Gedding Hall With Bridge Attached To South Side Of Gatehouse

Gedding Hall is a fragment of a moated manor house, dating to the early 16th century, possibly constructed for Sir Edward Chamberlain (d.1541). Significant additions were made in 1897 for Arthur S. Wakerley, Esq. The hall is primarily red brick with crowstepped parapet gables to the gatehouse, and has plaintiled roofs, alongside polygonal gable chimneys of red brick.

The prominent early 16th-century gatehouse is accompanied by a contemporary range to its right. An attached corner tower and a rear range were added in 1897. The walls on the east and south sides rise directly from the two arms of the moat. The gatehouse itself is two storeys and attics high, featuring a large 4-centred arched gateway with a 19th-century recessed blocking containing a window. Flanking the gateway are a pair of three-storey splayed bays with slender buttresses. At first floor level, there’s a cavetto-moulded band containing a frieze of motifs resembling ballflowers. Each bay has a gabled roof, possibly original, and includes a splayed garderobe cantilevered over the moat. The windows are two-light mullioned brick, with 4-centred arched heads, set within a splayed, square-headed recessed frame, originally plastered to simulate ashlar. Casements with leaded glazing are present, although some windows are blocked and others have lost their plasterwork. A window of four lights is situated above the gateway, surmounted by a parapet. The contemporary range to the right is two storeys high and has three windows. Some original 16th-century mullioned windows remain; however, most have been replaced by larger 19th-century casements. A basement doorway features external steps leading down to the moat. An early 19th-century print shows two large parapeted gablets, one with a finial at the apex.

The tower, also of red brick, has a flat roof concealed behind parapets. A diaper-pattern frieze and the inscription "18 REBUILT 97", in gault brick, are positioned at mid-height. The tower incorporates mullioned windows and a cupola-roofed turret. The interior of the hall has not been examined.

The gatehouse is accessible via a 19th-century wooden bridge that links with a brick jetty at the outer bank of the moat. The low parapet on either side of the bridge terminates in piers bearing ball finials.