Danbury Place was an

English country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

, first built by

Walter Mildmay Sir Walter Mildmay (bef. 1523 – 31 May 1589) was a statesman who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer to Queen Elizabeth I, and founded Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Origins He was born at Moulsham in Essex, the fourth and youngest son of Th ...

in the time of Elizabeth I, dated to 1589.chelmsford.gov.uk, ''Danbury Planning Framework'', at p. 16
/ref> It is situated on one of the highest points of the county of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. The house was demolished and rebuilt on an adjoining site around 1830, completed as a red brick mansion in 1832. It then became an episcopal palace, as Danbury Palace, in 1845, a use that continued until 1890.

History

Danbury Place was in the Mildmay family until 1673, when John Mildmay died childless. His wife Mary then married Robert Corey,

Archdeacon of Middlesex The Archdeacon of Middlesex is a senior cleric in the Church of England, co-responsible for the Archdeaconry of "Middlesex", which mirrors the "Kensington" episcopal area of the Diocese of London — the other person responsible being the Bish ...

. She died in 1724; of the Corey children, only Elizabeth, who married

William Fytche William Fytche (1716 – 10 August 1753) was an administrator of the English East India Company. He served as President of Bengal in the mid-eighteenth century. He was one of the last administrators before the Battle of Plassey allowed the co ...

, survived to inherit, and Danbury Place passed to the Fytche family. In the next generation, Danbury Place passed in 1750 to William's younger son Thomas Fytche (1706–1777). He had work done on the house by

Isaac Ware Isaac Ware (1704—1766) was an English architect and translator of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Early life Ware was born to a life of poverty, living as a street urchin and working as a chimney sweep, until he was adopted by ...

, who installed a chimney piece. He died without issue, and the house passed to his niece and adopted daughter Elizabeth, daughter of

who briefly was Governor of Bengal. In 1775 she had married

Lewis Disney Lewis Disney Fytche (9 October 1738 – 1822), originally Lewis Disney, often known after his marriage as Disney Fytche, was an English radical and landowner. Early life The son of John Disney of Lincoln, he was brother of John Disney the Unita ...

, who added Fytche to his name. William Huntington mentioned that he once worked there for "Squire Fitch". Lewis Disney Fytche had five daughters with his wife, who died in 1787. The eldest (Frances) Elizabeth married

William Hillary Sir William Hillary, 1st Baronet (4 January 1771 – 5 January 1847) was a British militia officer, author and philanthropist, best known as the founder, in 1824, of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.. Life Hillary's background was Q ...

in 1800, who bought out his father-in-law's interest in the house in 1801, and resided there with his young family. He separated from Elizabeth in 1808, going to the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

to live while she stayed at Danbury Place, until 1823 when her father died. At the time of her own death in 1828 it was let out; Hillary then sold Danbury Place to John Round. Round resided at Danbury Place, having replaced the old house with a new one designed by Thomas Hopper (1832), in a

Tudor Gothic English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

(neo-Elizabethan) style. After 12 years it became an episcopal palace for the

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was foun ...

, with a change of name to Danbury Palace. Danbury Palace was put up for sale in 1892, with a park of 284 acres. It was sold to Seth Taylor, who sold it on to Hugh Hoare. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the house and grounds belonged to John Tyson Wigan, who allowed it to be used as a

maternity hospital A maternity hospital specializes in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. It also provides care for newborn infants, and may act as a centre for clinical training in midwifery and obstetrics. Formerly known as lying-in hospitals, most o ...

. After the war a large part of the park was bought by Essex County Council. The house and other buildings went to Anglia Polytechnic University in 1974, when the Danbury Country Park was created. The house was registered as a

Grade II Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1987. After three decades of use as a conference centre, Danbury Palace was sold by the University (by then Anglia Ruskin). As of 2017 the Palace has been converted into thirteen flats. Danbury Palace - geograph

The Park

Originally Danbury Palace was set in a deer park. By 1758 there were avenues of trees.

Notes

{{Commons category, Danbury Palace Houses completed in 1832 Episcopal palaces in England Danbury, Essex