About
Hill Hall Open to the public
Tour with English Heritage Guide
Wednesday 1st May 2pm - 3.15pm
Book via 0370 333 1181 - 20 places maximum for this tour
Costs - English Heritage Members Free. Non members £7.00, child (5-17) £3.50, Concessions (students/65+) £6.30
Hill Hall is a Grade 1 Elizabethan mansion featuring some of the earliest external Renaissance architectural detail in the country, and two rare and outstanding sets of 16th century wall paintings of mythical and Biblical subjects, described by experts at the British Museum as the most important survival of Elizabethan decorative figure painting in England. The hall was originally built for Sir Thomas Smith during the reign of Elizabeth I to replace a 12th-century house on the same site. Sir Thomas was Queen Elizabeth's ambassador to France.
The grounds were designed by the great English landscape designer Humphrey Repton.
Within living history, the Hall was a prisoner of War Camp during the second world and more recently a woman's prison until a fire in 1969 when it came under the ownership of English Heritage who restored it to how it is seen today.
Hill Hall has now been divided into private houses, but parts remain open to the public on limited opening days accompanied by a guide. This is a rare opportunity to visit an important house in the Epping Forest District and should be booked directly with English Heritage by calling 0370 333 1181.
