Editing Blickling Hall

{{short description|17th-century stately home in Norfolk, England}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2016}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name                = Blickling Hall
| image               = Blickling Hall - south-west facade.jpg
| caption             = 
| locmapin = Norfolk
| map_relief =  
| coordinates = {{Coord|52.8118|N|1.2318|E|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
| mapframe                = United Kingdom Norfolk
| map_caption         = Location within Norfolk
| architecture = [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]]
| type       = Stately home 
| location            = [[Blickling]], [[Norfolk]]
| built     =  1616
| built_for=[[Sir Henry Hobart, 1st Baronet]]
| architect=[[Robert Lyminge]]
| owner               = [[National Trust]]
| website             = https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling
| designation1 = Grade I
| designation1_offname = Blickling Hall
| designation1_date = 19 January 1952
| designation1_number = 1051428
}}

'''Blickling Hall''' is a [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]] [[stately home]] situated in 5,000 acres of parkland in a loop of the [[River Bure]], near the village of [[Blickling]] north of [[Aylsham]] in [[Norfolk, England|Norfolk]], England. The mansion was built on the ruins of a Tudor building for [[Sir Henry Hobart]] from 1616 and designed by [[Robert Lyminge]]. The library at Blickling Hall contains one of the most historically significant collections of manuscripts and books in England, containing an estimated 13,000 to 14,000 volumes. The core collection was formed by [[Sir Richard Ellys, 3rd Baronet|Sir Richard Ellys]]. The property passed into the care of the [[National Trust]] in 1940.

Between 1499 and 1505, the property was in the possession of the [[Boleyn family]]. 

== Early history ==
In the 15th century, Blickling was in the possession of Sir [[John Fastolf]] of [[Caister-on-Sea|Caister]] in Norfolk (1380–1459), who made a fortune in the [[Hundred Years' War]], and whose coat of arms is still on display there.  Later, the property was in the possession of the [[Boleyn family]], and home to [[Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire|Thomas Boleyn]], later Earl of Wiltshire, and his wife [[Elizabeth Boleyn|Elizabeth]] between 1499 and 1505. Although the exact birth dates of their children are unknown, historians including [[Eric Ives]] are confident that all three surviving children were likely born at Blickling – [[Mary Boleyn|Mary]] in about 1499, [[George Boleyn|George]] in about 1504, and [[Anne Boleyn|Anne]] in about 1501.<ref name="Ives">Ives, Eric. ''The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn.'' 2004, Blackwell Publishing Ltd. {{ISBN|9781405134637}}, pp. 3, 14–15.</ref> A statue and portrait of Anne may be found at Blickling Estate which carry the inscription, "''Anna Bolena hic nata 1507''" ("Anne Boleyn born here 1507").<ref name="Ives" />

The house of Blickling seen today was built on the ruins of the old Boleyn property in the reign of [[James I of England|James I]], by [[Sir Henry Hobart]], [[Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas]] and 1st Baronet, who bought Blickling from [[Edward Clere (MP)|Lady Agnes Clere]] in 1616.<ref>Jane Whittle & Elizabeth Griffiths, ''Consumption and Gender in the Early Seventeenth-Century Household'' (Oxford, 2012), p. 45.</ref> The architect of [[Hatfield House]], [[Robert Lyminge]], is credited with the design of the current structure. The Lord Chief Justice married Dorothy, the daughter of [[Sir Robert Bell]] of [[Beaupre Hall]], [[Outwell]]/[[Upwell|Upwell, Norfolk]], [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] 1572–1576. 

In 1621 [[Frances Hobart|Frances Egerton]] married [[Sir John Hobart, 2nd Baronet]] and they lived together at Blickling Hall for twenty years. It was Sir John who completed the building of the house that his father had started. They incurred huge debts. Frances was able to reduce the debt by £6,000 but she had to forestall her creditors. John became not well and Frances cared for him. They had several children but only Phillipa survived. In 1647 John died and Phillipa married her cousin and her father's heir [[Sir John Hobart, 3rd Baronet]].<ref>{{Cite ODNB |last=Allen |first=Elizabeth |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-66725 |title=Hobart [née Egerton], Lady Frances (1603–1664), religious patron and benefactor |date=2004-09-23 |volume=1 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/66725|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 }}</ref>

==Later history==
In 1698 the estate passed down to [[John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire|Sir John Hobart, the 5th Baronet]] who was created [[Earl of Buckinghamshire]] in 1746. He was responsible for creating the [[ha-ha]] and building the Doric Temple in the grounds, as well as extending the park by the purchase of adjacent land. His son [[John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire]] remodelled the hall between 1765 and 1785. Although the estate then passed down to his youngest daughter Caroline, who was married to [[William Harbord, 2nd Baron Suffield]], the couple died childless and it thus devolved to Caroline's nephew William Schomberg Robert Kerr, 8th [[Marquess of Lothian]], who remodelled the west front. It thereafter passed down in the Kerr family.<ref name=NHLEGarden/>

