Down Hall

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title: "Down Hall" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["country-houses-in-essex", "hotel-spas", "hotels-in-essex", "grade-ii-listed-parks-and-gardens-in-essex", "country-house-hotels", "buildings-and-structures-in-uttlesford"] description: "Country house in Essex, England" topic_path: "general/country-houses-in-essex" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_Hall" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Country house in Essex, England ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Historic building"]

Field	Value
name	Down Hall
image	Down Hall Country House Hotel from the rear gardens - geograph.org.uk - 451750.jpg
map_type	Essex
coordinates
location	Hatfield Heath
location_town	Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire
location_country	United Kingdom
architect	Frederick Pepys Cockerell
client	Henry Selwin-Ibbetson, 1st Baron Rookwood
completion_date	1873
style	Elizabethan mansion
::

|name = Down Hall |image = Down Hall Country House Hotel from the rear gardens - geograph.org.uk - 451750.jpg |caption = |map_type = Essex |coordinates = |location = Hatfield Heath |location_town = Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire |location_country = United Kingdom |architect = Frederick Pepys Cockerell |client = Henry Selwin-Ibbetson, 1st Baron Rookwood |engineer = |construction_start_date = |completion_date = 1873 |date_demolished = |cost = |structural_system = |style = Elizabethan mansion |size = Down Hall is a Victorian country house and estate near Hatfield Heath in the English county of Essex, close to its border with Hertfordshire. It is surrounded by 110 acre of woodland, parkland and landscaped gardens, some of which is protected by the Essex Wildlife Trust.

History

The first Down Hall was a Tudor house, once owned by poet Matthew Prior. Prior was acquainted with landscaper Charles Bridgeman, who he commissioned to landscape the estate's gardens. After Prior's death in 1721 (just one year after buying the property), the house was passed to his friend Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer, who undertook further rebuilding. Twenty years later, and with the house still unfinished, Harley died.

Selwin family

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/'Leaves_from_a_Hunting_Diary_in_Essex'p.054-_Henry_John_Selwin-Ibbetson,_1st_Baron_Rookwood_of_Down_Hall.jpg" caption="Henry John Selwin-Ibbetson in 1900"] ::

Upon Harley's death in 1741, the house was purchased by William Selwin, a wealthy silk merchant, for £4500. The estate remained in the Selwin family until 1902, where – on the death of Henry Selwin-Ibbetson, 1st Baron Rookwood (who had commissioned its full rebuilding in the late 1860s) – the Selwin and Ibbetson lineage died out.

World War I

During the First World War, the house was used as a sanatorium for wounded soldiers. The estate was affected by the post-World War I recession, and was subsequently sold at auction.

Modern history

Following its sale, the house was used as a school (Downham School, 1932–c.1967) and an antiques business and conference centre (1967–1986).

In 1986, the estate was purchased by the Veladail Group, who have operated the site as a four-star hotel, conference centre and wedding venue since. British television personality Jade Goody wed her partner Jack Tweed at Down Hall on 22 February 2009.

Series eleven and twelve of The Great British Bake Off were filmed at Down Hall, where, due to COVID-19 restrictions, all cast and crew quarantined together in a "bubble" during the six weeks of filming.

References

References

1. Walker, Peter. (2009-02-22). "Jade Goody wedding takes place behind security cordon". [[The Guardian]].
2. Castle, Tim. (2009-02-22). "Dying British reality TV star prepares to wed". [[Reuters]].
3. (2008). "History of Down Hall". Down Hall.
4. "History of Down Hall Hotel, Hertforshire".
5. (2009). "UK portfolio". Veladail Hotels.
6. [https://web.archive.org/web/20181120124654/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-19924324.html "Moving tribute to Jade by her five-year-old son"], ''Belfast Telegraph'' 24 February 2009. Retrieved 28 May 2017
7. (20 September 2020). "Pizza by Paul, flowers by Prue: how Great British Bake Off built its Covid bubble". The Guardian.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::