Blake Hall

Blake Hall is a country house within the civil parish of Bobbingworth, to the northwest of Chipping Ongar, in the county Essex, England.

Upon his death, Blake Hall was inheritated his daughter Sibyl, who had married Ingelram de Fiennes.

Eventually, they accumulated considerable debt, which led them to sell Blake Hall to Capel Cure in 1789.

The Capel-Cure family engaged George Basevi - later the architect involved with the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge - in 1822 for further alterations to the house.

[8] George Capel-Cure later commissioned extension to the house in the mid-19th century, with the addition of the third storey and the south wing.

It operated principally as a goods station carrying agricultural produce from the nearby farms into London.

[7] In the early-20th century, the Capel-Cures bought the staircase - which Pevsner dates to c.1698[8] - from Schomberg House, London and fitted it into Blake Hall.

[10][4] Nigel Capel-Cure, a cricketer, restored Blake Hall after it was returned to him by the Ministry of Air Defence.

The central porch - attributed to George Basevi - is of four Doric columns, friezed with Guttae, Triglyphs and Metopes.

[11] In the hall, two Tuscan columns and pilasters form a screen to the staircase - which Pevsner dates to c.1698[8] - from Schomberg House on Pall Mall, London.