Old Hall Garden, Brooke

Image: © Evelyn Simak Taken: 25 May 2015

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Brooke as follows: "BROOKE, a parish in Loddon district, Norfolk; on an affluent of the river Yare, 4¾ miles WNW of Loddon, and 6 E of Florden r. station. It has a post office under Norwich. Acres, 2,135. Real property, £4,415. Pop., 746. Houses, 168. The property is divided between two. Brooke Hall and Brooke House are the chief residences; and the former is an edifice in the Grecian style, built in 1830. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Norwich. Value, £216. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is good; and there is a Baptist chapel. Charities, £156. Sir Astley Cooper was a native." Brooke Hall was a large house built in the early 19th century on the site of the old hall. It was occupied by the army during WW2 when it was damaged by a V2 rocket and demolished in 1949 due to bomb damage. Brooke Hall was the birthplace and home of Sir Astley Cooper, who was the most popular physician in London in the early 19th century and the Sergeant Surgeon to George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria. A commemorative plaque > http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4491933 can be seen on the remains of the brick wall which once surrounded the Hall's gardens. Today part of the site is built over with housing, known as Hall Close and Old Hall Garden.

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