Flixton - Flixton Hall (Suffolk)

This Giant Sequoia stands near the ruins of Flixton Hall and it is still surrounded by some of the original steel fence that may have protected it from the attention of the deer herd that originally roamed the estate. A fine example of a Redwood but sadly the same cannot be said for the building which is approached along a delapidated path near the quarry works. However it isn't hard to imagine the grandeur that it once portrayed. The upper storeys of most of the building have been cut away and the remains are now being used for farm storage. As the following photographs show, there are many stunning sections of the original brickwork and ornate mouldings both inside and out. In fact many of the interior mouldings look as though they were made just a few years back, rather than over a century ago.

The original Flixton Hall was built in 1615 by John Tasburgh but it was burnt down in the nineteenth century. A fabulous new building was erected that rivalled many of the grandest of estates, so spectacular was the new Flixton Hall that it was even considered as the royal residence in competition with Sandringham, which reputedly won because of its better rail links with London. The estate was sold to the Adair family and after several generations in 1948 it was again sold, to the Metropolitan Railway Country Estates Limited, although the family retained ownership of Flixton Hall and Flixton Park, Home Farm and Home Woods. Due to heavy death duties Flixton Hall, including its massive library, also had to be sold in 1950. East and West Suffolk County Councils both tried to buy the hall and 250 acres of land but it was sold to a private speculator. According to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum website: "Two years after the purchaser had removed and sold all the protective lead from the roof, water was causing serious problems to the interior so he applied and gained permission to demolish the building in June 1952. As a result, one of the most magnificent buildings in East Anglia was allowed to disappear forever - only the shell of part of the ground floor survives today and is used for farm storage." It is difficult to imagine that such destruction would be allowed these days, and wandering around the relic gave a feeling of great sadness that something so fabulous built by so many skilled hands is decaying and will be lost forever. There are some photographs of the old hall here.

Common Names and Latin Name	Latitude and Longitude		OS National Grid	Elevation (above sea-level)
	WGS84	OSGB36
Giant Redwood Sequoiadendron giganteum	N52.42250 E1.38557	N52.42205 W1.38736	TM 30294 85891	24ft (07.32m)