Barrington Hall, Essex
Barrington Hall, also known as the Manor of Hatfield Broad Oak in earlier centuries,[1] is an 18th-century English country house in the village of Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex, UK. The hall is built in red brick in both two and three storeys with a balustraded parapet. There are a number of ornamental shaped Dutch gables. The south front of the house has a central block with a centrepiece with carved figures.
![](../I/Barrington_Hall_following_restoration..jpg.webp)
The Hall has been a Grade II listed building since 1975; the listing was updated in 2006 when the building was being used as offices. The summary states "c.1734 and mid C19. Of red brick with stone dressings and rusticated stone quoins".[2]
History
The original manor of Hatfield Broad Oak was bought by Sir Francis Barrington in 1612. The Barringtons were the hereditary woodwards (foresters) of Hatfield Forest. Prior to 1600 the family seat was an earlier Barrington Hall, which once stood on a moated site north of the village of Hatfield Broad Oak.[3] In 1735, John Shales Barrington succeeded his cousin the 5th Baronet Barrington to the estate. He began to build a new Georgian manor but the plan was not concluded until after his death and the house was not occupied on a permanent basis until 1863. After his death, the house was owned by Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington. The Barrington family sold their interest in Hatfield Forest in 1832 to John Archer Houblon after the death of Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington.[4]
In 1863, the Hall was still not occupied; it was inherited by George Alan Lowndes, a distant relative of the Barringtons.[5] (He adopted the surname of Lowndes after inheriting the estate; previously, his patronymic was Clayton.)[6] Lowndes arranged to have it remodeled in a neo-Jacobean style to the design of Edward Browning and lived at Barrington until his death in 1904. The property was then sold to Alfred Gosling (in 1908),[7] whose family held it until selling it to the British Livestock Company in 1977 for use as offices.[8]
The subsequent owner, as of 1980 was Terrence Pickthall who used it for the offices of CPL Aromas Ltd also known as Contemporary Perfumers Ltd.[9] In 2012, the property was offered for sale for £5,000,000[10] and in 2014, it was purchased by a developer, Silvertown Properties.[11] After an extensive restoration it was listed for sale in 2019 with a guide price of £15,000,000 including the 41.25 acres of grounds.[12]
References
- The county families of the United Kingdom Gosling, Alfred Henry
- [https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1097470 BARRINGTON HALL List Entry Number 1097470
- Parishes: Hatfield Broad Oak Pages 158-186
- "The Barrington family". National Trust. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
- Barrington Hall, restored to its former glory
- The Law Times Reports of Cases Decided in the House of Lords 1864, Page 329
- [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol8/pp158-186 Parishes: Hatfield Broad Oak Pages 158-186]]
- A palatial Georgian mansion restored to immaculate condition, where even the cottage in the grounds is a splendid six-bedroom home
- [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol8/pp158-186 Parishes: Hatfield Broad Oak Pages 158-186]]
- Country seats and business headquarters
- Silvertown Properties Ltd
- A palatial Georgian mansion restored to immaculate condition, where even the cottage in the grounds is a splendid six-bedroom home