Gidea Hall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern extremity of Greater London.
The first record of Gidea Hall is in 1250, and by 1410 it was in the hands on one Robert Chichele.[1] In 1452 Sir Thomas Cooke (c.1410-1478), a Lord Mayor of London, bought the estate[1] and in 1466 was granted a licence to crenellate, which is a licence for the manor house to be fortified. Gidea Hall was forfeit when Cooke was accused of treason, but he was acquitted and the property recovered after payment of a fine.[2] While work on the manor had started in 1466 with the construction of a moat, they were continued by his son Sir Anthony Cooke, one of whose daughters married Sir Nicholas Bacon and came into possession of the Manor of Marks, another large house in the Liberty of Havering.[3] After his return from exile Cooke entertained Queen Elizabeth I at Gidea Hall during her Progress in 1568 when she also visited Copt Hall[4] The final alterations to Gidea Hall were not finished until 1568 at which time the main house and two adjacent wings formed three sides of a courtyard with an open colonnade on the fourth side[5] and various outbuildings. Maria de Medici, the mother-in-law of King Charles I stayed at Gidea Hall in 1638 on her way from Harwich to London, although by then the hall was falling into decay.[6] By the time of the Commonwealth the buildings were ruinous, but were not finally demolished until 1720 when Sir John Eyles had a new mansion built on the site.
In 1783 a book entitled An enquiry by experiment into the properties and effects of the medicinal waters in the County of Essex includes an entry for "Gidea Hall water", describing the source as rising on the "bank of the canal in the park of Richard Benyon, Esq". The canal referred to is now the lake in Raphael Park, which was recorded on the 1888 Ordnance Survey map as Black's Canal after the Black family; a map prepared for Alexander Black in 1807 clearly shows the spring. An investigation into the spring in 1910 recorded that it had "been drained, filled up and turfed about 4 years ago".[7] The later Gidea Hall was of brick.
The Gidea Hall estate was purchased in 1897 by Herbert Raphael, and in 1902 he gave 20 acres (81,000 m2), including a lake, for use as a public park; a further 55 acres (220,000 m2) was subsequently purchased and Raphael Park opened in 1904. In 1910 Raphael and two fellow Liberal MPs formed Gidea Park Ltd with the aim of building a garden suburb, including what became Romford Garden Suburb, on the Gidea Hall and Balgores estates,[8] and during the First World War they offered both properties to the Artists Rifles for use as an Officers' School.[9] The house was demolished in 1930.[10]
The wall, railings and gate from the early 18th century remain and are listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England.[11][12]
^ ab"Parishes: Havering-atte-Bower". British History Online. University of London. 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^Neale, Kenneth (1997). Essex in History (2nd ed.). Chichester: Phillimore. p. 74. ISBN 1-86077-051-7.
^Addison, William (1949). Essex Heyday. London: J.M. Dent & Sons. pp. 52–53.
^Neale, Kenneth (1997). Essex in History (2nd ed.). Chichester: Phillimore. pp. 86, 95. ISBN 1-86077-051-7.
^Davis, Philip. "Gatehouse : The comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of England and Wales". Retrieved 12 June 2008.
^"Romford then & now : Manors and Estates : Royalty". Retrieved 17 June 2008.
^Mason, Dr Stuart A (1975). "Gidea Hall water and its advocate". Romford Record (7). Romford & District Historical Society: 40–43.
^"Romford then & now : Herbert Raphael". Archived from the original on 6 January 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
^"Romford then & now : Manors and Estates : Gidea Hall (postcard)". Retrieved 17 June 2008.
^"Romford then & now : Manors and Estates : Gidea Hall". Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 12 June 2008.
^Historic England, "Sections of boundary wall, railings, gates and gate piers to former Gidea Hall (1079895)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 3 March 2020
^Havering London Borough Council Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine - Walking in Gidea Park - North of Main Road.
GideaHall was a manor house in Gidea Park, the historic parish and Royal liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, whose former area today is part of the north-eastern...
Gidea Park (/ˈɡɪdiə/) is a neighbourhood in the east of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, south-east England. Predominantly an affluent and residential...
Havering. The object of the new suburb, which was built on land belonging to GideaHall, then occupied by the Liberal politician Herbert Raphael, was, according...
Joe Cole – West Ham footballer, grew up in Romford Anthony Cooke – of GideaHall, tutor to Edward VI Jilly Cooper – world famous novelist, born in Romford...
(d. 11 June 1576), son of John Cooke (d. 10 October 1515), esquire, of GideaHall, Essex, and Alice Saunders (d. 1510), daughter and coheiress of William...
Meutas, who married Phillipa, daughter of Richard Cooke (1531-1579) of GideaHall. Their daughter was Jane Cornwallis. Frances Meautas, a Maid of Honour...
Cooke was the only son of John Cooke (died 10 October 1516), esquire, of GideaHall, Essex, and Alice Saunders (died 1510), daughter and coheiress of William...
He was on the way to meet his mother-in-law Marie de' Medici at nearby GideaHall. The close association with monarchy may have affected what happened during...
administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals with manorial tenants...
Raphael Park (pronounced "raff-a-ell”) is a public park in Gidea Park, Romford, in the London Borough of Havering, United Kingdom. It is one of a series...
architect. The object of the new suburb, which was built on land belonging to GideaHall, then occupied by the Liberal Member of parliament, Herbert Raphael, was...
Meautys of West Ham, and Philippe Cooke, daughter of Richard Cooke of GideaHall. She was made a lady of the bedchamber to Anne of Denmark. This appointment...
alternative going through Ilford at Cranbrook Road, then passing near to GideaHall and crossing Romford Common approximately following the route of the current...
1897, he owned GideaHall (demolished 1930) in Essex, which estate consisted of 480 acres (1.9 km2). Later, he lived at Allestree Hall, Derby, where he...
known, it is presumed she was born in or around 1528. Anne was born at GideaHall in Essex, England. She was one of the five daughters of Anthony Cooke...
acquired the 'manor or messuage' of Earls, and held these as part of the GideaHall estate. This continued for 200 years until 1659 after which the properties...
and widow of Sandys Davis. After his return to England, Benyon lived at GideaHall in Essex and Englefield House in Berkshire and married his third wife...
secondly Margaret Cooke (d. 3 August 1558), daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke of GideaHall, Essex. He had no issue by either of his marriages. He left a life interest...
and his wife Elizabeth, third daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke or Coke of GideaHall, Essex. He was educated at Eton, where he formed a lasting friendship...
of William Henry Fellowes, MP, by Emma, daughter of Richard Benyon of GideaHall. Inherited most of the estates of his uncle Richard Benyon De Beauvoir...
Hoby married Elizabeth, the third daughter of Sir Anthony Cooke, of GideaHall, Essex. Elizabeth was a sister-in-law of Lord Burghley and a great friend...
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