Richard Gipps (- 1780).
by Joseph Wilton (1722 - 1803).
Marble Bust.
in All Saints Church,
West Harling, Norfolk.
The monument put up by his nephew William Crofts.
West Harling, a village in the Thet valley, was deserted in
the first half of the 18th century. Originally part of a cluster of settlements
which all had the name 'Herlinga' in 1086, three of these had become known as
West Harling (with its church of All Saints'), Middle Harling (with St Andrew's
church) and Harling Thorpe. Middle Harling became part of West Harling parish
in 1543.
When newly Lord of the Manor in 1736, Richard Gipps, sealed the fate of the until
then fairly prosperous villages, Gipps bought all the houses except for
one small cottage and so had reduced the number of dwellings.
Gipps' heirs
closed the old road, and the foundations of the demolished church in Middle
Harling were uprooted to build up a marshy ground.
All Saints church today
stands isolated, the Hall built by Gipps was demolished in 1931 and conifer
plantations cover much of his estate.
For West Harling Church see -
_________________________
Richard Gipps Esq. of West Harling Norfolk.
West Harling formerly consisted of several small manors,
which in the time of William the
Conqueror, were held as a berewic of the capital manor of
Kenninghall by the Albinis and
their successors, the de Angerville family. About 1564, it
was sold to Basingbourne Gawdy
Esq, of Mendham, in Suffolk ( 1532 – 1590 ) and by descent
until the end of the male line
with Sir Basingbourn Gawdy Gawdy, 3rd Baronet (d. 1723 ) who
left the estate to his three
nieces and they conveyed the whole estate to Joshua Draper,
Esq who demolished it in
1725. He then began building a new house and sold it to
Richard Gipps, Esq who bought
the estate in 1736.
Nicholas William Ridley-Colborne, 1st Baron Colborne (1779
–1854), who succeeded to the estate of his maternal Uncle, including West
Harling, and assumed the surname Colborne.
Sir George Edmund Nugent, 2nd Bt. (1802-1892), who, in 1830,
had married the second daughter of the 1st Baron Colborne, the Hon. Maria
Charlotte Ridley-Colborne (d.1883) and inherited the West Harling estate.
There was a contents sale by Puttick and Simpson. 1929 before West
Harling Hall was demolished and a number of pieces of Kentian furniture were included in the
West Harling sale in 1929, similarly in the sale of the 'original and valuable
fixtures and fittings' of West Harling Hall held on the premises, July 8-9,
London, Norbury-Smith, 1931 there were William Kent mantelpieces, overmantels,
carved doors and overdoors included in the sale as Lots 51-56.
In the same sale there was also a portrait of Richard Gipps
(Lot 91, fixed in overmantel) which remained mounted in its original position.
West Harling formerly consisted of several small manors,
which, in the time of William the Conqueror, were held as a berewic of the
capital manor of Kenninghall by the Albinis and their successors, the de
Angerville family. About 1564, it was sold to Bassingborne Gawdy, Esq., of
Mendham, in Suffolk (1532-1590) and by descent until the end of the male line
with Sir Basingbourn Gawdy, 3rd Baronet (d. 1723) who left the estate to his
three nieces and they conveyed the whole estate to Joshua Draper, Esq who demolished it in 1725. who in
turn sold it to Richard Gipps, Esq in 1736.
Nicholas William Ridley-Colborne, 1st Baron Colborne (1779 –
1854) sat as Member of Parliament for Bletchingley from 1805 to 1806, for
Malmesbury from 1806 to 1807, for Appleby from 1807 to 1812, for Thetford from
1818 to 1826, for Horsham from 1827 to 1832 and for Wells from 1834 to 1837. In
1839 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Colborne, of West Harling in the
County of Norfolk.
Thence to Sir George
Edmund Nugent, 2nd Bt. (1802 – 1892 ), who in 1830, had married the second daughter
of the 1st Baron Colborne, The Hon. Maria Charlotte Ridley-Colborne ( d 1883 ) and
inherited the West Harling
estate.
Portrait and photograph of West Harling Hall courtesy Bonham's Auction House - see:
https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/18970/lot/32/
_____________________
Leake Okeover.
_____________________
Leake Okeover.
Bust of Leake of
Okeover by Joseph Wilton - private Collection.
Image from Conway Library
