Heveningham Hall

Heveningham is most well known for Heveningham Hall, one of the grandest stately homes in Suffolk.

Heveningham Hall was built for the Dutchman Gerard Vanneck in the late 18th century. Robert Taylor was the architect, and Capability Brown laid out the Park. Despite falling into disrepair during an inheritance dispute in the 1980s, it now looks magnificent from the Huntingfield road, one of England's stateliest and longest Georgian frontages. The Hall was built in the grounds of an earlier building, which had been home to the Heveningham family. No trace remains of this, although, as already mentioned, at least one of the memorials of the Heveninghams can be found in the church, the oak effigy of Sir John Heveningham. It is claimed that the Heveninghams are one of Suffolk's oldest families. According to Dutt's Suffolk, the manor was granted to Sir Philip de Heveningham in 1271, and a Galtar Heveningham was Lord of the Manor in the reign of Cnut. Presumably, their castle was near the hilltop site of the present church.