Hall Place

Hall Place (modern photo)
Hall Place (modern photo)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See also:
Fire at Hall Place 28 November 1940
Lord Hollenden moves into the Workshops
East Lodge
West Lodge
‘Penshurst Entrance Lodge’: Pinnacles/Pepperpot

Until the nineteenth century Hall Place owned no land outside the park and it was probably no larger than an average farmhouse. A circa 1600 map shows it surrounded by a number of barns and outhouses. We know of three houses on the site – this one, the Georgian mansion and the present house.

Hall Place was granted by Henry VI, as part of the Penshurst Estate, to Humphrey Stafford, Duke of Buckingham. The estate was forfeited to the King when his son fought against Richard III. The property was reinstated to the family by Henry VII, but forfeited again in 1521 when Edward, Duke of Buckingham, was accused of conspiring against Henry VIII.  It was acquired by his steward, Knevett, who had given evidence against Edward and he sold it to Mr. Burnett of East Wickham.  Yet again it reverted to the Crown and was then granted to William Waller of Groombridge Place who in turn gave it to his son, Richard.  Henry Cruttenden inherited it from Richard’s daughter, Margaret, and passed it to his son, Henry, and from there it entered into the ownership of the Harrison family.  During this time it was tenanted.  The most notable of these tenants was William Heath, who bought the freehold from James Harrison and passed the house to his sister, Elizabeth, who was married to Isaac Burgess. Their son, Robert, pulled down the existing house and built the Georgian one in 1780.  (Robert also bought Groombridge Place).

 

Hall Place 1790
Hall Place 1790

 

In 1785, then aged 60, Robert Burgess married Sarah Farrant (aged 23).   When he died in 1794, he left no children.  Sarah continued to live there and married as her second husband, James Harbroe of Sundridge.  In 1820, James Harbroe died and Sarah, having been widowed twice,  sold Hall Place to Farmer Baily whose family owned it until 1870.  Thomas Baily added a gothic hall to the east end of the Georgian house – 70 feet long with projecting bay windows at the east end – which was used to entertain the tenants. The architect for this project was probably Charles Baily, a second cousin. The north end of the house was also rebuilt with gothic windows and a gothic room. This room survived the later demolition and was re-erected in the Home Woods in 1870.   In 1852, Thomas Baily replaced the lodge on the north side of the drive beside Porcupine House with the present East Lodge and the ornate gothic gateway was built.   A similar gateway was built at the Pinnacles (aka Pepper Pot or Penshurst Entrance Lodge) at this time.  (This gateway was later taken down and re-erected at West Lodge in 1906.)

Rides were laid out in the woods along with a summer drive to Stocks Green and a water pipe along the line of this drive led to a dam which was probably the the site of a hydraulic ram to supply water to the house to supplement the well at Hall Place.

 

Hall Place, c. 1870
Hall Place, c. 1870

Samuel Morley purchased Hall Place in 1870 for £42,000 (plus furniture and fittings) and paid an additional £230 for the deer herd.  Details of the 1870 sale catalogue for Hall Place are available for viewing (contact the Society).

The images available are given at the bottom of this article.

The following year (1871) he decided to demolish the house and appointed George Devey to design a new one.  This Victorian building was rambling and picturesque with a courtyard for stables, coach house and cottages.  It was completed in 1873.   The baronial hall was moved and rebuilt as a non-conformist chapel.  In 1874 the Home Farm buildings were rebuilt and West Lodge was constructed. The creation of the lake was carried out by direct labour and in September of that year the boathouse was thatched and a boat bought.  The house was furnished by many of the best known Victorian firms, the largest contract going to Jackson & Graham.  The organ was built by Hill using a pump driven by a water engine; and a large billiard table was installed.  An improved gas and water supply was laid for the house, which also benefited the village, as did the proper drainage scheme.  Samuel Morley died in 1886 and was succeeded by his son, Samuel Hope Morley, who added Leigh Park and Prices farms to the estate.  He was made a peer in 1912 and took the title of Lord Hollenden.   In 1925 he passed Hall Place to his son.   The house and estate were sold in about 2015/16.

Alfred Houghton became Estate Clerk in 1925, then Agent in 1940 and continued in that position until he was 93.  He died in 2003.  His first wage was £2.10.0d a week.  There were around 60 staff on the estate plus about 12 house staff and 18 in the garden.  When the first Lord Hollenden died in 1929 the estate was worth £1.5 million.  There were 20 acres of garden including 12 and a half acres of lake, with a large rose garden and pergola, two tennis courts, 18 greenhouses and a conservatory.  Lord Hollenden owned most of the houses in the village as well as about 50 cottages, the blacksmiths and most of the shops.  He owned the water, electricity and gas supplies, the drainage system, the Village Green and the Village Halls.   From the 1960s the estate began its policy of cutting back on its staff and continued to sell off houses, farms and property, which had begun earlier. In 1964 the last staff at the gas, water and electricity stations were paid off, the deer herd having gone the year earlier.

In 1940 there was a serious fire at Hall Place caused by an electrical fault and a wing of the house was badly damaged. In 1977 this area was turned into a house garden by the late Lord Hollenden, and members of the family still live in part of the house.

 

Rt Hon Lord Hollenden officiating at Leigh British Legion Children’s Sports 10 July 1948

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Leigh Historical Archives is a photocopy of Conveyances in respect of properties and land formerly held by Hall Place.  The Law of Property Act of 1925 changed the way that land was held and abolished tenure by copyhold.   In 1926 various Deeds were entered into by the Hope-Morley family as Trustees:  gradually over the next 50 years or so former copyhold properties held in Trust by the Hope-Morley family were sold off to  tenants.  The Conveyances contain dates of transfers and names of properties and tenants, plus some maps.

Also in the Leigh Historical Archives there is an article dated 15 December 1900 from Country Life Illustrated entitled Country Homes and Gardens Old and New which is about the garden at Hall Place as it was in 1900 when Samuel Hope Morley owned Hall Place.

Pictures of Hall Place Gardens:

Bridge over Hall Place Lake in Winter
Bridge over Hall Place Lake in Winter
View of lake at Hall Place
View of lake at Hall Place
Gardens at Hall Place
Gardens at Hall Place
Gardens at Hall Place
Gardens at Hall Place

 

SEE ALSO:

Hall Place Gardens

Hall Place Gift to Workers

A Child at Hall Place

Lord Hollenden moves into Workshops – 1941

Fire at Hall Place 28 November 1940

Hall_Place_Sale_Cover

Hall_Place_Sale_Estate_Plan

Hall Place sale catalogue, 1870 (Plan of the house)
Hall Place sale catalogue, 1870 (Plan of the house)

Hall_Place_Sale_Lot_2

Hall_Place_Sale_Lots_3-4

Hall_Place_Sale_Lots_5-16