History

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house2The village of Salle in Norfolk is situated approximately 10 miles to the North West of Norwich.  The village name which is pronounced “Saul”, derives from the words Sallow Wood.  (Sallow comes from Salix meaning Willow).  Although a small village with a population of less than 100, it boasts one of Norfolk’s finest wool churches.  Built mainly in the fifteenth century, the church is dominated by its magnificent tower, which is 111 ft high and can be seen from several miles away.  It is believed the village was much larger in the Middle Ages – hence the size of the church.

Salle Park Estate has been in the ownership of the White family for over 100 years.  The present owner, Sir John White Bt. took control of the Estate in 1971.  When Sir John’s great great grandfather, Major Timothy White, first came to Salle in 1890, the Estate comprised of many small let farms.  These were gradually absorbed into what is now, one of the larger privately owned ‘in hand’ Estates in Norfolk covering in excess of 1681 Hectares.  The focus of the Estate is now arable farming.

Farming

The Estate is cropped with a combination of Winter and Spring Cereals, Sugar Beet, Spring Beans, Peas, Oilseed Rape, Game Cover crops and Set-aside.  61 Hectares of permanent grass are let for grazing by sheep and horses.

A further 334 Hectares are contract farmed for local landowners and are gradually being brought into the overall crop rotation.

202 Hectares of Sugar Beet are contract harvested for two large Norfolk estates.  We also run a professional grain storage and handling facility which is TASCC registered and allows us to trade with, and deliver directly to, end users.

The Estate is a member of various assurance schemes for the production, handling and storage of crops such as the Assured Combinable Crops Scheme and Assured Produce and Trade Association Scheme for Combinable Crops.

Other Activities

The Estate also farms 2000 acres of land in Poland.

The Estate has shooting during the months of November, December and January.   Private shooting parties can be arranged, including the use of facilities at the Hall.

The garden has been fully restored and is now providing vegetables and flowers for the Hall, excess garden produce is offered to the public.  Our walled garden is opened to the public every Wednesday throughout the summer and also displays works from local sculptors. The garden is opened once a year in aid of the National Gardens Scheme and also opens for charity events during the summer.  We have numerous visits from gardening groups throughout the county.  A future aim will be to develop training for local garden enthusiasts.

Christmas Trees are currently grown on 75 acres for sale direct to the public through our farm shop and to local garden centres and wholesalers.

Conservation

Conservation is of major interest to Sir John, and there are miles of well established and well maintained hedgerows planted on the Estate.  Since 1971 several areas of amenity woodland have also been established, bringing the total woodland area to 150 acres.