Lynford - Lynford Hall (Norfolk)

In the grounds of Lynford house there is a double rowed set of Giant Redwoods called Sequoia Avenue. This magnificent set of trees were planted in the 1800's and were originally laid out alternately with pink flowering chestnuts. The chestnuts have long since gone and many have been replaced with new Redwoods, which look to be around fifteen years old. Walk along the grass field through this avenue and you will reach the huge house, now used as an hotel. Go around the house a little and you will see a lovely garden - definitely worth a stroll on a warm summer evening. There is an interesting statue near to the house, if anyone knows the history of this we would be very pleased to hear from them. One of the stumps from a Redwood that has been cut down has had a name (looks like "BRT HALL") and a date ("16/07/99") carved into it. It would be nice to know a little more about this as well. Simon wrote in 2014 to tell us the following; "You query the initials BRHT Hall carved across the stump of a felled redwood. Brodie Hall was a regional manager for a private forestry management company and he actually felled this tree and a couple of others in the vicinity. The trees had been killed by the pathogen Fomes annosus which is prevalent in the Breckland Forests. Humbling to think of a mighty tree being killed by a simple organism. Thank you for writing to let us know about the story behind the initials on the redwood stump. It was sad to hear the trees had been killed by the pathogen. I have not come across many Redwoods that have been felled other than because they were in the "wrong" place because they can even survive modest lightning strikes, but I suppose they are not invincible. At least all the trees still standing looked in good health the last time I visited Lynford Hall. Sarah wrote in 2020 to tell us that she "noticed that you asked for more information about the sculpture in Sequoia Avenue. I hope this might help. Recording Archive for Public Sculpture in Norfolk & Suffolk It a marble sculpture of Fighting Bulls by Jean Baptiste Clésinger dated 1863, sadly in poor condition and has an interesting history - see the iconographical description. Thank you for this link, there is a lot of interesting detail about the people and place. The statue of the Fighting bulls was erected as a memorial to Stephens Lyne-Stephens (1801-1860) by his widow. Stephens Lyne-Stephens was reputed to be the richest man in Great Britain at the time.