... an ancient moated manor house of beauty
standing straight out of the moat

Norman Scarfe, The Shell Guide to Suffolk, 1960


General Information

Located near the East Anglian village of Stowupland in Suffolk, Columbine Hall has been home to over six centuries of rural English life.

The timber-framed and jettied house, which has featured in World of Interiors magazine, is mainly 14th century, and was added-to in the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries. Two sides spring directly from the moat. The 17th century-style gardens (photos) were designed by George Carter, with much input from Columbine Hall's current owners - Hew Stevenson and his wife, writer Leslie Geddes Brown. The gardens have been featured in Gardens Illustrated and the Daily Telegraph.

The Clock Tower - ideal for meetings, lectures, group entertainments - was created by Melvyn Smith from an old farm building to complete the vista. For photos and further information on the Clock Tower, click HERE.




The West Barn, which appears on Columbine Hall's 1741 estate map, has been restored into a beautiful, timbered hall - ideal for all kinds of parties, lunches or dinners and other entertainments. There's an adjacent Half Moon Lawn, designed for a marquee or outdoor eating, plus an adjoining annexe
for caterers. For photos and further information on the West Barn, click HERE.

The Gig House (photos) once stabled Suffolk Punch heavy horses. Now that tractors have taken over, it has been recreated as a beamed holiday cottage for six, complete with its own cottage garden, log fire and charming open-plan living room.


History

Columbine Hall is named after Thorney Columbers, the feudal manor of the Norman family of de Columbers in the 13th century. The resident owners, however, were the Hotoft family who built the present house in about 1390. The manor came into the Tyrell family with the marriage of Anne Hotoft to a son of Sir James Tyrell of Gipping, believed to have murdered the Princes in the Tower in 1483. A later owner, Sir Robert Carey, a favourite of Elizabeth I and possibly an illegitimate grandson of Henry VIII, sold it to Sir John Poley, a veteran of the Elizabethan wars with Spain.

The following century Columbine Hall was sold to a rich iron merchant, John Crowley, whose daughter married the Earl of Ashburnham in 1756. The property was let to farmers, notably the Boby family who added a Victorian wing in the 1840s. The sixth Earl sold the hall and its 240 acres in 1914. It was used during WWII to train landgirls.

In 1993 the house and 29 acres of the original manorial lands were sold to Hew and Leslie Stevenson, who restored the house. The garden is designed by George Carter in a formal, 17th century manner. In 2000 the farm office was given its Clock Tower by Melvyn Smith and the West Barn was restored. George Carter designed the Cart Sheds and the Dovecote Archway. The vegetable garden was planted by our gardener, Kate Elliott, on the site of a modern shed whose walls were retained. In 2003 The Gig House was converted into a holiday cottage.

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