GIFFORDS HALL, 

 SUFFOLK. 



TIIK ancient mansion of" Cliffords Hall stands 

 some two miles north-cast of the village 

 of Stoke-hy-Nayland in Suffolk, ami in the 

 attractive valley of the river Stour, which 

 separates the county from its southern neighbour. 

 The village is distinguished by its Hue church, which 

 possesses one of the noblest towers in the county. 

 Constable, the painter, who dearly hived his native- 

 valley, has described this church as ranking with 



THE JOKERS. 



the greatest in the Kastcrn Counties, anil he dwelt 

 with admiration upon the length of the nave, the 

 fmeljr-proportioaed ihanicl and the majestu tower, as 

 worthy to challenge the admiration of the architect, 

 ami he thought the tower imparted something of its 

 dignity to the surrounding country. Herein are 

 many tombs and memorials <>t the lony line of the 

 Mannocks, the ancient possessors, and indeed the 

 tniilders, of Cliffords Hall, who, themselves or in the 



persons of later 

 kinsmen or sin 

 lessors who took 

 their name, held 

 the house and 

 manor for full 460 

 years. 



\ goodly 

 house it is, 

 rciovercd by its 

 present owner 

 from a state of 

 much decay and 

 restored to a con 

 dition that is truly 

 worthy of its 

 prime. In its 

 aspect it is like, 

 and yet unlike, 

 the other ancient 

 houses in Fast 

 \nglia included in 

 this volume. The 

 gatehouse, with its 

 octagonal brick 

 towers and its 

 interesting trefoil 

 and quatrefoil 

 panels, is of the 

 same school and 

 date as St. Osyth's 

 and also of I _iyer 

 Marncy, except 

 that the breath of 

 the Renaissance 

 has not reached it. 

 On the other 

 hand, entering the 

 Quadrangle we 

 rind much in the 

 venerable timber- 

 work that reminds 

 us of the domestic 

 cmlmures of not 

 a few famous 

 houses in l-nica- 

 shirc and Cheshire, 



