Copped Hall

Copped Hall
Copped Hall
Built	1751;273 years ago
Original use	House
Listed Building– Grade II
Designated	1984
Reference no.	1337306

Copped Hall
	Centre of east front
	Location within Essex
Established	1995;29 years ago(purchase by a trust and opened to the public)
Location	Epping, Essex; Essex; United Kingdom
Type	General interest museum.; Restoration of historic building.
Collections	Georgian
Chairperson	Alan Cox
Owner	The Copped Hall Trust
Public transit access	Epping+40 minute walk
Nearest car park	On site
Website	Official website

Copped Hall,also known asCopt HallorCopthall,is a mid-18th-centuryEnglish country houseclose toWaltham Abbey, Essex,which has been undergoing restoration since 1999. Today,Copped Hallrefers to the upstanding house, whileCopt HallorCopthallrefer to the olderTudorand earlier houses. Copped Hall is visible from theM25 motorwaybetween junctions 26 and 27.

There was a separateCopped Hall(or Coppeed Hall) inTotteridge,which is not to be confused with this building.

History

Foundation

KingRichard Ibestowed the lands on Richard Fitz Aucher to hold themin fee,and hereditarily of the Abbey.^[1]During the reign ofEdward ICopthall continued in the possession of the Fitz Aucher family^[2]till it came into the hands of the Abbot until theDissolution of the MonasteriesbyKing Henry VIII.

Heyday

Sir Thomas Heneagereceived the estate of Copthall on 13 August 1564 from QueenElizabeth I,where he subsequently built an elaborate mansion. The Queen was a frequent visitor to Essex and she is recorded as having visited Heneage at Copthall in 1575.^[3]His daughter, afterwardsCountess of Winchelsea,sold it to theEarl of Middlesexin the reign ofJames I.From him it passed toCharles Sackville, Earl of Dorset,who sold it in 1701 toSir Thomas Webster, Bt.

Edward Conyerspurchased the estate in 1739, but he only owned the house for three years before dying in 1742. Conyers' sonJohn (1717-1775)inherited the property and considered repairing the original Hall as it had become dilapidated. However, in the end he decided to build a new house on a different site. This was built between 1751 and 1758 after demolishing the old one around 1748.

TheGeorgian house,a large structure set inlandscaped parkland,"has long been celebrated as one of the principal ornament of the country".^[4]^: 26The gardens of the main house have aha-ha(a disguised ditch), which allows animals to approach yet prevents them from entering. It was a good example of the '18th-century house in landscape'. The mansion was placed overlooking two valleys with a third valley to the north. The building was well proportioned, with the chimneys built in a tight geometric arrangement.

The next member of the family to inherit Copped Hall was his son John Conyers (1748-1818), who extensively altered the house.

Decline

His son, Henry John Conyers (1782–1853), was said^{[by whom?]}to be so obsessed with hunting that he neglected the house. He was survived by three daughters. The house was finally sold by the family in 1869. It was bought by George Wythes (1811-1883), who had made his fortune in civil engineering, building railways around the world.

Country Lifemagazine ran two articles on Copped Hall in 1910, illustrated with many photographs.

The main house was gutted in an accidental fire one Sunday morning in 1917 which was caused by an electrical fault.

The Wythes family, who were the then occupiers, moved into Wood House on the estate. Ernest Wythes died in 1949 and his wife died in 1951. Around 1950 the estate was sold, after which followed a period of total neglect, seeDestruction of country houses in 20th-century Britain.The main 18th-century house was first stripped of its more desirable building materials then left to deteriorate. The orangery was blown up as an army training exercise in the 1960s. All the statues in the gardens were sold and removed to other large estate houses; some ended up inAnglesey AbbeyinCambridgeshire.Nineteen stone obelisks were purchased by the renowned diaristSir Henry ‘Chips’ Channonand moved toKelvedon Hallnear,Brentwood,Essex.^[5]A gazebo from the garden was set up in the grounds ofSt Paul's Walden Bury.

In 1995, the derelict shell of the main house was used as a location for the music video forI Can't Be with YoubyThe Cranberries.^[6]

Restoration

In 1995 the Copped Hall Trust acquired the freehold of the house, ancillary buildings and gardens, all of which they are slowly restoring. The house can be visited on certain days, with progress being made to replicate its Georgian décor. The surrounding parkland is now owned by the Conservators ofEpping Forest,theCity of London.

On 27 April 2004Charles, Prince of Wales,accompanied by theLord Lieutenant of Essex,Lord Petre,visited Copped Hall and inspected the restoration work. The Prince opened an exhibition of 18th-century botanical water-colours in the new temporary gallery. These water-colours were painted by Matilda Conyers, the daughter of John Conyers, who built Copped Hall.

The West Essex Archaeology Group (WEAG) hold annual excavations at a site in the Copped Hall grounds.^[7]These largely focus on the earthwork remains of the Tudor house, which predates the standing Georgian house. The digs comprise archaeology weekends for those with little experience, and a five-day field school for the more experienced.

Wood House

Wood House is a 19th-century home on the Copped Hall estate, built in 1895 by Ernest James Wythes. He moved here from the main Copped Hall house when much of the Palladian mansion was destroyed by fire in 1917 and during its rebuilding, though subsequently remaining at Wood House. SingerRod Stewartlived in the property for a number of years before selling it in March 2019 for just over £4 million.^[8]^[9]

Gallery

Copped Hall from the south (December 2006)
View from the west (May 2004)
Closeup of the chimneys (December 2006)
A view of the estate (December 2006)
Closeup of west elevation (May 2004)
South-eastern corner (December 2006)
Remains of the orangery (April 2006)

References

^The Journey from Chester to Londonby Thomas Pennant - 1811
^The History of Essex, From the Earliest Period to the Present TimebyElizabeth Ogborne- 1817
^An Elizabethan Progress: The Queen's Journey to East Anglia, 1578by Zillah M. Dovey
^Cromwell, Thomas (1819).Excursions in the County of Essex.Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown.
^Channon, Chips (8 September 2022).Henry 'Chips' Channon: The Diaries (Volume 3): 1943-57.Random House.ISBN 978-1-5291-5174-9.
^"The Cranberries - I Can't Be With You (Official Music Video)".Archivedfrom the original on 18 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
^"Research".www.weag.org.uk.Retrieved11 July2019.
^"Search Results".landregistry.data.gov.uk.Retrieved31 December2021.
^Wathen, Tommy (28 October 2018)."Inside Rod Stewart's former Essex mansion being sold for almost £5 million".EssexLive.Retrieved31 December2021.

External links

51°41′37″N0°04′04″E/ 51.69361°N 0.06778°E/51.69361; 0.06778

[1] The Journey from Chester to Londonby Thomas Pennant - 1811

[2] The History of Essex, From the Earliest Period to the Present TimebyElizabeth Ogborne- 1817

[3] An Elizabethan Progress: The Queen's Journey to East Anglia, 1578by Zillah M. Dovey

[4] Cromwell, Thomas (1819).Excursions in the County of Essex.Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown.

[5] Channon, Chips (8 September 2022).Henry 'Chips' Channon: The Diaries (Volume 3): 1943-57.Random House.ISBN 978-1-5291-5174-9.

[6] "The Cranberries - I Can't Be With You (Official Music Video)".Archivedfrom the original on 18 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.

[7] "Research".www.weag.org.uk.Retrieved11 July2019.

[8] "Search Results".landregistry.data.gov.uk.Retrieved31 December2021.

[9] Wathen, Tommy (28 October 2018)."Inside Rod Stewart's former Essex mansion being sold for almost £5 million".EssexLive.Retrieved31 December2021.

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