Mousehold House - west elevation and entrance

Image: © Evelyn Simak Taken: 29 Jun 2019

Mousehold House is a Grade 2 listed 18th century house with additions by William Mear dating from 1820. The two-storey building has a hipped slate roof and two plain Tuscan pilasters and four Tuscan columns supporting a massive pedimented portico over the entrance > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6195722 and early 19th century bow-fronted wings > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6195727 to the right and left of the main building, one of which carrying a reset plaque with the inscription 'Lt.Colonel/Six R. Harvey/1821'. Mousehold House was converted to flats in 1969, and today it is surrounded by a 20th century housing development (Woodrow Park) constructed in the former grounds of the house, and by blocks of flats (William Mear Gardens) adjoining immediately in the north. Sir Robert John Harvey (1817- 1870) purchased the Mousehold Estate in the early 19th century and it is reported that he recovered the cost of purchasing the house by the sale of timber from the estate. Sir Robert was a senior partner in the Harvey & Hudson Bank, which had been founded by Robert Harvey (1730-1816), his great grandfather in 1792 and had been run by various members of the family over the following years. In its heyday the bank had some 30 branches (13 in Norfolk, 12 in Suffolk and 5 in Cambridgeshire) and more than 3000 depositors. Sir Robert was in full control in the 1860s and enjoyed a good life style while he rebuilt his house at Crown Point in Trowse > https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4769135. It was during this time that he speculated on the stock exchange, and then hid his losses by noting them as debts from fictitious customers. Once it was discovered that Sir Robert had created a series of false accounts to underwrite his share speculation, leaving the bank with an estimated £1.6 million of debts against £1 million of assets, and Sir Robert was no longer able to hide the debt, he shot himself at his home in Crown Point and swift action was subsequently taken by the remaining directors of the Bank who promptly filed a petition for bankruptcy to protect the bank's assets, followed by the sale of the business and premises to Messrs Gurney & Co, which later became Barclays.

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