Kelvedon Hall

In the Medieval period, the parish of Kelvedon Hatch 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 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 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.

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 swimming pool and bathing house were designed by William Kellner. James 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…