Gatton House
House. 1809. White brick. Slate roof. 2 storeys, 6 bays.
From research carried out at the Suffolk Record Office, Gatton House (Previously Gattinetts) was made reference to by John Constable (below)
- 47
- Grade 2
- Hadleigh Road
- 51.974357, 1.010142
Local History
From research carried out at the Suffolk Record Office in Ipswich. It is believed that Gatton House a Grade II building built in 1809, however is not shown on two detailed maps of East Bergholt dated 1816 & 1817. The house is named ‘The Gattinett’ on the first edition of the large scale Ordnance Survey maps based on the survey of 1884.
John Constable’s Letters The date is based on a phrase in a letter from Mary Constable to her son the artist John Constable. The phrase ‘it is a great improvement’ was first used in her letter dated ‘E. Bergholt June 18 1809’ and then repeated in another given in the Listed Building description. As a footnote to her first letter she wrote ‘Mr Eyre’s building – and circle village – but tho’ an addition to Beauty will In the published edition of John Constable’s correspondence the editor has suggested
The date is based on a phrase in a letter from Mary Constable to her son the artist John Constable. The phrase ‘it is a great improvement’ was first used in her letter dated ‘E. Bergholt June 18 1809’ and then repeated in another letter dated 26 June 1809 the date given in the Listed Building description. As a footnote to her first letter she wrote and circle – is certainly an improvement to the appearance of the but tho’ an addition to Beauty will prove a diminution to his Property’. In the published edition of John Constable’s correspondence the editor has suggested
‘Mr Eyre was a newcomer to East Bergholt who was engaged in expensive operations near Constable’s house’ (see Becket ‘John Constable’s Correspondence: The Family at East Bergholt 1807-1837’ SRS 1962). In a footnote he has added ‘He is presumably the W. Eyre whose death in 1831 aged 74 and former captaincy in the 16th of Foot are recorded in the church. His large old house, the Gables, bears signs of restoration in his day, but the reference may be to the adjacent Gatton House, built in plain Regency style on his land’. Mr Eyre is again mentioned in a second letter dated 26 June 1809 in which Ann Constable again wrote ‘Mr Eyre is building away-I fear castles in the air tho’ I must say it is a great improvement to the entrance of our pretty village, so you will think’. She again mentions the house in a further letter dated 12 April 1812 ‘Mr Eyre’s place is filled up & may Government double his taxes’ and then ‘Miss Eyre of Dedham is now in London’. The Eyre family were acquaintances of the Constable family and Mrs Eyre ‘a clever woman’ is mentioned in a number of later letters. In a letter dated ‘Flatford-February the 13th 1836’ one of John’s sisters wrote ‘our Old Neighbour Mrs Eyre died last Thursday morning of which A.C. can tell you’. In a front piece to this published volume there is a sketch map of ‘Church Street and Burnt Oak Street East Bergholt, in 1817’. This is ‘Based in Enclosure Map by Robert Corby surveyor’. On the 1817 enclosure map for the parish of East Bergholt William Eyre’s house is shown marked in pink in an un-numbered plot. This same plot is the site of the house called the Gables. On the same map the site of Gatton House (formerly Gattinett) is shown without any buildings. The land was then the property of William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife, numbered 175 on the map, measured at 8 acres 1 rood and further described as copyhold of Illaries. To the north another larger plot of land, numbered 176 and measured at 25 acres and 34 perches was also the property of William Eyre and his wife Elizabeth but this plot is marked copyhold of Old Hall. Copyhold land was land held of a manor and this system of tenure was only finally abolished in 1922. Before a conveyance of manorial land could be completed it had to be surrendered back to the lord or lady of the manor before the new tenant could enter the property. The records of these conveyances are recorded in the manor court book for each manor. The records of both the contemporary court books for Manor of Illaries and the Manor of Old Hall, East Bergholt have survived and have been deposited at the record office in Ipswich.
