The arranger of this display incorporated props to tell what is available at Wyken Hall.

Courtesy of Tony Stokes

Location: Wyken in the Parish of Stanton

Description: Red brick 16thC Elizabethan manor house which was much altered in the 1920’s.

Lords of the Manor, owners and occupiers

The Manor of Wyken or Wica at the time of the Domesday Book was separate from Bardwell; the overlords were Peter de Valoigne and Robert the Blond. Wyken later became part of the Parish of Bardwell and stayed so until the latter part of the 19thC when it became part of the civil Parish of Stanton

The Bardwelles
William de Berdwelle, the famous warrior knight, was Lord of the Manor for the manors: Bardwell Hall, Wykes and Wyken by the time he died in1434. It is unlikely that he and his family lived in the Wyken manor house, the position of which is unknown. The three manors including Wyken passed to William’s direct descendants and then in 1484 to Thomas and Margaret Darcy.

The Darcys
Margaret Darcy was the daughter of Margaret Harleston nee Bardwell, the half sister of Sir William. Thomas Darcy died in 1486 and Margaret Darcy in 1489 and when their son Roger died in 1504 it is documented that he held all three manors. We do not know who inherited but it is possible that the Wyken and Bardwell manors continued in the ownership of the Darcy Family until the estates were sold in the 1550’s.
 
Stephen Moryell
The subsidy return of 1568 lists Stephen Moryell as the second wealthiest landowner in the parish of Bardwell, with lands valued at £7 because of this it is considered that he was probably the lord of the manor of Wyken Hall. The present much altered house would have originally been built about this time.

The Ashfields
In 1593 Robert Ashfield owned this manor but he lived elsewhere as it was tenanted by William Typsheth. The Ashfield family remained as owners of the manor with John Ashfield who was lord of the manor when he made his will in 1633, he died in 1639. His widow Mary Ashfield continued after his death and then from 1651 to 1659 it was Thomas Ogle, nephew of John Ashfield. After Thomas died his widow Anne Ogle, continued until 1663.

C1674 to 1679 a Captain John Pennington lived here but it is not certain if he was the owner or the tenant.

The Corrances, Castles and Bouveries
C.1706 - John Corrance. C.1723 to 1742 - Clemence Corrance, followed by his son John. 1742 to 1747 - Ann Corrance, daughter of John.
1754 to 1785 - Ann Corrance's aunt, Mrs Castle, followed by her son William Castle.
1785 to 1788 - Catherine Castle, later Mrs Bouverie, daughter of William. 1788 to 1804 - Edward Bouverie, Catherine's son.
It is more than likely that his ownership continued until 1815, when Thomas Hallifax bought the estate of Wyken.

The Hallifaxes
Thomas Hallifax of Chadacre Hall in Shimpling was a banker, originally from London, he acquired Wyken Hall in 1815. During his ownership Kelly’s Directories list the Duke of Grafton as Lord of the Manor of Wyken and Thomas as a major land owner. His two daughters, the Misses Maria and Ellen Hallifax, were his heirs, and remained as spinster ladies living together at Chadacre. In the 1874 Kelly’s Directory Miss Hallifax is named as lady of this manor. The last surviving sister, Ellen, died in 1878 at the age of 81. Tenant farmers lived in Wyken Hall throughout the ownership of the Hallifax’s.

Arthur Maitland Wilson
Tenant farmers also lived in Wyken Hall throughout the ownership of Arthur Maitland Wilson of the Stowlangtoft Hall Estate. He was one of the three principal land owners in the area and lived at Langham Hall which had previously been in the ownership of the Blakes. The Stowlangtoft Estate had been in the Maitland Wilson’s ownership for at least 3 generations and over the years had been added to with purchases such as the Wyken Hall Estate. In 1911 the Stowlangtoft Estate was broken up and sold at auction in 31 lots; lot 13 was Wyken Hall. Two of Arthur Maitland Wilsons sons were famous career soldiers. The eldest was 1st Baron Wilson of Libya and Stowlangtoft.

In 1912 and 1916 a Mr Harold B Nutter, according to the Kelly’s Directories was farming at Wyken Hall. Whether he was the owner or a tenant is not known.

The Heilgers
In 1920 Mrs Sophie Heilgers a widow and her only son Capt. Heilgers purchased the Wyken Estate. In 1931 Frank Frederick Alexander Heilgers became the M.P. for the Bury St Edmunds Division. Having served in the Army during WWI, at the outbreak of the W.W.II he was recalled and was appointed to the General Staff of the War Office with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Whenever possible he continued to attend the House of Commons. In January 1944, when he was returning to London by train from a visit home to Wyken, the train crashed at Ilford and he was one of the nine passengers killed. His mother continued to live at Wyken and was famous for breeding pedigree Friesian cattle. In 1951 she died aged 83.

The Carlisles
Wyken is now the home of the Carlisle family. Sir Kenneth was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Lincoln 1979-1997.
The beautiful gardens that surround the house were designed by Sir Kenneth and Lady Carlisle and Arabella Lennox-Boyd. This plant lovers’ garden was started in 1979 and includes many special designs and features. A walk through ancient woodlands leads to the 7 acres of Wyken Vineyards which produces award winning wines and in the 16C barn are the Leaping Hare Restaurant and the Leaping Hare Country Store