Images: etching of the Copt Hall estate, prior to the eighteenth century; view of long gallery and window detailing; view of the hall from the park in 1746, two years before its demolition, detail of painting by George Lambert, Tate Britain collection; remnant of Elizabethan-era wall, ca. 1560s, of former mansion; current “King Henry’s walk” at Copt Hall property (Photos: Essex record office, http://www.coppedhalltrust.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=12&Itemid=9 and C.A. Stanford, 2019)
Acquired: 1537
Copt Hall, previously held by Waltham Abbey, was given by the abbot to Henry the VIII in 1537 in an attempt to prevent the dissolution of the abbey, which occurred later in 1540. Henry seems to have visited, but never resided for long. His daughter Mary resided there under Edward’s reign, but it was alienated from the Crown under Elizabeth.
The house was rebuilt in later years, but an early drawing from the Tudor period indicates that Copt Hall was a timber-framed structure with tall brick chimneys and buttresses.