The Parish Map 1816 and Inclosure Map and Award of 1817 Apart from the 1817 enclosure map there is a detailed map of the parish of East Bergholt dated 1816 (ref. FB 191/A8/2). On this map the site of William Eyre’s house the ‘Gables’ is numbered 31 but is not otherwise labelled. The adjoining fields which are clearly labelled as his copyhold on the enclosure map of 1817 are simply labelled on this map as ‘Eyre’. The site of Gatton House (formerly The Gattinett) is within the field numbered 323 on this map. There are later additions to this map written in pencil and on this plot there is the name ‘Stidolph’. The 1816 parish map is described in Revd T.F. Paterson ‘East Bergholt in Suffolk’ (Cambridge 1923). The map: ‘Merely shows each field, on each is marked a number and the proprietor’s name. Its title is “A Map of the Parish of East Bergholt in the County of Suffolk, 1816”. At the bottom there is given a scale: and then follows: “Copied by Wm R. Woodrow, Surveyor, Norwich”. Presumably it was copied from the official plan made for the enclosure of the Heath. A note in a Vestry book seems to refer to this map September 2nd 1818 Mr Reeve Bunn the solicitor for the Inclosing the Heath Lands in the Parish of East Bergholt in the County of Suffolk did this day deposit in the Town Chest the Award and Maps of the Parish aforesaid, to the sole care of the Churchwardens, of the Parish aforesaid for the time being, and the said Church-wardens for the time being, are Particularly requested not to part with the said Award and Map out of their Possession to no one Person whatsoever – but to allow any Person Interested, to Peruse the same in the Vestry at all reasonable times, by applying to the Churchwardens for the time being for such leave – Signed Thos Woodgate The said Churchwardens can demand 2s for each Perusal of the said Map and award’. The map referred to in the Vestry Book is not the parish map but a copy of the Inclosure Map and Award which has since passed into the care of the Civil Parish of East Bergholt. It has been deposited at the record office since the 1930’s and was given the reference EG3/A3/1. The official copy of this map would have been deposited with the Clerk of Peace for the county Quarter Sessions, the administrative body for the county before the establishment of County Councils in 1888. The reference to quarter session copy should be (B150/1/4(2)) however this number has been used in the catalogues of both collections in conjunction with the reference for the civil parish copy of the map. A likely explanation of this anomaly is that the original quarter session copy had been lost and the parish copy appropriated by the then East Suffolk County Council. The map was prepared under the terms of an Act of Parliament passed in the ‘fifty fifth year of the reign’ of George III. This regnal year began on 25 October 1814 and ended on 24 October 1815. There is a copy of the act in a solicitor’s collection (ref. HB8/1/922) and the Act received Royal Assent on 2 May 1815. The act required the commissioners to show all ‘messuages and buildings’ on the enclosure map. In the preamble to the award its states that in advance of their meetings the commissioners for the enclosure placed an advertisement in the ‘Ipswich Journal’. The record office has a card index to the ‘Ipswich Journal’ for this period. Each of the official notices in the paper charter the progress of the act. An earlier proposal to enclose the commons and waste of this parish made in September 1807 was not advanced. The scheme was again proposed in May 1815 and a meeting of the proprietors was held at the Lion Inn, East Bergholt on 25 May. The decision was then taken to prepare a bill for the next session of parliament and the bill was ready for perusal by October. In advance of a further meeting held in March 1815 the commissioners’ intention to make a perambulation of the bounds of the parish was announced. Also ‘all persons and bodies corporate or