Hall Place and Gardens

Hall Place is a historic manor house in the London Borough of Bexley. Built in 1537 for Sir John Champneys, a wealthy merchant and former Lord Mayor of London, the house sits on the A223 Bourne Road. Its outer walls show a distinctive checkerboard pattern of flint and rubble. In 1649 Sir Robert Austen added a red-brick wing, doubling the size and creating a striking contrast between the two parts. The house became a Grade I listed building and Scheduled monument. The house has passed through notable hands. Sir Francis Dashwood, founder of the Hellfire Club, owned it in the 18th century. Later, Maitland Dashwood added wood panelling and parquet flooring in the 1870s. During the Second World War the U.S. Army Signal Corps turned the Great Hall into a radio intercept station. After the war it served as a girls’ technical school and then as Bexley’s Libraries and Museums headquarters. Today the restored house hosts exhibitions and an art gallery in the former stable block. A visitor centre and Riverside Café overlook the River Cray. The 65-hectare gardens include topiary lawns, herb gardens and a tropical butterfly house. The famous Queen’s Beasts topiary was planted for the 1953 coronation. The grounds also feature specimen trees and an owl sanctuary.