Kelvedon Hall is a country house in the village of

Kelvedon Hatch Kelvedon Hatch is a village in civil parish of Kelvedon Hatch, in the Borough of Brentwood in south Essex, England. It is situated just north of Pilgrims Hatch, approximately to the north of Brentwood and is surrounded by Metropolitan Green ...

, near Brentwood, Essex, England. Originally the site of an important

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

manor, the current house was built in the mid-18th century by a family of

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

landowners, the Wrights, who had bought the manor in 1538. The last of the Wrights to live at the house died in 1838 and it was then let, before being sold to a school. In 1937 the hall was bought by Henry “Chips” Channon, a wealthy Anglophile socialite. Kelvedon appears repeatedly in Channon's diaries, an intimate record of his social and political life from the 1920s to the 1950s. The hall remains the private home of the Channon family. 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 Irel ...

History

In the

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

period, the parish of

comprised three manors of which that centred on Kelvedon Hall was the most important. The manor was held by the Wright family from 1538, but their adherence to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

limited their influence. The present hall was built in 1743 for John Wright, replacing the original manor house. The last Wright owner who lived at the hall was Joseph Wright who died in 1868. The estate was then let to a succession of tenants until it was sold to St Michael's Roman Catholic School in the early 1930s. The school was unsuccessful and the order of nuns in charge converted the hall to an asylum. This was equally unsuccessful, and in the spring of 1937, the house was again put up for sale. In May 1937, the hall was purchased by

Henry "Chips" Channon Sir Henry Channon (7 March 1897 – 7 October 1958), often known as Chips Channon, was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. Channon moved to England in 1920 and became strongly anti-American, feeling that Amer ...

Henry Channon

Henry Channon, generally known as "Chips", was an American-born anglophile who took up residence in England in 1918. Possessed of a substantial inherited fortune of his own, Channon became richer still when he married an heiress, Honor Guinness, daughter of

Rupert Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh Rupert Edward Cecil Lee Guinness, 2nd Earl of Iveagh, (29 March 1874 – 14 September 1967) was an Anglo-Irish businessman, politician, oarsman and philanthropist. Born in London, he was the eldest son of Edward Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh. ...

in 1933. In 1935 he was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for the Essex constituency of

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, a seat previously held by both his father-in-law and his mother-in-law. Channon's political life, in which he never rose above the rank of Parliamentary Private Secretary, was always an adjunct to his social life, at which he excelled. His diaries record his friendships, and affairs, with many of the royals, aristocrats and the merely wealthy who populated the London social scene in the decades prior to

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 opposing ...

and are filled with "accounts of London dinners, luncheons or balls, or long country-house weekend parties". Channon's election as the MP for Southend led to a desire for a country house close to the constituency. Having viewed, and rejected,

Bradwell Lodge Bradwell Lodge is a country house in the village of Bradwell-on-Sea, on the Dengie Peninsula in Essex, England. Originally a Tudor rectory, in the 18th century the house was purchased by the Reverend Sir Henry Bate Dudley. Bate Dudley engaged ...

near

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...

, Channon and his wife settled on Kelvedon, buying it in May 1937. Channon became very attached to the house, his diary entries frequently referring to its dream-like qualities; "Kelvedon is looking a dream of vernal lush beauty". He immediately engaged his friend, Gerald Wellesley, an architect and heir to the Dukedom of Wellington, to undertake renovations. Wellesley, working with his partner Trenwith Wells, made alterations to the house and improvements to the grounds. On Channon's death in 1958, the hall passed to his son

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

. It remains a private residence, and was occupied by Henry Channon, Chips's grandson, until his death in October 2021. It is not open to the public.

Architecture and description

Kelvedon is built to a ''U''-plan, with a three-storey, seven-bay central block linked to two-storey pavilions at either side. The construction material is red brick. In addition to renovating the house, Channon commissioned enhancements to the setting of the house and to the wider estate. Wellesley and Wells built a double entrance lodge, the lodges connected by an archway, while a bathing house was constructed by W. W. Kellner, adjacent to a swimming pool. John Bettley, in his ''Essex'' volume of the '' Pevsner Buildings of England'' series, describes the unusual style of this pool pavilion as "Neo-Austrian-Baroque". Internally, Bettley notes some good interiors in an Adamesque style from the 1780s, a ceiling mural by John Churchill dating from Channon's ownership, and redecoration carried out in the mid-1960s by

David Hicks David Matthew Hicks (born 7 August 1975) is an Australian who attended al-Qaeda's Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan, and met with Osama bin Laden during 2001. He was then detained by the United States in Guantanamo Bay detention camp fro ...

for Channon's son. Kelvedon Hall is a

. The lodges, the

orangery An orangery or orangerie was a room or a dedicated building on the grounds of fashionable residences of Northern Europe from the 17th to the 19th centuries where orange and other fruit trees were protected during the winter, as a very lar ...

and an attached wall, and the stable block are all listed Grade II.

Footnotes

References

Sources

* * * * * {{cite book , last = Nicolson , first = Harold , author-link = Harold Nicolson , editor=

Nigel Nicolson Nigel Nicolson (19 January 1917 – 23 September 2004) was an English writer, publisher and politician. Early life and education Nicolson was the second son of writers Sir Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West; he had an elder brother Ben ...

, title = Diaries and Letters: 1930–1939 , url = https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/855271703 , location = London , publisher =

William Collins, Sons William Collins, Sons (often referred to as Collins) was a Scottish printing and publishing company founded by a Presbyterian schoolmaster, William Collins, in Glasgow in 1819, in partnership with Charles Chalmers, the younger brother of Thomas ...

, year = 1966 , oclc = 874514916 Grade I listed houses Grade I listed buildings in Essex Buildings and structures in the Borough of Brentwood