politic having or claiming any common or other right to, or in any lands’ were asked to ‘deliver an account or schedule in writing ... distinguishing Freehold from Copyhold or Leasehold and if copyhold of what manors the same are respective holden’. A copy of the combined schedule has survived amongst the bundle of documents in the solicitors collection signed by the solicitor R Bunn and dated 12 August 1815. The schedule states on page 19 that ‘William Eyre Esq. And Elizabeth his wife Claim a Messuage, Barn and other Buildings and about 35a of land in East Bergholt, in the occupation of the said William Eyre; of which 24a are Copyhold of the Manor of Old Hall, and 8a & 27p are copyhold of the Manor of Illaries; and the said Messuage, Barn and all the buildings and the rest of the lands are freehold’. By June 1815, the commissioners had prepared a map of the roads in the parish in advance of these being set out in the award. In their award the commissioners state that ‘we caused a true exact and particular survey admeasurement and plan of all the Lands and Grounds by the First mentioned Act directed to be divided and inclosed and of all the Messuages Cottages Orchards Gardens homesteads and ancient inclosed lands and grounds in the said parish of East Bergholt to be made and reduced for the purpose of the said first mentioned Act by Robert Corby of Kirkstead in the county of Norfolk Surveyor’. The plan on a ‘reduced scale’ was ‘annexed to the award’. They further stated that ‘all acts matters and things done by the said Robert Corby in the premises have been verified by his oath’. On folio 38v of the award there is the following ‘And we do hereby set out and allot into William Eyre Esquire and Elizabeth his wife one piece of Land marked No 7 on the map annexed containing four perches bounded by the street of East Bergholt towards the South-East by land allotted to the Reverend William Deane towards the South-West by Land belonging to said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife towards the North-West and ending in a point towards the North-East’. This was an allotment in respect to their freehold property and though a very small piece of land it is clearly marked on the enclosure map. Due to the accuracy of this 1817 enclosure map, it is extremely unlikely that Gatton House or the Gattinett was built in 1809 and the house referred to in Mary Constable’s letters was the Gables. There is a further reference to the parish map of 1816 in the manorial court books for the manor of Illaries, East Bergholt described below.
Tithe Map An edition of the 1 inch Ordnance Survey for this area of Suffolk was engraved on 1 May 1838 and published on 1 November 1838 and though produced at a small scale this map does not show Gatton House. The date has to be treated with extreme caution as unlike many part of the country this map was first published in 1805. The original survey was made on a scale of 2 ½ inches to a mile and then the drawings were reduced for publication. Though this 1838 map does not state it was based on an earlier survey it is likely that this was the case (ref. MC8/48). The house is first shown on the parish tithe map of 1838. The Archdeaconry copy of the map is in an extremely poor condition and the original map is now only available as a photocopy (ref. P461/27). There is a second copy in the parish collection (FB191/C2/5). According to Paterson this map was ‘enlarged from the original survey by John Spurling, 1838’. On this map the site of ‘The Gattinett’ is shown as subdivided into three plots. These are described in the tithe apportionment dated 25 July 1837 and stamped by the Tithe Commission on 29 January 1839 as the property of William Stydolph. The plots are further described as: 607 tenant John Allen House and garden 0a 1r 29p 608 tenant T.T. Atkin House, garden & grounds 0a 2r 30p 609 tenant T.T. Atkin Little Barn Field 2a 2r 09p
The total acreage of this land was 3 acres 2 roods and 28 perches.
