Kentwell Hall in Long Melford, Suffolk and Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk are both moated, Tudor manor houses. Both have belonged to prominent Catholic families; the Cloptons at Kentwell and the Bedingfields at Oxburgh. The Cloptons took on Kentwell in 1377 but ran out of heirs in the middle of 17th century; the Bedingfields have lived at Oxburgh since its construction in 1482, and continue to do so even though the house and grounds were gifted to the National Trust in 1952.

Historic England states that Kentwell is a very good example of a C16 manor house and is built on an E shaped plan and was described in the C19 as a “very fair and rich house with 12 wainscot rooms and a park stored with above 150 deer”. It is constructed of red brick with a steep clay tile roof and ridiculously tall but beautifully arcaded chimneys; it has an elegant and balanced facade and is rightly described as one of the finest Tudor houses in England.

Life for prominent Catholic families such as the Bedingfields was for many centuries extremely difficult. This commenced with the English Reformation and Henry VIII’s break from Rome enabled by the great statutes of the 1530s that both settled religious doctrine and established the sovereignty of Parliament. This was continued and strengthened by Edward VI. After Mary I’s brief and bloody return to Catholicism, Elizabeth I quickly re-established the English Protestant church with her at its head and services in English. This led to excommunication, a Catholic rebellion in the North and finally war with Spain. In response, the laws against Catholics were repeatedly tightened and the state became increasingly effective at securing the monopoly of what became the Church of England. Catholic families were ostracised and penalised; excluded from holding public office, attending universities, and taxed heavily. Priests when discovered were executed for treason and those harbouring them thrown into the Tower of London. Sir Henry Bedingfeld refused to sign the Act of Uniformity in 1559 and was hence much persecuted; even so he constructed a priest hole in order to maintain Catholic services in secret. The Gunpowder Plot in 1605, a failed attempt by Catholics at radical regime change, only led to a further series of oppressive measures, all of which remained in place for more than two centuries. The so-called Penal Laws were only relaxed in the early 19th century. Many of the Bedingfields at Oxburgh therefore just scraped by, given it was so difficult for them to prosper in Protestant England.

Oxburgh Hall, hidden in west Norfolk between the Brecks and the fens next to the River Gadder, is a fortified manor house with crenellated walls, imposing gatehouse and towers and a small central courtyard. As a consequence, it sits heavily within its wide moat; a fortress of Tudor red bricks designed to keep the Protestant world at bay. Three centuries after the dissolution of the monasteries, and after relaxation of the Penal Laws permitted its construction, a chapel was built in the grounds in 1836 . The great oriel windows were also Victorian add-ons during this period of refurbishment. The National Trust has recently renovated the house at great expense, and there are a range of walks across the estate through wet woodlands and flat fields. It is a good place to obtain a different perspective on England’s remarkable but insecure, sectarian history.