Woodford Hall was a large house in

Woodford, Essex Woodford is a town in East London, within the London Borough of Redbridge. It is located north-east of Charing Cross. Woodford historically formed an ancient parish in the county of Essex. It contained a string of agrarian villages and was pa ...

, with 50 acres of land adjacent to

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

. In 1707, Sir Richard Child sold the Hall to Christopher Crowe, who sold it to William Hunt in 1728, having obtained a private Act of Parliament. It remained in the Hunt family until 1801, when it was sold to the politician John Maitland. It was built or rebuilt in 1775 by the architect

Thomas Leverton Thomas Leverton (c.1743 – 23 September 1824) was an English architect. Life He was born in Waltham Abbey, Essex, where he was baptised on 11 June 1743, the son of the builder Lancelot Leverton. Having learned his father's trade he acquired th ...

. In 1777, it was leased to John Goddard, a Rotterdam merchant, whose widow died there in 1814, after which Maitland moved in, dying there in 1831.

William Whitaker Maitland William Whitaker Maitland (1794-1861) was a British landowner, and High Sheriff of Essex in 1836. He was the son of John Maitland, politician and landowner. He inherited Woodford Hall, a large house in Woodford, Essex, with 50 acres of land ad ...

, his son, inherited the property, and leased it to William Cox, and in 1840, to William Morris, father of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

the textile designer, poet, and socialist activist, then aged 6. In 1847, his father died unexpectedly, and in 1848, the family moved nearby to the smaller

Water House The Water House is one of the few remaining residential buildings that showcases Brazilian architectural style in Nigeria. The building is located in Kakawa street, downtown Lagos, Lagos Island and built in the 19th century during the era of the La ...

. In 1869 the Woodford Hall estate was sold to

British Land The British Land Company plc is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the UK in January 2007. It is headquartered in ...

for redevelopment, but was used as Mrs. Gladstone's convalescent home until 1900, when it was demolished. In 1902, the Parish Church Memorial Hall was built at the front of the site.

References

{{Reflist Country houses in Essex Country houses in London Demolished buildings and structures in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1900