Manorial Court Books At a Special Court Baron held for the manor of Illaries East Bergholt on 10 February 1841 William ‘Stidolph’ and his wife, Susannah surrendered their copyhold property to John Allen (page 183-184) (ref. HA4:51/4/3.5) The property was described as ‘all that Copyhold piece or parcel of land containing by estimation two acres two roods and twenty eight perches were the same more or less abutting on the south on a certain field called Great Barnfield on the East partly on the Road leading from Bergholt Street to Hadleigh and partly on the Freehold piece of land thereinafter mentioned on the west on a certain Field called Fen Field and on the North on a certain other field called Penny Field and the stables coach-house and other buildings then standing and being thereon which said copyhold piece of land together the said Freehold piece of land formerly consisted a piece of copyhold land called Little Barn Field to which the said William Stidolph was admitted Tenant at a Court held for the said Manor on the Fourth of January One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty Five and was then in the possession of John Allen Together with all yards gardens ways passages waters timber commons easements rights and appurtenances whatsoever to the said Premises belonging To the use of the said John Allen his heirs and assignes’. John Allen was then admitted to the property on the payment of a fine to the manor of £11. In the margin against this entry written in pencil there is ‘Wm Heard’ and page 359. In the records of a further court held on 17 March 1851 (pages 358-359). A marginal gloss states that this property was ‘enfranchised’ that it the tenure was changed from copyhold into freehold and after the date of the enfranchisement further transfers of the property are not recorded in the manorial court books. However the date of enfranchisement is not given in this entry. John Allen is mentioned in White’s 1844 ‘Directory of Suffolk’ and described as a ‘gentleman’. At the court held on 17 March 1851 (pages 358-359) William Heard of Saint Margaret’s near Ware, Hertfordshire, farmer and William Flack of Water Place in the parish of Ware, farmer and Mary Allen, widow appeared at the manorial court. The court then recorded an extract from the will of John Allen ‘lately a customary tenant or copyhold tenant of the said manor’. The will was dated 2 September 1842 and included this phrase ‘I give and bequeath all my messuages lands tenements and hereditaments and all my monies securities for money stock in the Public Funds household goods and furniture and other real and personal estate whatsoever and wheresoever/ except as therein mentioned and which exception does not affect the hereditaments holden of the manor/ into and to the use of the said William Heard and Thomas Heard of Seckford Hall near Woodbridge on the said County of Suffolk /since deceased/ their heirs executors and administrators and assigns according to the respective natures and qualities thereof Upon and for trusts and purposes therein mentioned And they also produced an Extract from the Codicil to the last will and testament of the said John Allen bearing date the eighteenth day of April one thousand eight hundred and forty eight whereby the said John Allen appointed his Dear Wife the said Mary Allen and William Flack to be trustees and Executrix and Executor under the said will in the stead of his friend Thomas Heard deceased’. The three then asked to be admitted to the property described in exactly the same terms as in 1841, ‘To which the said John Allen was admitted in fee at a Court held ...’ 10 February 1841 ‘on the absolute surrender of William Stidolph and Susannah his wife’. William Stidolph and his wife Susannah had been admitted to the property again at a Special Court baron held on 4 January 1825 (ref. HA4: 51/4/3.4 pages 291-297) on the surrender of William Eyre and his wife At the court the homage presented a ‘certain paper writing bearing this present fourth day of January which is desired to be enrolled amongst the acts of this court and with the caption and attestation thereof’. ‘Whereas on the twenty third day of January in the year one thousand eight hundred and nine Robert Rist did out of Court surrender into the hands of the Lady of the said Manor One piece or parcel of land with a Messuage built thereon containing by estimation Nine acres more or less with the appurtenances in East Bergholt To the use of William Eyre and his assigns for his life and after his decease To the use of Elizabeth the wife of the said William Eyre and her assigns for her life and after the decease of the survivor of them the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife To the use of such person or persons and for such estates and interests and subject to and charged with the payment of any sum or sums of Money either in gross or by way of Annuity or otherwise as they the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife should by their joint deed or deeds writing or writings under their hands and seals to be by them duly executed in the presence of two credible persons whose names should be thereto subscribed as witnesses direct limit or appoint and in default of such direction limitation or appointment and when and as the same and the uses thereby declared should end and determine Then to the use of such person or persons and for such estate or estates right and interest as the survivor of them the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife should in and by his or her last will and testament executed as therein mentioned give devise