The Hall
A fascinating early medieval hall house with Georgian façade, Alderton
Hall lies on the edge of the coastal village of Alderton, surrounded by moated
gardens and open fields.
In the heart of the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural
Beauty, Alderton Hall is under two miles from Suffolk's Heritage coast. Ideally
situated
to enjoy the delightful scenery of the Suffolk coast with fantastic opportunities
for bird watching, walking, cycling and sailing. There are several excellent
heathland golf courses close by.
Explore the beaches, cliffs, estuaries and lowland heaths which make the
Suffolk coast such a fascinating area to visit. Alderton is close to the
ancient market
town of Woodbridge (9 miles), the pretty coastal village of Orford (10
miles), Aldeburgh (15 miles) with its famous festival and Snape Concert
Hall (10 miles),
venue for concerts throughout the year.
Steeped in history
Alderton Hall boasts both a priest’s hole (a hiding place created
for dissident catholic priests during the purge which followed The Reformation)
and a secret passage leading to the neighbouring church of St. Andrew’s.
The area was once a stronghold of Catholicism and within the grounds
stands an ecclesiastical building, possibly a chapel or refectory
dating back to
the 12th century and believed to be part of a group of buildings
built by the Augustine monks who controlled much of the land on the
Bawdsey Peninsula at
that period.
Whether the passageway was used by the monks as a route to the church or
as hiding place for Catholic sympathizers at the time of the Reformation
we have
yet to discover, but with the coast just fifteen minutes walk away
and Alderton’s
close proximity to the Deben Estuary at Ramsholt, this area has long been a
popular landing point for Suffolk smugglers.
Tales of smuggling abound in the area and the true story of Margaret Catchpole
and her efforts to save her lover, captain of a smuggler‘s ship, has
much of its action around the village of Alderton. No doubt bounty was transported
along Alderton Hall’s secret passage. But smuggling was not simply a
matter of slipping ashore with a bag of baccy and a keg of wine. The customs
men were vigilant and battles between them and the ‘free traders’ are
legendry.
The passage was known to be haunted and so fearful were the local inhabitants
that the Bishop was called in to exorcise the ghost. All this
was over sixty years ago and now Alderton Hall has a warm and friendly feel,
combining excellent
21st century facilities with that of a traditional farmhouse
creating a delightful country home which you too can enjoy.
Like many ancient houses Alderton Hall has had its share of haunting and
so fearful were a group of airmen billeted at the Hall that experts were
called in to exorcise the ghost (they succeeded). All this was over sixty
years ago and now Alderton Hall has a warm and friendly feel, combining excellent
21st century facilities with that of a traditional farmhouse creating a delightful
country home which you too can enjoy.
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