== Recent history ==
During [[World War II]] the house was requisitioned and served as the Officers' Mess of nearby [[RAF Oulton]]. After the death of [[Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian]] (the last private owner of Blickling) in December 1940, the Blickling estate passed into the care of the National Trust as part of his bequest,<ref name=Lot>[http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling-estate/things-to-see-and-do/events/more-seasonal-events/ Lord Lothian exhibition] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626120000/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling-estate/things-to-see-and-do/events/more-seasonal-events/ |date=26 June 2015 }} Retrieved 25 June 2015</ref> under the terms of the Country Houses Scheme. [[RAF]] servicemen and women were billeted within the grounds in [[Nissen huts]], whilst officers were housed in the house itself. The adjacent lake was used by RAF service personnel to practise dinghy drills during the Second World War.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bowman|first1=Martin|title=100 Group (Bomber support): RAF Bomber Command in World War II|date=2006|publisher=Pen & Sword|location=Barnsley|isbn=1-84415-418-1|page=127|edition=1}}</ref> The National Trust has created the RAF Oulton Museum on site in tribute to the RAF pilots and ground crew who served in the Second World War, and this may be visited for no additional entrance fee.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

At the end of the war, the house was de-requisitioned. The National Trust again let it to tenants until 1960, when the Trust began work to restore the house to a style reflecting its history. The house and grounds were opened to the public in 1962 and remain open under the name of "Blickling Estate". During 2019, the site received 225,624 visitors.<ref name="ALVA 2019 visitor numbers">{{cite web |title=ALVA - Association of Leading Visitor Attractions |url=https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |website=www.alva.org.uk |access-date=9 November 2020}}</ref>

In 2015 the National Trust marked the 75th anniversary of Philip Kerr's death with a celebration of his life and times.<ref name=Lot />

Work began in October 2015 to introduce a [[heat pump]] system, using residual warmth from the estate's lake. Tubing, filled with a plant-based [[glycol]], would be placed in the lake and the resulting liquid pumped into the house for further warming, enabling the heating of large parts of the house. The Trust estimated the project would save some 25,000 litres of oil each year, with cost savings in the region of £16,000.<ref>{{cite web |author=Sophie Biddle |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/in_depth_look_at_how_blickling_hall_is_set_to_be_heated_using_its_lake_1_4145079 |title=In-depth look at how Blickling Hall is set to be heated using its lake – Environment – Eastern Daily Press |publisher=Edp24.co.uk |date=9 July 2015 |access-date=28 October 2015 |archive-date=25 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160125212556/http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/in_depth_look_at_how_blickling_hall_is_set_to_be_heated_using_its_lake_1_4145079 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Blickling Hall, Norfolk: Lake Source Heat Pump: Historic Impact Assessment for the National Trust |date=May 2015 |url=http://www.broadland.gov.uk/MVM.DMS/Planning%20Application/685000/685638/20150920%20Historic%20Impact%20Assessment.pdf |publisher=Broadland District Council |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222093711/http://www.broadland.gov.uk/MVM.DMS/Planning%20Application/685000/685638/20150920%20Historic%20Impact%20Assessment.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2015 }}</ref>

In February 2021, it was reported that the parasitic wasp species ''[[Trichogramma evanescens]]'' was being deployed to the hall in an attempt to prevent damage to various artworks there, including a tapestry from [[Catherine the Great]], caused by difficulties controlling the [[Tineola bisselliella|common clothes moth]]. In conjunction with this, chemicals to confuse the moths' mating behaviour would also be used.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-56086274|title=Blickling Hall: Wasps deployed to protect mansion from moths|date=17 February 2021 |work=BBC News |access-date=17 February 2021}}</ref>

