Teddy and I took a 3 hour walk this afternoon to the little village, Little Glemham, near Blaxhall. On our way we took our usual route past the Ship Inn and since it was such a gorgeous day I took the opportunity to get a picture of my favorite home in the neighbhorhood. We walk past it a lot and each time I stop to look at the house and the tree-lined drive leading up to it. It's named Lime Tree Farm and next door is Lime Tree Cottage and on the other side is the acutal farm and a small duck pond.
In the distance, past the free-roaming cows was a gorgeous red brick mansion. Teddy and I walked up the path past the cow pasture toward the the beautiful grounds. We didn't go all the way because we still had to walk all the way back to the house but it looked so gorgeous that I looked up a map of the area and found the building and surrounding grounds is called Glemham Hall and is now used rented out for concerts, plays, weddings and the like. According to their website the history is as follows and also has an interesting connection to America: "
Glemham Hall was built circa 1560 by the de Glemham family,who
took their name from nearby Great (Magna) and little (Parva) Glemham. Rye's
calendar of the Feet of Fines for Suffolk' contains several references to the
family, the earliest being William de Glemham in 1228-29. The Glemhams
prospered under the Tudors and branched off to the neighbouring manor of
Benhall, which was for a time the residence of one of the most colourful
members of the family - an Elizabethan seadog named Edward Glemham. While his
voyages may have intitally brought him some fame, Edward's exploits did not
help his financial position; his fortunes declined and he had to sell Benhall. Meanwhile,
Edward's cousin and neighbour, Sir Henry Glemham, was flourishing, and it was
Henry who originally created Glemham Hall and made it such a beautiful example
of the early Renaissance style. His son, Sir Thomas - who earned himself a
reputation as a stubborn fighter during the Civil War - succeeded Henry. Thomas
died in 1648 while fighting in Scotland. According to manuscripts, the Glemhams
retained the estate until 1708-1709 when it was sold to Dudley North. Dudley's
wife, Catherine, was a daughter of Elihu Yale, founder of the famous Yale University,
America. Elihu was generous with the wealth he accumulated; he endowed the
famous American university and was also lavish in his gifts to his family.
Glemham Hall obtained many treasures at the time as a result. During the period
1722-1727 considerable structural changes were made, giving it an overall
Georgian facade. The Cobbolds take over history,
Glemham Hall remained within the North family for more then 200 years. Sir
Dudley's male line ended with his grandson (another Dudley North), in 1764.
Upon his death, Dudley's sister - the Hon, Mrs. Herbert - succeeded him. She
eventually left the estate to her younger sister's son. Mr. Dudley Long who
died childless in 1829. The estate reverted to the Norths and became the
property of the 8th Earl of Guilford. In 1923 it was purchased by the Cobbold
family and became the home of Captain John (known as Ivan) Murray Cobbold and
his wife Lady Blanche, daughter of the 9th Duke of Devonshire. Captain Cobbold
was killed during WWII; when his wife died in 1987, the estate passed to her
son, Patrick. Sadly, he died suddenly in 1994, where upon the present owner,
Major Philip Hope Cobbold (Patrick's nephew), inherited the estate and now
lives in the house with his wife Raewyn, originally from New Zealand."
The picture of the Hall is from their web site as I couldn't get close enough to actually take a picture.
We also passed by a fun pink home with a thatched roof although it does have a little hint of the witches from Hansel and Gretel.
I couldn't find much history on Little Glemham itself except to say there is a Great Glemham, another Village about 2 miles away.
As we said goodbye to the lovely Glemham Hall we turned to exit the grounds and go back to the main road. As we started forward, the cows I'd photographed in the distance earlier now headed toward us up the hill in the field. I said "hi" to them and they continued forward and I got another picture and Teddy just circled around me playing in the grass, caring nothing at all for cows. The cows surprisingly trotted quickly toward me, all five of them at once. I stepped back a few paces even though there was a fence between us there was something startling about five large cows quickly coming at you. They stopped a few feet away from the fence and just looked at me. I don't know if they want me to feed them but they looked at me like I should have known exactly what they were thinking and what they wanted. They kept a collective eye on me the whole time as we excited. It was so funny, they had such expressive eyes and faces, if only they could speak, although maybe I wouldn't want to know what they'd have to say on my invading their space with this annoyingly energetic dog.
It took us about an hour to walk back but the weather was still so nice so it was great to be out. Teddy may not be so happy though, he got a wash down with the hose when we got back but I had to he was a dreadful mess, muddy, covered in burrs and a dirty disaster.
And of course a few more pictures of the furry ones!
