Description

1. BOREHAM NEW HALL AVENUE
5213 New Hall

TL 71SW 5/2 29.12.52.

1

2.
Now the Convent and School of the Cannonesses of the Holy Sepulchre. It is
the surviving wing of a great quadrangular palace built by Henry VIII soon after
1518 and called by him Beaulieu. He rebuilt or enlarged an existing house which
was already an important building, and made a magnificent building which was
one of his favourite residences. Mary Tudor lived here much of the time between
1532 and 1533. In 1573 Elizabeth granted New Hall to Thomas Ratcliffe, Earl
of Sussex, who made considerable alterations and probably largely rebuilt the
north wing which is the present building. In 1622 the Sussex family sold it to
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham for £30,000. Cromwell had it for a short time during the Civil war but sold it. In 1660, at the Restoration, it came
into the possession of George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, who lived here splendidly.
In 1713 his widow sold it to Benjamin Hoare who removed many of the fine fittings
for the new house he built - Boreham House. In 1737 it was sold to John Olmins
Baron Waltham of Philipstoun. He demolished all but the north wing and remodelled
the whole thing into a "gentleman's residence". In 1798 it was bought from his
son for the English Community of the Cannonesses of the Holy Sepulchre (the
nuns had fled from the English house at Liege) a Roman Catholic Order. In 1943
the building suffered extensive bomb damage, but it has since been exactly restored.
There are extensive new additions and alterations.
The present building is of red brick and consists of a long range, formerly
the north side of the quadrangle, with smaller wings at each end and a small
courtyard on the east side with C18 ranges on the east and south. The south
front of the long range has 7 half octagonal 2 storeyed bays each with stone
mullioned and transomed windows with 24 lights in the upper storey and 16 in
the ground storey windows. A parapet with a stone modillion cornice and a moulded
stringcourse continues round each bay. In the centre and between the bays there
is a small stone pilaster rising from the stringcourse and surmounted by a square
pier with a ball finial. The central bay has a Tudor arched doorway in a stone
Roman Doric doorcase With plain columns, triglyph frieze with ornamented metope,
cornice and a carved coat of arms in a panel framed by pilasters, frieze and
cornice. The parapet has a central sundial with a segmental pediment bearing
the date 1660. The west half of this long range was severely damaged in 1943
but it has been very carefully restored. The short wing on the west was probably
rebuilt in the C18 and much of it has been restored to match the rest of the
south front. The east wing has a variety of features dating from the early
Cl6 columns in the basement to the Cl8 wood clock tower on the roof. On the
east side facing the courtyard are some fine original windows to each storey
including the basement, the upper storey windows have 6 lights. The north side
of the long range has been much altered and added to in the C2O, but it still
retains the 7 chimney stacks with 2 and 3 octagonal shafts - all are restored
and some are rebuilt in facsimile. There are large square bay windows of 3
ranges of lights as on the south front, but the other alterations are extensive.
The east courtyard has on the south side a C18 three storeyed range of 6 windows
with segmental heads and a modern covered way with a slate roof on the ground
storey; the east side has a C18 range of 12 windows, double-hung sashes with
glazing bars, in segmental heads. There is a parapet with a small pediment
over a gateway with 2 reset C16 arches and a covered way to the ground storey.
The north side of this courtyard is a C20 building. The interior has few C16
features apart from the basement of the east wing, but there are many C18 features,
especially in the long range which has a central Chapel of the mid C18 and altered
again after 1798, it contains the magnificent carved achievement of arms of
Henry VIII, formerly over his gatehouse.

Listing NGR: TL7346010284

External Links

• Historic England Listing

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)