direct limit or appoint and in default of such gift devise direction limitation or appointment thereof by will as aforesaid Then to the use of the right heirs of the survivor of them the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife and to and for no other use intent or purpose whatsoever And whereas at a court held for the manor on the Twenty fourth day of March One thousand eight hundred and nine the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife were duly admitted to the form and effect of the said surrender Now be it remembered that on the Fourth day of January in the year of our lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty five the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife came before – Harcourt Firmin Gentleman steward of the said Manor and in consideration of the sum of One Hundred and ten pounds to the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife in hand well and truly paid by William Stidolph of East Bergholt in the said County of Suffolk gentleman They the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife (She being first examined by the said Steward separately and apart from her said husband and freely consenting thereto) did out of court surrender into the hands of the lord of the said Manor by the hands and acceptance of the said Steward by the rod according to the custom of the said Manor All that piece called Little Barn field containing by estimation three acres two roods and twenty eight perches be the same more or less abutting on the South in the Field called Great Barn field on the East on the road leading from Bergholt Street to Hadleigh on the West on the field called Fenn field and on the north by Penny field and which said piece or parcel is numbered 323 in the Parish Survey (being part of the premises to which they the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife were admitted tenants as aforesaid) And all ways paths fences hedges ditches rights and appurtenances thereto belonging And the reversion and reversions remainder and remainders rents issues and profits thereof And all the estate right title Interest use trust benefit property claim and demand whatsoever both in law and in equity of the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife respectively in to or out of the same premises and every part thereof To the use of the said William Stidolph his heirs and assigns for ever according to the custom of the said Manor subject to an apportioned quit rent of five shillings and to other services thereupon due and of right accustomed And the said William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife in exercise of the joint power limited to them as aforesaid and of every other power enabling them in this behalf Do by this writing under their respective hands and seals duly executed in the presence of the two credible persons whose names are hereunto subscribed as witnesses attesting such execution direct limit and appoint that the said lands so surrendered by them as aforesaid and the appurtenances thereof shall be and remain to the use of the said William Stidolph his heirs and assigns for ever subject as aforesaid’. Following this lengthy transcript William Stidolph was admitted as tenant on the payment of a fine of £8. The quit rent for the property was then divided between William Stidolph, who paid 4 shillings. ‘The remaining sum of eleven pence’ was ‘to be paid by William Eyre and Elizabeth his wife ... out of and for the remainder of the said premises’. The proceedings concluded with William Stidolph surrendering his property to the use of his will and thus avoiding the custom of the manor whereby the youngest son would have inherited. William Eyre and Elizabeth were admitted to the property at a court held on 24 March 1809 (ref. HA4:51/4/3.3 pages 137-140). Robert Rist a farmer of ‘Wenham’, Suffolk had sold his property to William Eyre on 23 January 1809 for the sum of £290. It was then described as ‘All that one piece of Land with a messuage Barn and other Buildings thereupon erected and then standing containing by estimation Nine Acres ... holden of this manor by copy of court roll sometime in the occupation of James Misborne since of William Garrard late of David Rist deceased ... the messuage standing upon said premises being then divided into three tenements and then or late were in the several tenures or occupations of James Pitt Samuel Harris and James Garnham (to which said premises the said Robert Rist was admitted to hold to him and his heirs at a General Court Baron holden for this manor on the eighth day of May one thousand seven hundred and ninety nine under and by virtue of the surrender and will of David Rist his late father deceased)’. On 3 May 1809 there is a further reference to the property when the court enrolled a deed of enfranchisement between Sarah Roberts the then lady of the manor and William Eyre and his wife Elizabeth dated 27 March 1809. On a payment of £32 10s William Eyre and Elizabeth were enfranchised of ‘the said messuage or tenement with the Barn and other buildings and the yards and gardens to the same belonging containing by admeasurement three roods and two perches ... and also all that piece of land containing by admeasurement three roods and thirteen perches being part and parcel of the said piece of land above described as containing nine acres and which said piece of land hereby granted bargained and sold lies between the said Barn and yards on the part of the south east and the other part of the said Land not intended to be hereby enfranchised on the part of the North West’ (146-153).
