Catton Park

By the 1770s, land had been purchased and developed as an estate for occasional residence with the building of Catton Hall by Charles Buckle, High Steward of Norwich in c1780. In 1788 the Catton Hall estate passed into the hands of Jeremiah Ives (1754 1820) twice Mayor of Norwich. Shortly after acquiring the estate, Ives consulted Repton who accepted the commission to landscape the park. Despite further alterations over the next 150 years, it remained a country park until the outbreak of World War II. Open areas of the park were given over to arable farming and ploughed up. After the war much of the park was broken up and mostly sold for residential development. Subsequent years of farming…

]] Much of the park is open grassland sown with a mixture of grasses and wildflowers. There are notable specimen wellingtonia, cedar and ancient oaks scattered throughout the park. Mixed woodland containing oak, sweet chestnut, and yew make up much of the boundaries. Improvements in the early 21st century include new footpaths, fencing, pedestrian gates and tree planting.