presented his proposals in July 1812 in the form of one of his Red Books. He described Sheringham as his "favourite and darling child in Norfolk". Abbot and Charlotte Upcher bought the estate in 1811, and successive generations of the Upcher family did much to develop the estate, the hall and the park, as well as building a school.
Sheringham Hall was built for Abbot and Carlotte Upcher to replaced a smaller Jacobean hall. Some of the oak used was retrieved from a wrecked ship at Blakeney and other timber from a local demolished granary. After the death of Abbot in February 1819 his wife chose to stay in the old farmhouse they were living in and not finish the hall. It wasnt fully finished until 1839 when their son and his family moved in. After the death of the last Upchur in 1985 the National Trust were approached and in 1986 they bought the wider estate. The Hall is not open to the public and is owned privately on a long leasehold.
Repton proposed that the new house be situated close to the village of Upper Sheringham, be of a relatively modest design, with rooms ‘not extravagant in size or quantity’, and that visitors be permitted to enter the estate to enjoy the views. He also recommended that the Upcher family admit the rural poor to gather dead wood within the estate boundaries. Involving themselves within the community was crucial for the Upchers at a time when social relations were divisive across much of the country owing to unemployment, economic depression and a run of poor harvests.
It was recommended that Upcher carry out some further planting to add colour, depth and variety to the existing woodlands. Planting trees also held symbolic significance at a time of war, when timber was needed for shipbuilding. The inclusion of a cornfield within the view from the house is similarly indicative of the wartime context and the need for parks to be places of production as well as pleasure.
The Main Drive was already lined with woodland before Repton intervened. He suggested further planting to darken the woods, thereby ensuring that visitors would not see too much of the park and sea views before reaching the Turn.
The drive was central to Humphry Repton’s 1812 design for Sheringham Park. When you walk down it, imagine you're in a horse-drawn carriage, catching glimpses of the coastline as you travel through the rhododendrons in the Wild Garden.
The Wild Garden at Sheringham Park covers 50 acres and includes a nationally important collection of rhododendrons. The garden was developed around a base planting of Scots pine and oak, with the earliest plantings being carried out around 1850.
The Wild Garden is now home to over 80 species of rhododendron and azalea, often providing colour from November to August but peaking from mid-May into early June.
There are some special trees in the Wild Garden, including one of the biggest Scots pines outside of Scotland. Elsewhere, the larger of our two snowdrop trees is one of the tallest specimens in England.
A number of veteran oaks dotted along the Main Drive may well have acted as boundary markers in the past. Many of the beech trees are well over 200 years old, including our wandering beech that's tucked away to the side of one of Repton's glimpse points.
The bright green bark of the moosewood tree is particularly striking in the winter, alongside the fresh red growth of the smooth Japanese maples.
You cannot miss the crimson-scarlet flowers of ‘rhododendron Doncaster’ one of our most photographed species along the main drive.
Repton proposed cutting into the narrow ridge of hill to create a point in the Main Drive where the house bursts into sight ‘like some enchanted palace of a fairytale’.
The Regency, Grade II listed building is finished in grey, gault, Lincolnshire brick was designed and built by Humphry Repton and his architect son, John Adey Repton.
The Gazebo is not an original Repton feature, but when Repton visited in 1812 the same spot was home to a signal station. Offering extensive views of the coastline, the lookout was in use during the early 19th century when the threat of a Napoleonic invasion was very real.
On 29 November 1811 Repton suffered a serious carriage accident which often left him needing to use a wheelchair for mobility. He died at age 65 in 1818 and is buried at the Church of St Michael, Aylsham, Norfolk.
Sherringham Park is now seen as the most complete, best preserved example of Humphry Repton’s landscape gardening work.
There is also a Temple in the grounds (we didnt make it that far this time!!) Rempton had included it in the original design it but didnt get built due to Repton and Abbots deaths. It was finally built in 1975 by Sir Thomas Upchur to celebrate his 70s Birthday. It is in a slightly different position to the original design but still very impressive.
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