ABOVE: A contemporary engraving of the magnificent manor house of Beaupre Hall at Outwell. At the time of its construction nothing like it had been seen in the area before - and it stood for almost 500 years before being finally demolished in the 1960s.
The rise and fall of Beaupré Hall It was once the grandest building in Outwell, and although nothing remains o the magni cent manor house today it’s a story o lost treasure ascinating history and intriguing myths and legends...
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s many as 2,000 notable English country houses have faded from existence since 1800, though Outwell’s beautiful Beaupré Hall is undoubtedly one of the most devastating losses. With its picturesque towers and turrets and pillared entrance guarded by ferocious stone falcons, it really was a wonder to behold. The story of Beaupré Hall begins with Nicholas Beaupré, whose family had held the Manor of Outwell since the late 1300s. In 1493, after his marriage to Margaret Fodryngaye from Suffolk, he embarked on the construction of a new
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hall to display his elevated status. Together with his son Edmund, he began building a breathtaking Tudor manor house that came to be known as Beaupré Hall. Construction began in around 1500 and when Nicholas died in 1512 Edmund continued with the work and completed his father’s ambitious project. With its immense size, elegant Gothic spires, and grand turreted gatehouse Beaupré Hall evoked feelings of awe and astonishment throughout the village of Outwell - it was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. When Edmund Beaupré died in 1567 the hall passed to his daughter Dorothy
Beaupré, who had married Sir Robert Bell in 1559. Bell was a prominent speaker in the House of Commons (and later MP for King’s Lynn) and was responsible for increasing the grandeur and value of the hall by adding the south wing, raising the old wing, and building the outer walls. He also constructed a spectacular entrance, consisting of two grand gate pillars crowned with heraldic stone falcons - which have survived through the centuries and are now perched at Fulbourn Manor in Cambridgeshire. Bell worked wonders at Beaupré
KLmagazine January 2022