It was with much excitement when we boarded our coach bound for Oxburgh Hall. This was a repeat of our first outing some 14 years ago when the history group first started. More recently it has undergone extensive renovations, at a cost of £6 million, the roof, chimneys, the 14 dormer windows which were dismantled and rebuilt together with the gatehouse façade completed the project.
As you approach Oxburgh it looks like a fortified castle with its moat surrounding the Hall. In fact it was built as a family home completed in 1482 for Sir Edmund Bedingfeld, the Bedingfeld’s have lived at Oxburgh ever since. The history of this extraordinary family has been a turbulent one to say the least, their unshakable Catholic faith at times placed them at great peril but they stayed true to their beliefs. Their strong royal connections at times kept them safe. The family’s support for Catholic Mary I in her claim to the throne 1553-1558 bought the Bedingfeld’s great prestige and power. Unfortunately, when Elizabeth I succeeded to the throne and with the Act of Uniformity in 1559 the family’s fortunes changed. Mass was outlawed and it was illegal not to attend the parish church for Anglican rite. The Bedingfeld’s stayed true to their Catholic faith which cost the family both politically and financially.
During the civil war Oxburgh fell into disrepair and it wasn’t until the 1770s that the family’s fortunes stabilised. They returned to public office and royal court. In 1826 the 6th Baronet Henry Bedingfeld married Margaret Paston the last in line of this ancient Norfolk family. Margaret’s dowry was £50,000 and within months Oxburgh was being remodelled into a Gothic Revival masterpiece.
By 1951 with mounting debts the 9th Baronet had no choice but to sell Oxburgh Hall, there was only one potential purchaser who wanted to demolish the Hall and use the bricks for hardcore. The Hall was offered back to the family for £5000. In 1952 Lady Sybil Bedingfeld gifted Oxburgh to the National Trust and the rest as they say is history.
This fascinating property surrounded by its moat holds a wealth of history, full of stories from hardship, imprisonment in the Tower of London, power and prestige, stability and above all hope and a place to see its treasures and to learn the secrets of Oxburgh Hall.