History of Down Hall

1624:
The house remained within the Glascock family until, with no male heir, the house was passed to Elizabeth, who married a Ballet and where it remained until the sale in 1720 to Matthew Prior.

In June 1720, Matthew Prior bought Down Hall from John Ballet for £2,800 with money given to him generously by his friend Edward Harley. Prior's friends also included a brilliant circle of writers, scholars and artists including the architect James Gibbs, the landscape gardener Charles Bridgeman and the painter Sir James Thornhill.

Charles Bridgeman began landscaping the grounds, whilst James Gibbs created designs for a complete remodeling of the existing house and also for a new house with a villa type design however only some remodeling of the Tudor house was undertaken.
Priors achievements where hindered by ill health and at just 57 years old he died. His body taken to London for burial in Poets Corner at Westminster Abbey

1721:
Accordance to agreements made before Prior's purchase, the house then passed to Edward Harley (2nd Earl of Oxford) during which time remodeling of the old house continued; although still uncompleted with the passing of Harley at just 52 years old.

1742:
Heavily mortgaged, Down Hall was sold by Harley's widow to a wealthy silk merchant, William Selwin for £4,500. He established himself as a country landowner, enlarging the estate by acquiring farms and other estates in the neighborhood which was continued by his successors for 150 years.

1768:
William Selwin's death, predeceased by his wife and eldest son, meant that Down Hall and its neighboring properties were left to his eldest surviving son Charles, a banker.

Most of the main building works can be attributed to him, which at last brought about the total transformation of Down Hall, by the addition of a large new house to the existing house nearing completion in 1777.

1794:
Charles Selwin dies and is buried in the family vault at Hatfield Broad Oak as his father had been. The house was left to his younger brother, Thomas, now aged 70 and showing signs of senility. Unable to look after his affairs, things were put into the hands of his sister Jane Caygill and her daughter, Lady Jane Ibbetson.

1798:
Thomas Selwin dies and Jane Caygill inherited Down Hall as a 76 year old widow. Already elderly and blind Jane was joined by her daughter at Down Hall where she remained for the rest of her life, inheriting the estate on her mother's death. Her main interests were furnishings and gardens, carrying out major landscaping works.

1816:
Lady Jane's second son Charles inherited Down Hall on her death and was required to change his name to Selwin. His ownership was brief as his elder brother died in 1825 and he inherited the title returning to the Ibbetson family seat in Yorkshire.
John Thomas, the last of Lady Jane's sons inherited Down Hall. He married and led the life of a country gentleman, travelling throughout the world collecting works of art and furnishings, sadly many of which perished in a fire in the later twentieth century.

1861:
John's nephew the 5th baronet, another Charles, died childless and John Thomas Selwin, now aged 76 years and widowed for three years, succeeded him as the 6th baronet. He would from this point onwards link the Ibbetson and Selwin names by styling himself as Sir John Ibbetson-Selwin. He remained at Down Hall with his son and heir, Henry, until his death aged 84 years in 1869.

1869:
Down Hall's new owner, Sir Henry Selwin, embarked on a career in politics, entering parliament in 1865 and sat as a Conservative representing the area of South West Essex. With the recent remarriage to a widow who was wealthy in her own right, his inheritance of the Ibbetsons title in 1869 led to the opportunity for the rebuilding of Down Hall, which was completed in 1873. Newly rebuilt it became the setting for balls, musical soirees, grand receptions and political entertaining.

1892:
Sir Henry Selwin Ibbetson was raised to the peerage by Lord Salisbury and took the title of Rookwood for the local Rookwood Hall. In 1899 after 32 years of marriage, Lady Rookwood died at their London home, her ashes were brought to Down Hall and buried in the family vault at Hatfield Broad Oak.

1902:
Lord Rookwood died childless, the Ibbetson title and his own peerage became extinct. He left Down Hall to his nephews John and Horace Calverley, the sons of his sister Isabella Calverley.

1914 - 1918:
Down Hall became a convalescent home for wounded soldiers. After the war, the house returned to family use, the effects of recession in farming were evident and in 1920 the estate was broken up with all but the immediate land sold at auction. The Down Hall estate, which the Selwins and their descendents had spent 150 years enlarging, reaching 3000 acres in six parishes in Lord Rookwood's time, reverted roughly to 100 acres as it had been in 1720.
1929:
Horace Calverley died and Down Hall was sold, the house would never be a family residence again.

1932:
Down Hall began a new life as a school, Downham School, and continued as such until 1960's. When it was sold the estate was further reduced in size by the sale of the neighbouring buildings and portions of land.

1967:
Down hall became an Antiques Business and Conference Centre.

1986:
Sold again and purchased by the Veladail Group, who continue to operate Down Hall as a Country House Hotel, combining business with pleasure.