William McDowall Colhoun

Apparently built by William McDowall Colhoun: 'William Colhoun purchased part of the manor of West Wretham in 1788 and the Eton College lands at East Wretham were subsequently leased to him. It was he who had developed the hall and Fadens map of 1797 shows the hall as “New House”. It should be noted that on the same map the Manor is referred to as the hall, which confuses matters somewhat. A document produced in 1793 shows that William Colhoun owned all the houses in West Wretham which he susbsequently pulled down, rehousing the parishioners in East Wretham. At this point Eton College were upset that Colhoun had completely altered the face of the country by diverting roads and planting trees without permission. In 1801 it was reported that Kings College got equally upset by all the changes. Worse was to follow as Colhoun was reported to have ignored all the letters sent to him by both colleges and in 1802 an attorney took possession of the manor, the heavily indebted Colhoun having fled to South Africa. Both colleges met in November 1802 putting down boundary stones to redefine their lands.' The hall no longer stands. See 'The Wretham Estate (East and West Wretham)', http://www.breckslandscape.co.uk/caseWretham.php [accessed 19/10/2018].