Andrew Crosse conducted a series of experiments with electricity, including the development of large voltaic piles, at the house during his ownership in the early 19th century.

[2][3] The house had been enlarged and extensively remodelled by Andrew Crosse (1704–66), great-uncle of the scientist, who also completed a fashionable Arcadian garden including five linked ponds, a serpentine lake, and additional tree planting.

Among his experiments Crosse erected "an extensive apparatus for examining the electricity of the atmosphere," incorporating at one point an insulated wire some 1.25 miles (2.01 km) long, later shortened to 1,800 feet (550 m), suspended from poles and trees.

[5] Although it was not the largest he built, Henry Minchin Noad's Manual of Electricity describes a battery consisting of 50 jars containing 73 square feet (6.8 m2) of coated surface.

[8] She later married Major General Sir John Charles Ardagh who is buried in Church of St Mary & All Saints, Broomfield churchyard and wrote an account of his life.

[9][10] However the detached music room in which Crosse conducted his experiments survived,[11] along with some of the books and oil paintings by Anthony van Dyck and Peter Paul Rubens.