Woodford Hall

Summary

51°35′54″N 0°01′10″E / 51.5983°N 0.0195°E / 51.5983; 0.0195

Plaque reading "William Morris lived at Woodford Hall 1840-1847. The house demolished in 1900 stood to the rear of this site."
A plaque mentioning Woodford Hall on the Woodford Parish Church Memorial Hall

Woodford Hall was a large house in Woodford, Essex, with 50 acres of land adjacent to Epping Forest.

Christopher Crowe's Estate Act 1727
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to enable Christopher Crowe, of Woodford Hall, in the County of Essex, Esquire, to sell, or otherwise dispose of, the Mansion-house called Woodford Hall, and all other his Lands and Hereditaments at Woodford, comprized in his Settlement thereof; he having settled other Lands and Hereditaments, in the County of York, of greater Value, to the same Uses, in Lieu thereof.
Citation1 Geo. 2. St. 2. c. 8
Dates
Royal assent17 April 1728

In 1707, Sir Richard Child sold the Hall to Christopher Crowe, who sold it to William Hunt in 1728, having obtained a private Act of Parliament (1 Geo. 2. St. 2. c. 8).[1][2] It remained in the Hunt family until 1801, when it was sold to the politician John Maitland.[1]

It was built or rebuilt in 1775 by the architect Thomas Leverton.[citation needed] In 1777, it was leased to John Goddard, a Rotterdam merchant, whose widow died there in 1814, after which Maitland moved in, dying there in 1831.[1]

William Whitaker Maitland, his son, inherited the property, and leased it to William Cox, and in 1840, to William Morris, father of William Morris the textile designer, poet, and socialist activist, then aged 6.[1] In 1847, his father died unexpectedly, and in 1848, the family moved nearby to the smaller Water House.[1][3][4]

In 1869 the Woodford Hall estate was sold to British Land for redevelopment, but was used as Mrs. Gladstone's convalescent home until 1900, when it was demolished.[1]

In 1902, the Parish Church Memorial Hall was built at the front of the site.[1][5]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Woodford: Manors - British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  2. ^ "Act to enable Christopher Crowe to sell Woodford Hall and certain lands". The National Archives. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  3. ^ "William Morris - Woodford Memorial Hall Heritage Project". woodfordmemorialhallheritageproject.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  4. ^ "The William Morris Society » About William Morris". williammorrissociety.org. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Morris House". www.avonhouseschool.co.uk. Retrieved 23 September 2018.