David Rist had surrendered his property to the use of his will at a court held on 28 May 1777 and following his death his son Robert Rist was able to enter the property at the court held on 8 May 1799. David Rist’s will was dated 15 March 1796 and had been proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury on 28 March 1799. The property is described as in 1809 (pages 18-20). The part of the property that had been enfranchised, that is changed into a freehold property at the court held on 3 May 1809 is the site of the house known as ‘The Gables’. At the further court held on 4 January 1825 William Stidolph and his wife Susannah were admitted to part of the Eyre property measured at 3a 2r 28p and further identified with the field number 323 from the parish map. At this date there does not appear to have been a house on the property. Between 1825 and the court held on 10 February 1841 the plot is further sub-divided and only 2 acres 2 roods and 28 perches equivalent to the piece numbered 609 on the tithe map remained copyhold. The freehold mentioned in 1841 is likely to have been the site of the Gatton House however the manorial court books do not record any enfranchisement of this part of the former copyhold, between 1825 and 1838 when the house is first shown on the tithe map and before 1841 when the new tenants are admitted.
Rate Books There are surviving Overseers Account Books for this parish containing contemporary rate lists. William Eyre is first mentioned in the rate list dated 9 July 1807 as ‘Eyre Wm S: Constable’ paying 2s 6d on a rate of 6d in the pound. In the next list dated 12 January 1808 he paid 3s 9d on a rate of 9d in the pound. The entry is marked ‘Eyre Wm late Constable’. In the next quarter he again paid 2s 6d and 2s 11d in July 1808 and January 1809. By April 1809 there are additional amounts ‘more land late Rist 14s 10 ½ d more Tithe 2s 11d’ but then the same payments in July and October 1809. In the rate list for December 1809 he paid only 14s 10 ½ d for the property late ‘Rist’ and 2s 11d in tithes and nothing for the property late Constable as it is listed as ‘empty’. In the next quarter the rates were higher at 17 shillings and 3s 4d for tithes and though the rate had risen from 7d to 8d in the pound, this suggests that he may have occupied a new house at this date. In the list for May 1810 he paid 17s for Rist and 3s 4d in tithes but was again paying 3s 4d for the property late Constable. In the next list dated October 1810 the property late Constable is completely omitted. The same or similar sums are recorded through to March 1812 when there is a spike of £1 9s 9d for the property and 5s 10 for the tithes but the rates had risen to 12d compared with 8d in the previous quarter. The rate remained at a shilling in the pound in July 1812 when William Eyre paid £1 5s 6d and tithes of 5s. The same or similar amounts were paid on the property through to the final quarterly list dated July 1816 (ref. EG3/G1/1/5) The name of William Stidolph appears in the rate list for the first time in rate list for midsummer to Michaelmas 1824 when he paid 17s 5d for his house. The house may not have been that of William Eyre as he is still listed as paying £1 1s 3d on a rate of 10d in the pound and in the previous quarter Eyre had paid £1 4s 9d but that rate was then 9d in the pound. In April 1825 Stidolph and Eyre paid the same sums of 17s 5d and £1 1s 3d. In the next quarter July 1825 Stidolph paid 11s 5 ½ d for part of his property and 7s 2d for half a house and Eyre the same amount as in the previous list. William Stidolph’s name appears in each list until October 1826. His name is absent from the final rate list in this book dated January 1827 (ref. EG3/G1/1/6). In the list of January 1827 there is ‘Mr Hunt’ who paid 10s 4d and 6s 5 ½ d for ‘1/2 a House’ on a rate of 9d in the pound. In the next rate list his name appears as John Hunt. His name appears for the last time in the list dated October 1828. Stidolph’s name was omitted from the list dated September 1827 though William Eyre was still paying 19s 1 ½ d. William Eyre is listed for the last time in the rate list dated October 1831 as paying £1 1s 3d for ‘house and land’ and then Mrs Eyre is listed in the next quarter January 1832 as paying the same amount. In the final list dated Easter to Midsummer 1835 Mrs Eyre’s name is crossed out (ref. EG3/G1/1/7). There just one more Overseers Account Book for the period 1835-1837 before their work passed