was made treasurer. Mr Wright made a donation of £50 which may have provided the purchase money required by the previous Wesleyan Trust. The maps of this time show extensive outbuildings at Lesingham House, many of which are today used along with the house as accommodation for religious retreats. The Lesingham House property today has land of slightly less than . Records show field names for the original Lesingham House Estate were: Horse Pit Close, Share Water, Dawson’s’, New Close, Clay Pit Close, Green’s Croft, First Mill Piece, Further Mill Piece, Little Company, Great Company, Lombe Hills, Parker’s Close, Coldham Piece, Burd’s, Dormant’s. Near Lesingham House, down Covey Lane, lie extensive marshes and the Ted Ellis nature reserve. This is one of the last remaining tidal marshes on the Broads and its wild remoteness encourages a variety of flora and fauna. Buddhist retreat centre Since 1976, Lesingham House has been run as a Buddhist retreat centre called Padmaloka Buddhist Retreat Centre, which is affiliated to the Triratna Buddhist Community. It was established by the community's founder, Sangharakshita. It describes itself as "in essence, a Buddhist seminary, a semi-monastic religious community of men". The name Padmaloka means 'Realm of the Lotus' in Pāli, padma meaning lotus, and loka meaning realm, place, or abode. The Padmaloka community is run by 13 men who are full time teachers and retreat leaders. The community aims to engage in work as a spiritual practice by bringing mindfulness to the tasks, and to that of the other retreatants. One feature of the centre is the Padmaloka stupa. This is said to contain relics of Dhardo Rimpoche, one of Sangharakshita's teachers. Its inscriptions read Cherish the Doctrine. Live united. Radiate love - which was Dhardo Rimpoche's motto. Prehistory In 1974 a palaeolithic flint hand-axe was found in the Lesingham House garden. Address Lesingham House, Covey Lane, Surlingham Norwich NR14 7AL Notes External links Flickr photos Padmaloka Retreat Centre website for views of Lesingham House For info about Ted Ellis nature reserve Country houses in Norfolk