Thorndon Hall

Thorndon Hall is a Georgian Palladian country house within Thorndon Park, Ingrave, Essex, England, approximately two miles south of Brentwood and 25 miles (40 km) from central London.

Formerly the country seat of the

medieval deer park, meadows and forest. The garden is designed by Capability Brown

.

Thorndon Hall is

Grade-I listed with English Heritage, and the park is Grade II*-listed.^[1]^[2]

Old Thorndon Hall

The estate of Thorndon Hall, known previously as the manor of West Horndon, can trace its records back to the 1086

crenellate

and embattle the lodge". The current house replaced Old Thorndon Hall which was located about a mile to the south in what is now known as "ruin wood" next to Old Hall pond. The old hall was damaged by fire in the early 18th century and was subsequently pulled down after being used briefly as farm buildings.

The present house was designed by the fashionable neoclassical architect James Paine and construction started in 1764. The portico of the present house was originally commissioned and imported from Italy in 1742 for use on the old hall which had been remodelled by Giacomo Leoni in the Palladian style. Following the fire at the Old Hall, it was kept, and reused in the design of the present house.

The estate and newly finished house was visited in 1778 by

King George III and Queen Charlotte on their visit to see the troops at nearby Warley Common.^[3]

Following a fire in 1878, much of the main house and west wing were gutted leaving a shell and destroying or damaging many of

St. George's Hill in Surrey, but with the introduction of London green belt

legislation limiting house building on farm and parkland, the plan could not go ahead and the company folded.

Garden

The park was landscaped between 1766 and 1772 by

Lancelot 'Capability' Brown

at a cost of £5,000, much of which still survives, albeit merged into the landscaping of Thorndon Park Golf Course. The main driveway extended from what is now Shenfield Common for nearly two miles southwards to the northern face of the house. It can still be traced with maps, although it is now made up of public country parks and golf courses.

The first recorded camellia – a cousin of the tea plant, camellia sinensis – to grow in Great Britain was at Thorndon Hall in the 1730s. Fifteen years later, the camellia was thriving around the country, and by the 19th century country houses were adding camelia houses just to grow the pink flowers.^{[citation needed]}

Recent years

Eventually the golf club acquired the house and grounds, but chose to move out of the main hall and construct its purpose-built clubhouse within the grounds. In 1976, Thorndon Hall was sold to a developer, Thomas Bates & Son, Romford, who converted the mansion sympathetically to luxury apartments and cottages in landscaped surroundings, woodlands and parkland. Parts of the former park had been sold off during the twentieth century for development on the outskirts of Brentwood. Essex County Council manages extensive areas as the public Thorndon Country Park. The nearby Petre family mortuary chapel is now owned by the Historic Chapels Trust.

Nearest places

References

^ Historic England. "Thorndon Hall (Grade I) (1297212)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
^ Historic England. "Thorndon Hall (Grade I) (1000314)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
^ "Brentwood - Thorndon Park". The Red Penguin. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2017.

External links

51°36′N 0°20′E / 51.600°N 0.333°E / 51.600; 0.333

[1] Historic England. "Thorndon Hall (Grade I) (1297212)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 April 2017.

[2] Historic England. "Thorndon Hall (Grade I) (1000314)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 April 2017.

[3] "Brentwood - Thorndon Park". The Red Penguin. 20 May 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2017.

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