Copped Hall, Epping, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest:   

The remains of a mid 18th century garden by Edward Conyers and Sir Roger Newdigate, beside late 19th century gardens by Charles Eamer Kempe, set within a 16th century deer park that was extended by Lancelot Brown in the mid 18th century and further developed in the 19th century.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Copped Hall lies close to the towns of Loughton and Epping on the north-west side of the junction between the M25 and the M11. The site occupies about 142 hectares, and enjoys a rural valley setting bounded by farmland to the north, east, and west and by Crown Hill road in Epping Forest to the south. The remains of the Hall stand in a commanding position on the top of a hill, the ground falling away to the west, south, and east, making the Hall visibly from some distance, particularly from the south-east. The M25 cuts across the southern end of the site, dividing the open parkland from the wooded warren on the south boundary.

REFERENCES

J Farmer, The History of ... Waltham Abbey (1735), engraving

Country Life, 28 (29 October 1910), pp 610-616; (5 November 1910), pp 646-653; 34 (15 November 1913), p 688

Gardener's Magazine, (1 January 1916)

Victoria History of the County of Essex V, (1966), pp 122-124

H Colvin and J Harris (eds), The Country Seat (1970), pp 18-29

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), p 221

J Harris, The Artist and the Country House (1979)

N Pevsner and E Radcliffe, The Buildings of England: Essex (1979), p 174

M Binney and A Hills, Elysian Gardens (1979), pp 46-47

R Cassidy, Copped Hall in its Heyday (1986) [pictorial record of house and garden 1906-1917]

M Stavridi, Master of Glass: Charles Eamer Kempe (1988), pp 144-145

R Cassidy, Copped Hall: a short history (1999 edn)

Maps

Copy of a c 1590 estate map of Copped, now hanging in Hatfield House, Herts

Edward John Eyre, Survey of the parish of Epping, 1751 (D/DQ 43/2), (Essex Record Office)

J Chapman and P Andre, A map of the county of Essex from an actual survey ..., 1777 (Essex Record Office)

Draft survey of the estate of Copped Hall, c 1837 (D/DHf P12), (Essex Record Office)

Tithe map for Epping parish, 1840 (D/CT 131), (Essex Record Office)

Tithe map for Waltham Abbey parish, 1842 (D/CT 381), (Essex Record Office)

OS Surveyor's drawings, 1799 (British Library Maps)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1881

2nd edition published 1897

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1870

2nd edition published 1897

3rd edition published 1920

Illustrations

William Watts, engraving of the house in parkland setting, 1781 (Essex Record Office)

Archival items

Documents relating to the period 1740s/50s, including Newdigate sketches are held in the Essex Record Office (D/DW).

Catalogue of documents held in the Huntington Library, California relating to Webster's period of ownership (Essex Record Office: T/A 908/1).

Description written: January 2001

Amended: April 2001

Edited: September 2001