Did you know Hill Hall is now open for tours?
A magnificent Elizabethan mansion of national importance, Hill Hall in Theydon Mount is now fully restored and its residents well and truly settled in. Built in the 1560s and 70s by Queen Elizabeth’s Secretary of State Sir Thomas Smith (who can be seen - in stone - reclining by the altar in St Michael’s Church), Hill Hall is an outstanding example of early classical architecture, and contains some of the best original wall paintings in the country.
It was gutted by fire in 1969 while being used as a women’s open prison, and stood as a ruin for many years. The exterior was finally restored by English Heritage and the interior converted into apartments by a private developer P J Livesey.
The magnificent galleried Great Hall and the wall paintings rooms are, however, not part of any of the apartments and can be viewed, along with the exteriors and the inner courtyard, on a guided tour. You can learn, too, about the colourful history of some of its owners and occupiers: the young Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford (who some people think really wrote Shakespeare), the bigamous Victorian baronet who had 12 illegitimate children, and, as a prisoner, Christine Keeler. Famous visitors include Percy Grainger, Rudyard Kipling and Queen Mary.
If you would like to book a tour - any number of people from one to 15, on Wednesdays only - please phone English Heritage’s Cambridge office on 01223 582700 and speak to Linda Bannister. Tours, led by Anne Padfield, are free for English Heritage members, £3 for non-members, £2.50 for senior citizens and £1.50 for children.
It’s our own local stately home - find out more about it!