The house was commissioned by Sir Thomas Richardson, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench in 1605.
[1] After passing down the Richardson family, it was bought by Richard Baylie, President of St John's College, Oxford, in about 1650[2] and was then acquired by William Townsend, Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth in about 1735, before passing down the Townsend family.
[1] It was then bought by Sir Eric Teichman, a diplomat, who allowed it to become a Barnardo's home in 1940 during World War II.
[4] Teichman was murdered in the grounds of the hall by a poacher one night in December 1944.
Both intruders were American soldiers based at a nearby US airfield and each was armed with an M1 carbine.