The Hardwick Manor site of the proposed new West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds has a convoluted history

With the recent news that a new hospital for Bury St Edmunds and its surrounding district is to be built in the grounds of Hardwick Manor, perhaps this could be an apt time to reflect as to the origins of this property.

When Dame Anne Cullum, the second wife of the Rev Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, made her will, it included an entailment clause, whereby only male members of the family would be able to inherit the Hardwick Estate and its contents. Hardwick House, formerly an Elizabethan mansion but subsequently much altered was set in enormous grounds.

Her step grandson, George Gery Milner Gibson, inherited the estate and took on the family name Cullum in 1878. He also became the High Sheriff of Suffolk in 1888-89.

In recognition of his great support for the town, in 1913 he became the only non-elected mayor of Bury St Edmunds.

Unfortunately, from him there was no issue, as this very cultured man never married and died in 1921.

After his death the crown seized the estate under the intestate act of 1884 and in June 1924 the contents were sold and Hardwick was offered for sale; to be purchased by Mr Thomas Oakley, of Luton, and demolished in 1925. Much of the interior was reclaimed.

Financier Halford Hewitt, from Kensington, had Hardwick Manor created in 1925-7 after local timber merchants, who had purchased some of the estate for the timber declined the former gardener’s cottage.

Panelling and a staircase were used in the re-modelling of Hardwick Manor in 1927 by local builder H G Frost who lived nearby at Stonebridge. Kersey, Gale and Spooner were the notable architects who were responsible for St Paul's Anglican church at Southwark.

The extravagant Hewitt had at one time 11 gardeners working on the grounds. He was also instrumental in setting up an eponymous national golf tournament for ex-pupils of public schools played at the Royal Cinque Ports golf club in Deal; still going today.

Local builder Leonard Sewell, colloquially known as Lennie, purchased Hardwick Manor in 1953 for a rumoured sum of £20,000. He later also became mayor of Bury in 1964.

For many years the annual Hardwick Fete in aid of the hospital was a popular attraction with celebrities such as singer Tom Jones and supermodel Sabrina opening it.

As for the rest of Hardwick, it has been a World War Two POW camp and, from 1973, the site of the West Suffolk Hospital – since much extended. The rest of Hardwick is a fantastic resource for Bury with sports pitches, leisure activities and for dog walking.

Martyn Taylor is a local historian, author and Bury Tour Guide. His latest book, Going Underground: Bury St Edmunds, is widely available.