== Library ==
[[File:BlicklingHall Library 2022.jpg|thumb|280px|The library at Blickling Hall]]
The library at Blickling Estate contains one of the most historically significant collections of manuscripts and books in England. The library's estimated 13,000 to 14,000 volumes span 146 linear feet. The core collection was formed by [[Sir Richard Ellys, 3rd Baronet|Sir Richard Ellys]] (1682-1742), a cousin of the Hobarts of Blickling.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Library at Blickling |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/the-library-at-blickling |website=National Trust |access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref>
The most important manuscript associated with the house is the [[Blickling homilies]], which is one of the earliest extant examples of English vernacular homiletic writings.<ref>This volume is now housed in the Firestone Library at [[Princeton University]] (MS. 71, s.x/xi) and privately owned by the Scheide family who reside in [[New Jersey]].</ref> The Blickling homilies were first edited and translated in the 19th century by Richard Morris, whose work is still considered definitive. A more recent translation and edition by Richard J. Kelly was widely panned by scholars and critics upon publication.<ref>[https://www.jstor.org/stable/4146761 Book Review of Kelly's Blickling Homilies in Church History, Vol. 73]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110222182755/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb6408/is_1_75/ai_n29286155/ Review of Kelly's Blickling Homilies in Medium Aevum, Spring 2006]</ref><ref>[http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=1&pdftype=1&fid=6583512&jid=SPC&volumeId=80&issueId=02&aid=6583508 Review of Kelly's Blicking Homilies in Speculum, Vol 80, Issue 2]</ref> Another important manuscript formerly at Blickling Hall is the Blickling or [[Lothian Psalter]], an 8th-century illuminated [[psalter]] with Old English glosses, now owned by the [[Pierpont Morgan Library]], where it is MS M.776.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120907152720/http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=91101089 Blickling Psalter] Retrieved 12 October 2009</ref>
The entire collection at Blickling Hall is in the process of being cataloged and put online by John Gandy, who began the project in 2010 but does not expect to finish for several years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cataloging Blickling's Book Collection |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling-estate/news/cataloging-blicklings-book-collection- |website=National Trust |access-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> Catalog records are available as the project progresses and accessible through the National Trust website or COPAC.

== The Blickling estate ==
[[File:Blickling Hall Fountain 2022.jpg|thumb|280px|The fountain and east side of the mansion]]
The estate covers {{convert|4777|acres}} and includes: {{convert|500|acres}} of woodland, {{convert|450|acres}} of parkland and {{convert|3500| acres}} of farmland. Much of it is classified as Grade 2 and 3 agricultural land which is actively managed by the National Trust to provide income to support the house, gardens, park and woods.<ref name=Bli/>
The estate is listed Grade II* on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]].<ref name=NHLEGarden>{{NHLE|num=1000154|desc=Blickling Hall (garden)|access-date=23 December 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref>

===Garden history===
A house and garden existed at Blickling before the estate was purchased by the [[Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire|Boleyn]] family in the 1450s, but no records survive to give an indication of their appearance. After [[Sir Henry Hobart]] acquired the estate in 1616, he remodelled the gardens to include ponds, a [[Wilderness (garden history)|wilderness]] and a [[parterre]]. A garden mount– an artificial hill in Blickling's flat landscape, was made to provide views of the new garden. With the accession of [[John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire|Sir John Hobart]] (later the 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire) in 1698 the garden was expanded to add a new wilderness and the temple was constructed.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

In the latter half of the 18th century John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire, embarked on works that would radically change the appearance of the gardens. All traces of formality were removed, and naturally arranged clumps of trees were planted to create a [[landscape garden]]. By the 1780s an [[orangery]] had been built to overwinter tender [[citrus]] trees. Following the 2nd Earl's death in 1793, his youngest daughter Caroline, Lady Suffield, employed landscape gardener [[Humphry Repton]] and his son [[John Adey Repton]] to advise on garden matters. John Adey Repton went on to provide designs for many garden features. The estate was inherited by nine-year-old William Schomberg Robert Kerr, 8th Marquess of Lothian in 1840. He re-introduced the formality and colour schemes of the parterre. After his death at the age of 38, responsibility for the gardens rested with Lady Lothian and her head gardener Mr Lyon. [[Philip Henry Kerr]], 11th Marquis of Lothian, inherited the estate in 1930. After disparaging comments in [[Country Life (magazine)|''Country Life'']], Lothian engaged gardener [[Norah Lindsay]] to remodel the gardens. In the parterre she replaced the jumble of tiny flower beds with four large square beds planted with a mixture of herbaceous plants in graduated and harmonious colours. Other changes included removal of a line of [[conifers]] in the Temple walk, which were replaced with plantings of [[azaleas]].<ref name=Bli>Newman, J.''The National Trust, Blickling Estate'' pp56-65, p69 {{ISBN|0-7078-0086-2}}</ref>

== The garden today ==
The garden at Blickling covers {{convert|55|acre}}<ref>[http://www.ngs.org.uk/gardens/gardenfinder/garden.aspx?id=5918 National Garden Scheme-Blickling Hall gardens] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327002630/http://ngs.org.uk/gardens/gardenfinder/garden.aspx?id=5918 |date=27 March 2013 }} Retrieved 15 April 2013</ref> and contains formal and informal gardens, [[Grade II listed]] buildings and structures, woodland, specimen trees, [[Victorian era|Victorian]] garden ornaments, [[topiary]], the [[kitchen garden]] (open to the public 2010), and 18th century [[Taxus baccata|yew]] hedges. The lawns which frame the main approach to the hall are bounded by yew hedges which were first recorded by William Freeman of Hamels in 1745.<ref name=Bli/> Surrounding the hall on three sides is the dry moat. The plantings in the moist, sheltered conditions of the moat were considerably revised by Lindsay who introduced [[hosta]], species of [[hydrangea]], [[buddleia]] and [[rosemary]].