to the newly established Poor Law Unions. In this book the name of Mrs Eyre is again crossed through in the first list and then omitted from the second list dated 11 October 1836 (ref. EG/G1/1/8). In both list William Allen paid 11s 4 ½ d for house and land. As in the earlier lists there is no reference to William Stidolph or Stydolph. William Allen’s name also appears in the final list in this book dated 12 September 1837. A John Allen is also mentioned in these lists paid 4s or 3s 4d for a ‘house’. The later ‘Poor Law’ rate lists contain additional details. In the first list dated 22 February 1838 William Allen is listed for ‘East End Farm’ measured at 29 acre 2 roods and 3 perches. He was the owner of this property. In the same list John Allen occupied a property owned by William Stidolph described as ‘House & Garden’ in Hadleigh Road measured at 1r 29p. William Stidolph also owned and property as described as ‘House & Land’ in Hadleigh Road measured at 3 a 0r 39p occupied by J.J Atkin. The same acreages as is given in the tithe apportionment. These details are the same in the final list in this book dated 21 November 1839. The details are the same in the next book beginning with the rate list for 20 February 1840 and remained unchanged until the list dated 18 February 1841 when John Allen is listed as the owner of both houses instead of William Stidolph and the proportion formerly occupied by J. J. Atkin is listed as ‘unoccupied’. By September 1841 John Allen was living at the house with 3a 0r 39 p and the adjoining part of the property the house and garden was in the occupation of Revd J Clarke. John Allen ‘gentleman’ is named in White’s 1844 ‘Directory of Suffolk’ but without an address. In the rate list for November 1848 John Allen is listed as the owner of various properties in Hadleigh Road these were ‘House & land’ 3a 0r 39p, land 1a 0r 18p both his own property then two further pieces measured at 4a 2r 3p and 3a 3r 14p then in the ownership of ‘Partington’. His name appears for the last time in the rate list for 24 May 1850. In the next list dated 22 November 1850 his name was replaced with ‘Mrs Allen’. Her name is in the lists for February and May 1851 (ref. EG3/F1/6). Though according to the rate list Mrs Allen was still the occupant of the house in 1851 her house is not named in the census returns of that year (ref. HO107/1798/237 p 47). The same entries continue in the next rate book until the list for November 1852 when the property formerly owned by John Allen is listed as in the hands of his executors, but this detail does not appear in the next list in which Mrs Allen is again listed as the owner (ref. EG3/F1/7).Though William Heard followed John Allen as the owner of the copyhold portion of the property his name does not appear in the rate lists. There is a gap in these records until a rate list of 1877 though there is a column in this book marked ‘name or Situation of Property’ there are no references to Gattinett (ref. EG/F2/1). With these additional details it is now possible to re-examine the earlier rate lists. In the Overseers’ Account John Allen is listed as paying rates or a House at a rate of 5s 4d in October 1835, Atkin is not mentioned. John Allen’s name appears for the first time in the list for April 1831. In the previous list for January 1831 there is R. John Allen. R. John Allen was paying rates of 6s 8d on his house and land in January 1830 and also 5s 10 for a hop ground. This entry appears for the first time in the rate list for January 1829. In the list for October 1828 there are five entries under his name at £4, 5s, 9s 7d 14s 2d and 5s 10d but not otherwise described. The same details are in the first list in the book dated September 1827 (ref. EG3/G1/1/7). The name of John Hunt’s disappears from the rate lists after October 1828. In the final entries under his name he was paying two amounts of 11s 5 ½ d and 5s 6 ¼ d for a half house. In the same list R John Allen was paying rates of £6 4s 7d on five pieces of the properties. In the next list R John Allen is listed as paying just 6s 11d for one piece and 5s 10d for another described as ‘hop ground’. Though it is difficult to reconcile these various entries it is possibly reasonable to suggest that R. John Allen had retired from his former occupation to live in the house formerly occupied by John Hunt. In the burial registers for East Bergholt there is the burial of John Reason Allen aged 81 on 1 October 1830 (ref. FB191/D1/11).
