Hall Barn

The Historical Background

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The original house was built by Edmund Waller, the poet, some time between 1675 and his death in 1687. As a moderate, he was in trouble with both Royalists and Parliamentarians during the Civil War. He was exiled, and his inspiration for the design of the house may well have come from his association with John Evelyn in Italy and his society connections in Paris and experience of Versailles.

He returned to England in 1651 and probably spent some time recovering from the effects of Parliament’s £10,000 fine before commissioning the building of Hall Barn on land that was originally part of the lands belonging to the Abbey of Burnham but which had come into the hands of the Waller family of Coleshill, near Amersham, during the Reformation.

Edmund Waller’s grandson, Stephen, was considered mainly responsible for employing the landscape architect, Robert Bridgeman, as well as his father-in-law, John Aislabie, to design and lay out the large wood known as the Grove to the south west of the house. This is intersected by formal rides, each ending in a temple, statue or other garden ornament, the most notable of which are the statue of Aesculapeus (Asklepios) to the south west of the lake, the Temple of Venus at the far end of the ride leading away from the ‘Great Canal’ - as the lake was called – and the Obelisk to the west of the Grove, commemorating the Grove’s completion about 1740.

The yew hedges leading from the lake up to the house were probably planted in the seventeenth century and were intended to be trimmed to follow the natural contours of the yews rather than be clipped in a more rigid fashion.

The Oak Lodge at the entrance gate to the park from Beaconsfield is covered with carved wood panels, some of which are said to have been brought from Persia by Sir Gore Ouseley who owned Hall Barn in the early nineteenth century.

Hall Barn as you see it today has been returned as close to the original structure as is thought possible following the removal of nineteenth century additions and alterations. The flanking wing to the north-west of the house, connected by a high, curving brick wall, is thought to have been added as a stable block about 1730, but was converted just after the First World War to a large and attractive living room. The ‘Gothic Temple’ which forms the centre backdrop to the stage area was damaged in the 1990 hurricane and restoration work is to commence later this summer after the last performance of As You Like It.

Hall Barn has been a member of the National Gardens Scheme since 1927 and as such is open to interested members of the public by appointment only.

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