From the beginning
Glevering appears to have originally been a hamlet to Hacheston. Some of the earliest records show the Manor of Glevering belonging to the Abbey of Leiston. However, after the Dissolution it passed through various different owners until in 1791 the estate was purchased for £10,000 by Chaloner Arcedechne.
The Arcedechnes had made a fortune out of plantations on the island of Jamaica. Whilst basing himself at Hanover Square, London, Chaloner Arcedechne employed fashionable architect John White to build a country house at Glevering.
Work began on 10 March 1792 and was still in progress in the spring of 1794. Detailed descriptions of the construction show the types of materials with the majority of the red and white bricks were sourced locally, large quantities of Portland stone and Westmorland slate were shipped to Woodbridge and then carted to the site.
Contemporary to White's building project was Humphry Repton's landscaping of the surrounding fields. The landscaping and planting took place during Spring 1792 and was completed by December of the same year.
Chaloner lived at Glevering until his death in December 1809.
Turning a Vision into Reality
Chaloner's son, Andrew, inherited the Estate and in the 1830's he employed Decimus Burton to carry out alterations as well as building an orangery adjacent to the Hall.
Andrew's son and heir also lived at Glevering until his death whereon it passed through the family until it was sold in 1899. It exchanged hands on a couple more occassions before William Hurlock acquired the Estate in 1935.
The Hurlocks
William Hurlock is best known through his association with the car manufacturer AC, after he purchased the company in 1929. His son Derek took on the management of the company and brought new models into production, one of the best well known being the AC Cobra. During the Second World War the Hall was home to various units of the Royal Artillery. The Royal Engineers built a tank depot for the Royal Tank Regiment in the park and they were in occupation until almost the end of the war.
Whilst Derek had spent a few years in Suffolk his passion for engineering outweighed farming and after the war Glevering Hall passed to Michael Hurlock. For a time part of the house was used as a grain store however a lengthy restoration was undertaken in the 1950's by Michael to restore the Hall to its former condition to be used as a private residence, which still continues to this day.
Michael’s daughter Sandra Hurlock took on the management of Glevering and supported by her children she is responsible for overseeing the farming business, apartments and firewood business which operates from the Estate.