Hill Hall (Essex)

Last updated
Hill Hall Hill Hall, Theydon Mount (geograph 3375471).jpg
Hill Hall

Hill Hall is an Elizabethan mansion located in Theydon Mount near Epping, Essex, England. Although owned by English Heritage, the building consists of many private apartments. [1] It is a grade I listed building. [2]

Contents

The importance of Hill Hall lies in two features. Firstly, it has some of the earliest classical decoration on any surviving building in Britain - the tiers of columns and friezes on the courtyard walls and the use of 'giant' column (that is, rising through two storeys) on the exterior facades. Secondly, the 1969 fire destroyed most of the interiors but not, miraculously, a series of wall paintings on the first floor completed more or less when the house was built in the late 16th century. There are an unusual survival of classically inspired mural paintings. [3]

History

The house was originally built for Sir Thomas Smith during the reign of Elizabeth I to replace a 12th-century house on the same site. Construction was carried out over several intervals (1567-8, 1572–3) interspersed between Smith's stints as ambassador to France. [4] The hall stands in 50 hectares (120 acres) of parkland designed by Humphrey Repton.

The Smith, later Bowyer-Smyth, family remained in occupation until the mid 19th century.

Hill Hall subsequently became a prisoner of war camp during World War 2. Pregnant women from the east end of London were also evacuated from London during the early part of World Ward II and babies were also born there. [5] Later, Hill Hall became a women's prison until a fire in 1969. It has since become part of the Heritage Trust. Limited tours are available to see the internal period wall paintings described by Croft-Murray of the British Museum as the most important survival of Elizabethan decorative figure painting in England. [2]

According to local legend, Hill Hall was once the site of a duel between seven brothers, for the hand of a beautiful girl. Every brother was killed. It is also allegedly the haunt of a phantom black dog. [6]

Related Research Articles

Thomas Smith (diplomat) 16th-century English scholar and diplomat

Sir Thomas Smith was an English scholar, parliamentarian and diplomat.

Wollaton Hall

Wollaton Hall is an Elizabethan country house of the 1580s standing on a small but prominent hill in Wollaton Park, Nottingham, England. The house is now Nottingham Natural History Museum, with Nottingham Industrial Museum in the outbuildings. The surrounding parkland has a herd of deer, and is regularly used for large-scale outdoor events such as rock concerts, sporting events and festivals.

Colen Campbell

Colen Campbell was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer, credited as a founder of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As well as his architectural designs he is known for Vitruvius Britannicus, three volumes of high-quality engravings showing the great houses of the time.

Chicheley Hall

Chicheley Hall, Chicheley, Buckinghamshire, England is a country house built in the first quarter of the 18th century. The client was Sir John Chester, the main architect was Francis Smith of Warwick and the architectural style is Baroque. Later owners included David Beatty, 2nd Earl Beatty and the Royal Society. Chicheley Hall is a Grade I listed building.

Hadleigh Castle Grade I listed castle in the United Kingdom

Hadleigh Castle is a ruined fortification in the English county of Essex, overlooking the Thames Estuary from south of the town of Hadleigh. Built after 1215 during the reign of Henry III by Hubert de Burgh, the castle was surrounded by parkland and had an important economic and defensive role. The castle was significantly expanded and remodelled by Edward III, who turned it into a grander property, designed to defend against a potential French attack, as well as to provide the King with a convenient private residence close to London. Built on a soft hill of London clay, the castle has often been subject to subsidence; this, combined with the sale of its stonework in the 16th century, has led to it now being ruined. The remains are now preserved by English Heritage and protected under UK law as a Grade I listed building and scheduled monument.

Jacobean architecture English architecture around the reign of James I

The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated. At the start of James' reign there was little stylistic break in architecture, as Elizabethan trends continued their development. However, his death in 1625 came as a decisive change towards more classical architecture, with Italian influence, was in progress, led by Inigo Jones; the style this began is sometimes called Stuart architecture, or English Baroque.

Bramshill House Grade I listed English country house in Hart, United Kingdom

Bramshill House, in Bramshill, northeast Hampshire, England, is one of the largest and most important Jacobean prodigy house mansions in England. It was built in the early 17th century by the 11th Baron Zouche of Harringworth but was partly destroyed by fire a few years later. The design shows the influence of the Italian Renaissance, which became popular in England during the late 16th century. The house was designated a Grade I listed building in 1952.

