# Bessingham Manor, North Norfolk.



## Black Shuck (May 30, 2010)

A Large Rural Manor House in the Depths of the Norfolk Norfolk Countryside.Norfolk has suffered the loss of many of it’s larger country houses but the smaller houses often not only survived but were much cherished as manageable but beautiful examples of local architecture. Yet, even today it’s possible for one of these lovely red-brick homes to slip into dereliction, at risk from the weather and criminals; Bessingham Manor has become another of these sad examples.

Built in 1870 for the Spurrell family, who had farming connections in Suffolk going back over 500 years, the house originally had 52-acres but this has now been reduced to a more manageable five. The house remained in the Spurrell family until the last member died in 1952. It was then bought by Robert Gamble who eventually found maintenance a significant challenge which was compounded by a poor quality roof repair which failed leading to massive water damage to part of the house, including the collapse of sections of the second floor. The near derelict state of the interior is mirrored in the exterior which is partially supported by scaffolding or probably held together by the extensive ivy. Perhaps questions should be asked as to why this gradual decay was not spotted by the local conservation department who may have been able to force repairs before the damage became so extensive? I visited with my usual Team M02W!!











 The 2nd and 3rd floors had fallen through completely leaving a very surreal atmosphere



















































 The Newspapers on the floor were dated 1972!!!

 The Highlight of the explore or me was this Ancient Harmonium..


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## Foxylady (May 30, 2010)

What a find! Totally delightful. Beautiful building and so many lovely details. Love the red-tiled dutch oven...and that outside bell is brilliant. Excellent!


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## Black Shuck (May 30, 2010)

Thanks Foxy, this one of the most impressive Derelict Houses I have been in in nearly 2 years of exploring. The place was simply awe inspiring. Its been on Local News and has a guide price of around 450,000 pounds, but needs around 1 million spending on doing it up as you can see!!!. I have been in awe of the place for well over a year and wanted so much to Document it.


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## amarisfionn (May 30, 2010)

What a brilliant explore! Jealous!  Great photos!


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## Black Shuck (May 30, 2010)

Thanks a lot Amarisffon. It was very interesting, but loads of Stinging Nettles!!!!


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## sophieellen22 (May 30, 2010)

Looks Great!

I'm hoping theres more places like this locally that just need to be found =)


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## Black Shuck (May 30, 2010)

Thanks Sophie! Your right there are an awful lot of these about, some in better Nick than others of course!!


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## Marley85 (May 31, 2010)

very good report, I really like that stove !


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## Black Shuck (May 31, 2010)

Thanks a lot Marley!! There were quite a few Stoves and Ovens in the Place, it suprised me how many their were through the Building.


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## oldscrote (May 31, 2010)

What a great report Shucky,was the stove in pic 13 outdoors for a heated greenhouse?and secondly is this the same Bressingham that had a collection of steam traction engines that have recently been sold?


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## escortmad79 (May 31, 2010)

oldscrote said:


> What a great report Shucky,was the stove in pic 13 outdoors for a heated greenhouse?and secondly is this the same Bressingham that had a collection of steam traction engines that have recently been sold?


This is BESSINGHAM Manor, as opposed to BRESSINGHAM. 

The Bressingham steam collection was run by the late Alan Blooms who ran Blooms garden centre next door to the museum.

Alan has passed on but both museum & garden centre are still running.

A number of engines have been sold in recent years including Burrell Road Locomotive "The President", Burrell Showmans "Black Prince" (Both of which are now up in Aberdeenshire), Sentinel tractor "Brutus" which was on loan to Bressingham museum plus the pair of Fowler ploughing engines "Cissie" & "Bessie".

These have been sold to fund the restoration of railway locomotive "Royal Scot".

The other traction engines & locos are still on display (for now)


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## MD (May 31, 2010)

nice work fellas


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## klempner69 (May 31, 2010)

I am now in fireplace heaven!Shucky,this is surely your best work to date for me anyhow..brilliant.


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## EclipseZion (Jun 1, 2010)

Thats awesome, one place I'd love to visit and hope its just how it looks in these pics


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## manof2worlds (Jun 1, 2010)

Of course I have to add my take on this great site - excellent pics Shucky!!!



































































Being a semi-pro musician, I couldn't resist!!!