Trade Directories The house is named ‘The Gattinett’ on the first editions of the large Ordnance survey maps based on the survey of 1884. In Kelly’s 1879 and 1883 ‘Directory of Cambridge, Norfolk and Suffolk’, and in the 1888 ‘Directory of Norfolk and Suffolk’, there are no references to a house of this name in East Bergholt. In White’s directory of 1892 there is a reference to Misses S & M Waller at the ‘Galtonette’. Though a Miss Waller is listed in Kelly’s 1896 ‘Directory of Suffolk’ her house is not named. The Misses Waller were listed in the 1879, 1883 and 1888 directories, though again without a house name. A Miss Waller is listed in Harrod’s 1873 ‘Directory of Suffolk’ but her house and other houses are not named. In Kelly’s Post Office directory of 1869 there is again a reference to ‘Misses Waller’. A Miss Waller was still living in East Bergholt in 1900, though again her house is not named. The record office’s copy of the 1904 Directory is damaged and the entries for the private residents of East Bergholt missing. In the 1908 directory a Thomas Willink is listed at ‘Galtonetts’ but he is not listed in 1912. In the directories of 1912 and 1922 the house is not named in 1929 directory a Mrs Morley is listed at ‘Gatton’, her name does not appear in the 1922 directory.
Census Returns 1841-1901 John Allen described as being of ‘independent means’ is listed in the 1841 census as living in a house with two servants, the house is not named (ref. HO 107/1034/3/37). As has been mentioned Mary Allen is mentioned in 1851 but her house is not named. In 1861 there are only references to properties in Hadleigh Road and those occupied by Frederick Brock a retired captain of the 23rd Fusiliers or that occupied by Esther Black a fund holder might be Gatton House but this is uncertain (ref. RG9/1159/36 p 35). Though the Waller family are listed in the censuses from 1871 to 1891 it is not possible to link the house they were occupying with the Gatton House. In the 1901 Martha Waller is listed at ‘Gattinett’ and the next property occupied by Walter Maine is listed as ‘Little Gatton’ (RG13/1777/27 p 25). Though the censuses do not provide useful additional references to Gatton House they do show that a number of houses in the area were occupied by a retired professional class or those living on independent means.
Conclusion Gattinett or Gatton House was not built in 1809. The date comes from a reference in a letter from Mary Constable to her son and is a reference to the Gables and not to Gatton House. The owner of the Gables in 1809 was William Eyre. On 4 January 1825 William Eyre sold part of his property to William Stidolph and it is probable that the present house was built by William Stidolph around that time. The house was built to accommodate a class who would have lived on independent means either as retired persons or annuitants. William Stidolph did not occupy the property for long and by 1829 John Reason Allen a retired farmer occupied the building. He died in 1831 and his son John Allen then became tenant until 1841 when he had purchased the entire property. It is reasonable to state that Mary Allen, John’s widow was living at Gatton House in 1851. The names of later owners or occupants of the house are less certain, though there are references to Misses S & M Waller living at the ‘Galtonette’ in 1892 and in the 1901 census Martha Waller was living at ‘Gattinett’ whether or not she and her family lived at Gatton House before 1892 is less certain. By 1908 Thomas Willink is listed at ‘Galtonetts’ and in 1929 directory a Mrs Morley is listed at ‘Gatton’, the house name does not appear in other commercial directories of the early twentieth century.
Details
House. 1809. White brick. Slate roof. 2 storeys, 6 bays. Doric porch to left containing C20 door under patterned overlight. 3 tripartite French windows with
- 47
- Grade 2
- Hadleigh Road
- 51.974357, 1.010142
- Historic England Reference: 1193513