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The part timbered, part brick barn, which
runs along the west boundary of the churchyard, is magnificent in its
proportions. The timbered section is said to be late 17th century and has
recently been cleared inside to reveal massive oak timbers of great height
and length. The pitch of part of the roof clearly indicates that it was
designed to take a thatch. On the adjoining brick section the words
"Wright 1821" are carved on one of the interior beams. The whole
area of the barn makes one enormously long, high building which is unique
in the area. Indeed, this perfectly preserved building must be a
showpiece.
Plan of current Hall & Tudor moated manor
In all Kelly's directories of the last and present century Great Bradley Hall
is described as being "anciently held by the Somerie family, barons
Dudley". Yeoman, in "Pocket Histories of Suffolk
Parishes" explains the detailed history of ownership as follows; -
" When the third Henry was on the throne the manor of Great Bradley
seems to have been held by the well-known family of Bigod, but shortly
afterwards it was owned by Sir Hugh do Lopham, who in 1305 granted the manor,
with the advowson of the church, to Sir John de Cotecourt, and Matilda, his
wife.
Sir John was a person of some importance in the land. Amongst the high
offices he held being the Governorship of St. Briavel's Castle in
Gloucestershire, whilst he was an Admiral of the King's Fleet and was summoned
to Parliament as a baron. He was succeeded by his grandson of the same Christian
name and this John also played a prominent part in affairs of consequence, both
as a soldier and as a politician, fighting in the French wars and sitting in
Parliament for some 43 years. Through the marriage of his granddaughter, Joyce,
to Sir Hugh Burnell, the manor went to the latter, but there was no issue, and
for some years it is doubtful who actually held them. Eventually, however, we
find it in the hands of Bartholomew Brokesby, whose death occurred in 1524 and
following various changes, it came to Thomas Brand in the middle of the 18th
century.
In 1771, Thomas Brand married the Hon. Gertrude Roper, sister of the
eighteenth Lord Dacre, and the manor passed to their son, the twentieth Lord. He
chose for his wife a daughter of Admiral Sir Charles Ogle, but, dying without issue,
his brother succeeded. This brother, who, of course, was the twenty-first Lord
Dacre, had fought well and bravely in the Peninsular War, and in 1824 assumed
the surname of Trevor. His death occurred in l853 upon which his eldest son
inherited, and, he dying in 1890, was followed by his brother, Henry Bouerie
William Trevor.
The latter had carved for himself a political career of considerable merit,
as for some twelve years he filled the high office of Speaker, whilst he became
a Privy Councillor, and in 1834 was created Viscount Harrpden, It was only for a
very short time that he enjoyed his new inheritance, as he died in 1892,
when the estate passed to his eldest son, a Captain in the Coldstream Guards
who, however, followed in his father's footsteps to a certain degree, entering
Parliament, first of all for Hertfordshire, and later for the Stroud Division of
Gloucester."
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