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Somerleyton stands on the site of an earlier Jacobean manor house, but the house we see today is unmistakably early Victorian, with a rich harmony of styles and luxurious fittings which epitomises that era of self-confident expansion.

The transformation of Somerleyton to this extravagant mansion was carried out between 1844 and 1851 by Sir Morton Peto, a self-made entrepreneur, after he had purchased the estate, and the finished work was a splendid example of country house creation. No expense was speared: paintings were specially commissioned for the house, and the gardens and grounds were completely redesigned.

For the work on Somerleyton, Sir Morton employed as architect John Thomas, a protégé of Sir Charles Barry and Prince Albert. Thomas was primarily a sculptor and ornamental mason who worked for seventeen years on the Houses of Parliament. This aspect of his talent can be clearly seen at Somerleyton in the stonework of the house and garden ornaments.

The red brick of the house is dressed with stone form Caen in France. Thomas insisted on an overall Jacobean effect, but it is the frequent incursions into an Italian style that give the house its unmistakable Victorian character. Projecting wings flank the courtyard; on the left is an Italianate Campanile Tower which once held a smoking-room- cum-observatory and from which one can see the sea. On the right of the courtyard is the stable-block, dominated by a clock designed by Vulliamy of the famous clock-making family.

The design was intended to be used at the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben would have looked like this had it been adopted in 1847. The gardens at Somerleyton have long been considered of first-rate importance, with more than twelve acres of garden surrounding the Hall.

There is a wealth of the evergreens in the garden and a magnificent collection of specimen trees, shrubs and plants. The gardens are full of interesting statuary such as the Natorp bronze of Atlanta, whilst in the formal garden to the west of the Hall stands the great Equatorial Sundial, encircled by the signs of the Zodiac. Rose beds and topiary yews predominate here whilst elsewhere much original Victorian ornamentation can still be seen. The Walled Garden, or former Kitchen Garden, dominates the northern end of the gardens. Around the walls are many different climbers including roses, species clematis, figs and climbing hydrangeas. Particularly notable is the range of Glasshouses by Sir Joseph Paxton, designer of Crystal Palace.

One of the most popular features of the garden has always been the Yew Hedge Maze, one of the finest in Britain. It was designed by William Nesfield, the celebrated landscape gardener, and planted in 1846. Another feature of interest is the seventy-six-yard-long (70m) Pergola. Parkland surrounds the gardens and a new avenue of lime trees flanking the main drive was planted in 1981.

The present owner, Saville William Francis Crossley, 3rd Baron Somerleyton has been a Lord in Waiting to Her Majesty The Queen since 1978, and in 1991 he was appointed Master of the Horse. In 1999 he was awarded the KGVCO by The Queen.

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