Helmingham Hall

Helmingham Hall is a country house built from red brick in Helmingham, England, surrounded by a wide moat with two wooden drawbridges. The building stands on a small island in the middle of an expansive park with old trees and deer enclosures.

John Tollemache built the building in 1510 to replace an older seat called Creke Hall and the family has lived there for over five centuries. The present structure still keeps the original Tudor elements from the time of construction.

The name comes from the Anglo-Saxon word for helmet or protected place and the family received the land after the Norman Conquest in 1066. Visitors today can still see the moat and the well-kept themed gardens with roses and historic knot patterns.

The gardens open between May and September with borders, a walled area and a deer park covering about 400 acres (160 hectares). Paths lead through different garden zones with various plant arrangements and style elements.

The wooden drawbridges have been raised every night since 1510, first with hand-operated windlasses and now with electric motors. Inside the building is an Orpharion stringed instrument from 1580, one of only two surviving English examples.