Henry Bell was a distinguished gentleman amateur practising from his home town of King's Lynn, where he is thought to have designed the Customs House in 1683. His most notable surviving public work is the portico of All Saints Church, Northampton, 1701. This rare design is identified by comparison with Bell's design for Narford in the Narford archives: For futher information see the Georgian Group, Report and Journal, 1987, suggesting a slightly grander house as proposed, with a pilaster Doric portico. The present front of Narford is dated 1702.