Cobham Hall A manor house in Kent

Cobham Hall is an English country house in the county of Kent, England. The grade I listed building is one of the largest and most important houses in Kent, re-built as an Elizabethan prodigy house by William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham (1527–1597). The central block was rebuilt 1672–82 by Charles Stewart, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 6th Duke of Lennox (1639–1672).

Holkham Hall Large 18th-century Palladian country house in Norfolk, England

Holkham Hall is an 18th-century country house near the village of Holkham, Norfolk, England, constructed in the Neo-Palladian style for the 1st Earl of Leicester, by the architect William Kent, aided by Lord Burlington.

Cound Hall

Cound Hall, in Cound, Shropshire, England, is a Grade I listed building. It is a large vernacular Baroque house, with a basement and two storeys of tall slender windows topped by a half-storey, built of red brick with stone dressings. The house was built in 1703-04 for Edward Cressett by John Prince of Shrewsbury.

Spains Hall

Spains Hall is an Elizabethan country house near Finchingfield in Essex, England. The building has been Grade I listed since 1953.

Stanford Rivers Human settlement in England

Stanford Rivers is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. The parish, which is approximately 11 miles (18 km) west from the county town of Chelmsford, contains the village of Toot Hill and the hamlet of Little End, both settlements larger than Stanford Rivers village, and the hamlet of Clatterford End. The village is 2.0 miles (3 km) south-east of Chipping Ongar, 3 miles (5 km) south-west of North Weald Bassett and 3 miles north-west of Kelvedon Hatch. The parish covers an area of 1,749 hectares.

Rocksavage

Rocksavage or Rock Savage was an Elizabethan mansion, which served as the primary seat of the Savage family. The house now lies in ruins, at SJ526799 in Clifton, Cheshire, England. Built for Sir John Savage, MP in 1565–1568, Rocksavage was one of the great Elizabethan houses of the county, a leading example of the Elizabethan prodigy house; in 1674, it was the second largest house in Cheshire. James I visited in 1617. The house was abandoned when it passed into the Cholmondeley family early in the 18th century, and by 1782 only ruins remained.

Horham Hall

Horham Hall may refer to the timber-framed late mediaeval hall in Thaxted, England or to the brick hall built in its place by Sir John Cutte in the early 16th century.

Fiddlers Hamlet Human settlement in England

Fiddlers Hamlet is a hamlet in the civil parish of Epping, within the Epping Forest District of Essex, England, and is 1 mile (1.6 km) south-east from the market town of Epping, separated by farm and fields. The M11 motorway runs 300 yards (274 m) to the east, with Junction 7 for Harlow being 4 miles (6 km) to the north.

Cranham Hall

Cranham Hall is a Grade II listed building in Cranham, London, England.

Theydon Mount Human settlement in England

Theydon Mount is a village and a civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the county of Essex, England. The village is notable for the Grade I Listed Elizabethan mansion, Hill Hall.

Epping, Essex Town and parish in Essex, England

Epping is a market town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the County of Essex, England. The town is 17 miles (30 km) northeast from the centre of London, is surrounded by the northern end of Epping Forest, and on a ridge of land between the River Roding and River Lea valleys.

Coopersale Human settlement in England

Coopersale, also termed Coopersale Common, is a village in the civil parish of Epping, within the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. In 2018 it had an estimated population of 1019.

Coopersale Street Human settlement in England

Coopersale Street is a hamlet in the civil parish of Epping, within the Epping Forest District of Essex, England, and is 1,300 yards (1,000 m) east from the market town of Epping, separated by farm and fields. The M11 motorway runs 600 yards (500 m) to the east, with Junction 7 for Harlow being 3.5 miles (6 km) to the north.

References

  1. ↑ "Hill Hall". English Heritage. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  2. 1 2 Historic England. "HILL HALL AND ATTACHED SERVICE WINGS TO NORTH AND WEST (1123963)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "Hill Hall and Attached Service Wings to North and West, Theydon Mount, Essex".
  4. ↑ Girouard, Mark (2009). Elizabethan Architecture: its rise and fall, 1540-1640, p. 176. Yale University Press, New Haven and London. ISBN   978-0-300-09386-5.
  5. ↑ Birth certificate of M J Bowles 9 April 1940
  6. ↑ Ash, Russell (1973). Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain. Reader's Digest Association Limited. p. 246. ISBN   9780340165973.

Coordinates: 51°40′27.18″N0°9′9.1″E / 51.6742167°N 0.152528°E / 51.6742167; 0.152528


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.