New Hall, Boreham

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Remains of a 17th century garden, remodelled in 1762 by Richard Woods, with 17th century wilderness and approach drive.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

New Hall lies on the eastern edge of the town of Chelmsford in an increasingly urban setting. Boundaries to the north and east are formed by farmland, while to the south and west a modern housing development is in the process of being built (2000). The c 14ha site occupies level ground, screened from its surroundings by small boundary plantations.

ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES

The main approach to New Hall is off White Hart Lane, c 1.4km south-south-west of the Hall. The drive runs north-east, parallel to the railway line for c 450m before turning north to enter the south approach drive, which is lined with a double avenue of lime to the inside and oak to the outside. This drive, now c 800m long, was in place by the beginning of the C16 (Nichols 1828) and at that time extended for 1.4km south of the Hall, lined with four rows of lime. These were felled in 1798 and have since been replanted. The avenue was cut across in 1844 by the Great Eastern Railway and again, more drastically, in the 1970s, by the A12, after which time the isolated south lodges were demolished. The avenue ends c 200m south of the Hall, beside the North Lodge, the drive then leading up to the open forecourt below the south front.

PRINCIPAL BUILDING

New Hall (listed grade I) is the surviving north side of a great quadrangular palace built by Henry VIII in c 1518, incorporating an earlier Tudor building and given the name Beaulieu. It is built of red brick and consists of a long range with seven half-octagonal two-storey bays, and a central Tudor-arched doorway. Smaller wings extend at each end, that to the east including a small courtyard with C18 ranges to south and east. The majority of the king's palace was demolished by John Olmius in 1737, leaving the north wing which he remodelled internally as a gentleman's residence (Muilman 1769). Following the purchase by the Canonesses of the Holy Sepulchre in 1798, progressive extensions and developments have been added. Bomb damage to the western half of the Tudor range was sustained in 1943 but restored in 1946, since when extensive additions and alterations have taken place, including substantial new west and east wings. Just beyond the east courtyard is a free-standing red-brick barn built in the C18 of Tudor brick, which was restored in 1986.

GARDENS AND PLEASURE GROUNDS

The south front of New Hall looks onto a large expanse of lawn, bordered by the main drive and a brick wall to the east beside which stands a very mature cedar of Lebanon. The gardens which lay on the west front are now (2000) converted to a car park beyond which, c 150m west of the Hall, is an area of lawn with mature cedars known as the Cedar Plot which dates from the time of the first Lord Waltham. The western boundary of the Cedar Plot is formed by the east wall of the walled garden. Immediately to the south of the walled garden is the Wilderness, an area of woodland cut through with paths, which includes the private cemetery of the Order. The Wilderness is first mentioned by Evelyn in his diary of 1656 and since garden activity was unlikely to have taken place during the Protectorate, it was probably extant at the beginning of the C17. On the north side of the school buildings, a path through lawns runs parallel to the northern boundary, beside a small spring pond located c 150m north-west of the Hall, at the western end of a ditch. The ditch occupies the site of Richard Woods' pond, which was partially filled in by the Canonesses in 1799 and then drained in the 1890s following an epidemic of diptheria. The path leads behind the buildings to an area of lawn edged by mixed late C20 plantings beyond the eastern wings of the Hall. The lawn is bordered to the east by a curved red-brick wall of unknown date. Beyond this garden and the restored barn, c 150m to the east of the Hall, is a small pool, originally a fishpond, which is shown on the 1777 county map (Chapman and Andre). Lawns on the west bank of the pool link back to the forecourt on the south front.

Open areas of grass flank the entrance forecourt to east and west, c 150m south-west and south-east of the Hall. These are used by the school as sports fields and are shown as unplanted areas of grass on the OS 1st edition 25" map of 1874.

KITCHEN GARDEN

The walled kitchen garden lies c 250m to the west of the Hall. It retains some wall shrubs and a perimeter path although the remainder is covered by hard tennis courts. Immediately beyond the north wall is a mid C20 sports hall and swimming pool. The kitchen garden occupies the site of the Tudor Great Garden although its brickwork appears to be C18.

REFERENCES

P Morant, History of Essex (1768)

P Muilman, A New and Complete History of Essex I, (1771)

J Nichols (ed), Progresses of James I 4, (1828), p 880

J S Brewer, Letters and papers of Henry VIII 3 pt 1, no 2750 (1839)

Country Life, 36 (24 October 1914), pp 550-554

Essex Archaeol Trans NS XIV, (1915-1917), p 96

E S de Beer (ed), The diary of John Evelyn (1959), p 372

J Harvey, Early nurserymen (1975)

M Tinling (ed), Correspondence of the Three William Byrds (1977)

N Pevsner and E Radcliffe, The Buildings of England: Essex (1979), pp 94-95

P Leith-Ross, The John Tradescants (1984)

Garden History XIV, no 2 (1986), pp 114-116

Maps

J Chapman and P Andre, A map of the county of Essex from an actual survey ..., 1777 (Essex Record Office)

Coloured sketch map attached to conveyance of 1799 (T/B 165/25), (Essex Record Office)

Tithe map for Boreham parish, 1838 (D/CT 40B), (Essex Record Office)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1874

2nd edition published 1897

3rd edition published 1924

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1874 2nd edition published 1897

Illustrations

Maggalotti, Drawing, 1669 (copy in Essex Record Office)

James Luttrell, Painting, 1778 (private collection)

James Luttrell, Engraving of north front, showing Woods' pond, 1779 (private collection)

Archival items

Albermarle and Waltham papers (PRO)

Buckingham and Albermarle papers (British Library)

Large deposit of records regarding New Hall at Essex Record Office.

Ground plan and engraving of New Hall (1691) showing banqueting house (copy in Essex Record Office)

Description written: December 2000

Edited: September 2001