Gosfield Hall is a

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 peop ...

Gosfield Gosfield is a village in the Braintree district of Essex, England. It is located around two miles west of the town of Halstead. Places of note include the following: * Gosfield Hall: a country house and Grade I listed building, dating back to 15 ...

, near Braintree in

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, 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 Riv ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. It is a Grade I

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 I ...

. The house was built in 1545 by Sir John Wentworth, a member of

Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...

’s household, and hosted royal visits by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

and her grand retinue throughout the middle of the 16th century. John Wentworth,

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

, who died in 1613, left "a splendid inheritance" to his eldest son, Sir John Wentworth, 1st Baronet, who ruined the family through extravagance.

Sir Thomas Millington Sir Thomas Millington FRS (1628 in Newbury – 5 January 1703/04 in Gosfield), the son of Thomas Millington, was an English physician. Greatly respected in his day, he was eulogised by Samuel Garth under the name of ''Machaon'' in his poem "Th ...

was in residence by 1691. He reconstructed the Grand Salon which remained the state banqueting hall for a long time. During the same period he had guest rooms built above the Salon. His crest, a double-headed eagle, may be seen above the central doors on the courtyard side. The mansion was built round a central courtyard, and the west front still has a fine Tudor façade. The east front was remodelled by John Knight after he came into possession in 1715 and again later in the 18th century for

Earl Nugent Earl Nugent was a title the Peerage of Ireland. It was created on 21 July 1776 for Robert Craggs-Nugent, 1st Viscount Clare, with remainder, failing heirs male of his body, to his son-in-law The 3rd Earl Temple and the heirs male of his body. Cra ...

(1702–1788), who also remodelled the south front and created the mile-long lake. The magnificent ballroom was added and the deer park landscaped for the property to become a family home for his son-in-law the

Marquis of Buckingham Duke of Buckingham held with Duke of Chandos, referring to Buckingham, is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of England, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. There have also been earls and marquesses of Buckingham. ...

(1753–1813). Later during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, Gosfield Hall became the home of the Comte de Provence, the future King Louis XVIII, and his wife Marie-Josephine-Louise of Savoy who had fled France to live in exile in grand style, with more than 350 courtiers and staff in attendance from 1807 to 1809. Much restoration work was done by Samuel Courtauld who owned the house between 1854 and 1881. In the early 20th century the house was virtually abandoned, but it was used as a base for troops during the Second World War. More recently, the Hall was owned by the

Country Houses Association The Country Houses Association (CHA) was a British charity (a friendly society with charitable status) that converted country houses into retirement flats and maintained them from 1955 until its liquidation in 2004. History The Country Houses ...

until it went into liquidation in 2003. It is operated as a wedding venue.

References

{{reflist Country houses in Essex Grade I listed buildings in Essex Grade II listed parks and gardens in Essex Grade I listed houses