Gordon Brown's Suffolk holiday retreat denied new gates

Shadingfield Hall, a Grade II listed detached house near Southwold and Beccles, is a stunning Georgian house built in the early 1800s. 

Then prime minister Gordon Brown spent a much-publicised summer holiday there in 2008 with his family. 

But owners of the Suffolk mansion have seen a proposal for the construction of new entrance gates denied by East Suffolk Council. 

Elizabeth Martin, senior design and conservation officer, wrote: "The gates do not appear to have the style expected of an entrance to a high status, period property. 

"Therefore, the detail needs to be altered to reflect the style and size of the approved gates.

"I am of the view that the details of the gate are not suitable to design and the detailing needs to conform to that which has gained consent on the approved drawings."

Shadingfield, Sotterley, Willingham and Ellough joint parish council considered the application at a meeting on April 20 and had no objection to the proposals. 

At the time of the former PM’s stay at Shadingfield Hall the property didn’t have grand entrance gates. 

The former PM’s visit to the Suffolk coast was seen as a major coup for the area and a boost to its tourism. 

Mr Brown, his wife Sarah, and their sons John and Fraser were photographed on an official visit to Africa Alive in Kessingland, and also watched a film at the cinema in Lowestoft. 

But later revealed in a book Mr Brown wrote that he was “obsessing” over the banking crisis during his break.

He later revealed in his book Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalisation that he had “a full diary of meetings” every day and used the break from Parliament to “read widely” on subjects such as the Great Depression. 

He wrote: "The collapse in credit and its consequences for Britain’s and the global economy was the question that obsessed me throughout our summer holiday in Suffolk."

A birds eye view of Shadingfield Hall (Image: Archant)