It's now apparent that Gary Numan was NOT the first to use the Vox Humana preset ;-)


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## Faing (Jun 1, 2010)

absolutely great place you found there shuck, love the fire grates in the sky


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## Trinpaul (Jun 2, 2010)

Some fabulous internal details there. The place seems to be falling in on itself.


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## Black Shuck (Jun 3, 2010)

oldscrote said:


> What a great report Shucky,was the stove in pic 13 outdoors for a heated greenhouse?and secondly is this the same Bressingham that had a collection of steam traction engines that have recently been sold?



Thanks for that Scrote, the Stove did seem to be out of the Main Building. Could well of been part of the Greenhouses!


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## Black Shuck (Jun 3, 2010)

escortmad79 said:


> This is BESSINGHAM Manor, as opposed to BRESSINGHAM.
> 
> The Bressingham steam collection was run by the late Alan Blooms who ran Blooms garden centre next door to the museum.
> 
> ...



Your 100 per cent right on that Escort, BRESSingham is in South Norfolk near Diss!!


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## Black Shuck (Jun 3, 2010)

klempner69 said:


> I am now in fireplace heaven!Shucky,this is surely your best work to date for me anyhow..brilliant.


Cheers Klemp!!! One of the Best Manor Houses I have ever had the Pleasure to visit!!!


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## Black Shuck (Jun 3, 2010)

Faing said:


> absolutely great place you found there shuck, love the fire grates in the sky



Thanks Faing!!!


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## Black Shuck (Jun 3, 2010)

manof2worlds said:


> Of course I have to add my take on this great site - excellent pics Shucky!!!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



MO2W my friend!!, We did Good!!!! Stunning set of Pics there!!!! I think we may be getting the Hang of this Urbex thing Dude!!!!!


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## wagg20 (Jun 4, 2010)

Surprised how much the place has deteriorated since my visit a few months ago.
Well done for capturing what has to be one of the best ruined manor houses in Norfolk!
Found another one a couple of weeks ago and one of the rooms contained some old TV sets from the 50's I would say.


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## Black Shuck (Jun 4, 2010)

Thanks a Lot for that Wagg. I can certainly see why you chose Bessingham mate, and why you said it was one of the best!! Its quite a shame to see it the way it is though.


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## Norfolkbloke (Jun 7, 2010)

What an amazing old place, I could spend hours in that old place just soaking up the vibes!!

Awsome pics from both of you, seems to be so few places like this left to discover so I reckon it's great that you got so many cool pics to document the site before it gets taken over...wether it be by nature or the canny property developer!!

NB


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## Black Shuck (Jun 7, 2010)

Thanks for the kind words Norfolk Bloke, This was one of the best Houses we have ever visited!!, there are loads out there mate, its just some people never care to look properly!!


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## Labb (Jun 11, 2010)

A lo9t of good pictures here. Your new camera seems to be very good. Do you use the tripod all the time ?


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## ru-mma (Jul 20, 2010)

We went here recently, absolutely stunning, favourite place so far


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## marshall10 (Jul 20, 2010)

An outstanding find and an amazing building! Great job by both of you, you really captured it all very well.


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## Black Shuck (Jul 21, 2010)

Thanks very much Marshall, I had kiown about this place for a while, but had never had the chance to go and have a look. One of my faviurite explores.


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## Left4Dead (Aug 20, 2010)

Hello all. Military sites are usually my thing, but after seeing your report Black Shuck, I had to check this place out especially after reading plans for this place HERE. What a beautiful place it is, untouched by chavs and only really touched by the elements. I got some great shots, so thanks BlackShuck.


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## Black Shuck (Aug 20, 2010)

Left4Dead said:


> Hello all. Military sites are usually my thing, but after seeing your report Black Shuck, I had to check this place out especially after reading plans for this place HERE. What a beautiful place it is, untouched by chavs and only really touched by the elements. I got some great shots, so thanks BlackShuck.



Thanks mate, it was one of the best Properties I have had the pleasure of capturing, very very evocative. It doesn't deserve to be left like this, in such a parlous state.


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