Stepping Back Through History At... Debden Hall

Hannah Salisbury from the Essex Record Office reveals the hidden history of Debden Hall and the rise and fall of its various owners

- Hannah Salisbury

DEBDEN HALL was a grand mansion in Debden, near Saffron Walden. It was demolished in 1936, during a period when so many country houses were lost across England.

An early 20th century sale catalogue describes the mansion as, ‘a fine Georgian house’, set in, ‘a grandly timbered old deer park’, with a, ‘beautiful lake stocked with trout’. The house included a fine reception hall, handsome dining room, library, drawing room, billiard room, smoking room, 16 bedrooms and three bathrooms, as well as extensive service rooms and servants’ accommodation, and stabling for 10 horses. All this was set in landscaped gardens and a ‘boldly undulating’ park. The whole estate comprised more than 6,000 acres, including 41 farms.

The careers of the owners who shaped Debden Hall were illustrious and varied. Richard Chiswell, who purchased the house in 1715, made his money as a Turkey merchant, trading with Turkey and the wider Middle East, before becoming director of the Bank of England.