Stiffkey Hall is a curious Elizabethan gabled building with a massive
flint tower, built, it is said, by Sir Nathaniel Bacon, the brother of the
philosopher, but it never was completed. Far more picturesque and
interesting are the remains of East Barsham manor-house, some
seven miles to the south of Wells. Although it contained some of the
finest ornamental Tudor brickwork in England when we were there,
and possibly still, the old place could have been had for a song. It had
the reputation of being haunted, and was held in awe. The
gatehouse, bearing the arms and ensigns of Henry VIII., reminds one
of a bit of Hampton Court, and the chimneys upon the buildings on
the northern side of the Court are as fine as those
[Pg 43]
at Compton Wyniates. The wonder is that in these days of
appreciation of beautiful architecture nobody has restored it back into
a habitable mansion. That such ruins as this or Kirby Hall or Burford
Priory should remain to drop to pieces, seems a positive sin. A couple
of miles to the west of Barsham is Great Snoring, whose turreted
parsonage is also rich in early-Tudor moulded brickwork, as is also
the case at Thorpland Hall to the south.