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Attleborough Hall

Click on the thumbnails below for more information and a full size photograph

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Attleborough Hall was completed in May 1809 by George Greenway (1761-1835), a local lawyer, at a cost of £16,000. Another £1000 was expended on laying out the pleasure grounds. He was a local character, and it was said when he died to be the last man in the district to wear his hair in a queue (or pony tail) in the style of the 18th century. After his death in 1835, twenty years of legal wrangling ensued. His son-in-law John Craddock - another lawyer - lived on in the house but left in 1839 and the Hall stood empty. In 1842 a new church for Attleborough was opened in part of the Hall grounds and for the first time Attleborough became a parish in its own right.

In 1855 the mansion and park was at last sold, to George Adam Buchanan and Jane Greenway. George Greenway's widow received the paltry sum of £83 out of the value of her husband's estate which is believed to have been worth around £10,210 some twenty years earlier. By 1859 the Hall was acquired by the Townsend family who continued to live there until the death of Thomas Townsend senior in 1886.

In 1888 Pattie Townsend, his daughter, became the second wife of Joseph Fielding Johnson and the Fielding Johnsons lived at the Hall until Joseph's death in 1917.


By the first years of the twentieth century the small country mansion of Attleborough Hall had been extended by the addition of an observatory which housed a telescope for one of the Fielding Johnson boys, and a three story block.

The house was then sold to Rufus Jones, an elastic webbing weaver on Attleborough Green who was previously living at Caldwell Hall close by. Unfortunately, the building went into decline and after being offered for sale, demolition started in January 1932. The Hall itself stood where Highfield Road cuts through and the site is now obliterated although a section of the perimeter wall remains as well as the stone setts paving leading into the gateway on the right (see images below).

A fascinating imagined account of a trip around Old Attleborough in the year 1848, written by Peter Lee, can be accessed by clicking here.

Historical text (c) Peter Lee 2003 
Attleborough Hall - an early colour postcard
Attleborough Hall, May 10th 1885. A party on the lawn to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Thomas Townsend (1812-1892) and his wife Sarah (nee Walker) (1815-1900). The celebratory couple are surrounded by their extended family. (Jan Brock)
Attleborough Hall, May 10th 1885. A party on the lawn to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Thomas Townsend (1812-1892) and his wife Sarah (nee Walker) (1815-1900). The celebratory couple are surrounded by their extended family. (Jan Brock)
Another view of the 50th anniversary party of Thomas & Sarah Townsend at Attleborough Hall in the year 1885. (Jan Brock)
View of Attleborough Hall from the road, showing the tower and cupola. 1900s*
Postcard of Attleborough Hall dated 1913
Attleborough Hall. A postcard from the early 1900s
View of Attleborough Hall from the road with two ladies standing and a pony and trap. Large cedar tree on the left. 1900s*
Attleborough Hall & Observatory 1915
Attleborough Hall. Postcard dated 1957
Drawing room of Attleborough Hall
The interior of Attleborough Hall in 1885. A painting by Pattie Townsend hangs on the wall of William Garratt the gardener which is now in New Zealand. (Jan Brock)
The painting of William Garratt today hangs in a New Zealand house of a descendent of the Attleborough Hall Townsends (Jan Brock)
Thomas & Sarah Townsend of Attleborough Hall in 1885. Thomas's life history was a rags to riches story. He came from a humble Bedworth family. His father Samuel Townsend was born in 1786. Thomas was born in Bedworth in 1812
The summer house of Attleborough Hall. 1890 From the Townsend family album (Jan Brock)
On a very icy day around the year 1890. The frozen fountain in the grounds of Attleborough Hall. (Jan Brock)
Another quiet moment in the grounds of Attleborough Hall c. 1890. A cold Winter's day amongst the hedgerows. (Jan Brock)
Attleborough Road in the early 1900s
Attleborough Road in the early 1900s
Colour postcard of Attleborough Road
Attleborough Road circa 1920
An early picture of Attleborough Rectory
Attleborough Church in 1907
Postcard of Church Street, Attleborough in 1910
Postcard of Church Street, Attleborough in 1910 (reverse side)
Attleborough Church and Vicarage c. 1864 (Jan Brock)
Attleborough Green & Square about 1900 (Jean Lapworth Collection)
Attleborough Hall's Master's dog 'Sweep' headstone photo (c) Porter Warren 2013
Attleborough Hall's Master's dog 'Charlie' headstone photo (c) Porter Warren 2013
Surviving section of the perimeter wall. Photo (c) 2013 Porter Warren
Surviving section of the perimeter wall. Photo (c) 2013 Porter Warren
Surviving section of the perimeter wall. Photo (c) 2013 Porter Warren
Surviving section of the perimeter wall. Photo (c) 2013 Porter Warren
Surviving section of the perimeter wall. Photo (c) 2013 Porter Warren
Surviving section of the perimeter wall. Photo (c) 2013 Porter Warren
Attleborough Lodge (c) Peter Lee
Photos marked * are © Warwickshire County Council, 2003
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