To the rear of the property is the noted Parterre garden which is located on the east lawn. Originally created as a Victorian sunken garden it was remodelled by Lindsay in the early 1930s. Set around an 18th-century listed stone fountain, she divided the garden into four large, colourful [[herbaceous plant|herbaceous]] beds surrounded by L-shaped borders stocked with roses and [[catmint]] with an [[acorn]] shaped yew marking each corner. In the terraces above the parterre there are plantings of [[peony]], seasonal beds and the double borders created in 2006, contain a wide variety of [[perennials]], shrubs and [[grasses]] with colours ranging from hot to cool. Close by, are the White and Black borders which were established in 2009, together with a collection of [[elaeagnus]]. The western side of the garden features the lawned Acre which is fringed by a spreading [[oriental plane]] tree. Outdoor sports such as [[croquet]] are played here in the summer months. Further highlights are a collection of [[magnolia]] underplanted with autumn [[cyclamen]], the shell fountain and the kitchen garden. To the north of the parterre is the Wilderness garden which is bisected by radial grassed avenues flanked with [[Quercus cerris|turkey oak]], [[Tilia|lime]] and [[beech]] trees and naturalised bulbs.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}

[[File:Blickling Hall, Gardens and Park (4514902500).jpg|thumb|The orangery]]
The wilderness hides a Secret Garden with a [[Summerhouse (building)|summerhouse]], scented plants and a central [[sundial]]. Nearby is the listed 18th century [[orangery]] which houses a collection of [[citrus]] trees. Adjacent, to the building is a steep sided dell which is home to many woodland plants including a selection of [[hellebore]] and [[foxglove]]. In 2009, an area of woodland was cleared close to the orangery to create a new [[woodland garden]]. Stocked with a wide range of woodland plants including [[camellia]] and varieties of [[mahonia]]. Opened in 2010, it will be known as the Orangery Garden. The Grade II listed Temple is approached by the Temple walk which is lined with [[azalea]] planted by Lindsay in her original 1930s design. Scattered throughout the garden are many garden ornaments including thirty pieces supplied to Lady Lothian in 1877 by Austin & Seeley of [[Euston Road]], London.<ref name=Bli/> Future projects include the creation of a [[philadelphus]] and rose garden, both of which will be located in the Wilderness and open to the public in the near future.<ref>[http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1355775538907/ National Trust garden evolution] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131215134733/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/article-1355775538907/ |date=15 December 2013 }} Retrieved 15 December 2013</ref>
In 2015, it was announced that Blickling's unused [[walled garden]] covering {{convert|1.5|acres|}} is to be regenerated. The project will take five years to complete.<ref>[https://eastofenglandnt.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/blicklings-walled-garden-to-be-brought-back-to-life/ Blickling's walled garden] Retrieved 3 August 2015</ref>

==See also==
* [[Blickling Park mausoleum]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [[Thomas Woodcock (officer of arms)|Woodcock, T.]], [[John Martin Robinson|Robinson, J.]], ''Heraldry in Historic Houses of Great Britain'', p.&nbsp;46–51,pb. 2000, {{ISBN|0-8109-6691-3}}
* Stephen Cooper, ''The Real Falstaff, Sir John Fastolf and the Hundred Years War'', (Pen & Sword, 2010)

==External links ==
{{Commons category|Blickling Hall}}
*{{Official website|https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/blickling}}
*[https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/search?author=&title=&publisher=&publisher-place=&isn=&date=&subject=&map-scale=&keyword=&library=ntr%3Antr%3ABlickling+Hall Books in the Library of Blickling Hall]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311075246/http://www.mythsandlegends.com/mythsandlegends/story17-the-headless-ghosts-of-blickling-hall.html The Headless ghosts of Blickling Hall – an animated myth]
* list of paintings on view

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:1616 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Country houses in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Grade I listed houses]]
[[Category:Grade I listed museum buildings]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1616]]
[[Category:Historic house museums in Norfolk]]
[[Category:National Trust properties in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Blickling]]
[[Category:Woodland gardens]]
[[Category:Mary Boleyn]]
[[Category:Anne Boleyn]]