Hall Place and Gardens

Over het museum

Hall Place in Bexley is a Grade I listed country house built in 1537. It is a rare example of its type, with a distinctive checkerboard pattern of flint and stone, a seventeenth-century red-brick courtyard and a plaster ceiling in the Great Chamber from about the same period. Its first two major families, the Champneys and the Austens, shaped the house.

In the eighteenth century the house passed to the Dashwood family. From 1795 it was leased as a school for young gentlemen, and in the 1870s Maitland Dashwood and his architect added a lodge, connected the house to the mains water and installed much of the panelling and parquet. In the early twentieth century a series of short-term tenants followed, the last of whom, Lady Limerick, lived there alone from 1917 to 1943 and added mock-Tudor features.

In January 1944 the US Army Signal Corps took over the house as an intercept station code-named Santa Fe. The Great Hall became a radio room and soldiers intercepted German signals for the Ultra code-breaking operation, passing them on to Bletchley Park.

The gardens were first opened to the public in 1952, and the famous topiary known as the Queen’s Beasts was planted in 1953. The house, now run by the London Borough of Bexley, shows objects from the Bexley Museum collection and can be visited on guided tours.

Hoogtepunten

• Grade I listed Tudor house of 1537
• Exhibition “Codename Santa Fe” about wartime code-breaking
• Tudor/Stuart Discovery Gallery with hands-on displays
• Award-winning gardens with the Queen’s Beasts topiary
• Objects from the Bexley Museum collection

Vaste collectie

• Codename Santa Fe: The Secret Wartime History of Hall Place – This exhibition tells how American soldiers stationed at Hall Place intercepted German radio messages for the Ultra code-breaking operation, using veterans’ memories and declassified files.
• Tudor/Stuart Discovery Gallery – A hands-on gallery about life on the Hall Place estate nearly 500 years ago and the Champneys and Austen families who lived there.
• Bexley Museum collection galleries – Galleries with objects from the Bexley Museum collection dating from prehistoric and Roman times, plus a display about the house during the Second World War.

Beheerder

London Borough of Bexley

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

The gardens, visitor centre, café area and Stables Art Gallery are free to enter. The Historic House can only be visited on a pre-booked guided tour, which costs £10 per person including booking fee and includes the exhibitions. The London Butterfly Gardens and the Jambs Owls Experience in the glasshouses charge separate admission. Group tours need at least 20 people.

Toegankelijkheid

• Rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift
• Aangepast toilet: geen informatie
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

The historic house has two floors with level or ramp access throughout and a lift between the ground and first floors. The glasshouse with the owls is wheelchair accessible. The approach to the house from the Nursery and Visitor Centre is about 100 yards, with seating along the route, and two manual wheelchairs can be borrowed for a refundable £15 deposit if booked in advance. Hard-standing paths in the formal gardens are limited. Large print guides are offered where possible and assistance dogs are welcome throughout.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Gezinsrondleidingen & workshops
• Doe- en voelstations

The Tudor/Stuart Discovery Gallery has hands-on displays with puzzles, dressing up, board games and brass rubbing. Family events and trails take place in the gardens during the year, and the gardens have a miniature railway in the summer.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

By car the site is just off the A2 at the Black Prince interchange, 5 miles from junction 2 of the M25 towards London. Satnav postcode DA5 1PQ.

Service & horeca

• Café
• Restaurant

The Riverside Café is in the visitor centre area, and the Miller and Carter steakhouse operates in the former stables. Toilets are in the visitor centre. Food and drink are not allowed inside the historic house.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

• Ruimtes te huur
• Privéfeesten
• Zakelijke evenementen
• Bruiloften / trouwceremonies

The historic house is offered for weddings, private functions and corporate events.

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