Bromley Hall - History

History

The Hall is thought to be the oldest brick house in London and was built by Holy Trinity Priory in the 1490s on the foundations of the 12th century Lower Bramerley Manor. These remain visible today in the cellar. The Hall was seized in 1531 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries (also see English Reformation), then refurbished, for personal use, by Henry VIII with rich tapestries and paintings, the area being a popular retreat from London for hunting. Despite the toll of years, traces of the early decoration remain, including a carved hunting scene, 1490s beams complete with the original leather washers used for hanging the tapestries, Tudor windows and three 15th and 16th century wall paintings.

From the 15th century this was the manor house of Lower Bromley. The building on the corner of Gillender Street was originally thought to be the gatehouse to Bromley Manor, but it has now been established by the Museum of London that it is the main hall itself built between 1482 and 1495. It was the residence of John Blount, father of Elizabeth, who is known to have been one of Henry VIII's mistresses.

Bromley Hall had many subsequent uses, serving as a gunpowder factory during the English Civil War and later as a calico printing works and a residence for wealthy City merchants. William S. Woodin, an entertainer and author who gave a series of monologues at Woodin's Polygraphic Hall, lived at the Manor House, Brunswick Road from 1872 till his death in 1889. During the 1880s it was used by the Regions Beyond Missionary Union to house nurses, and in 1914 it became a paediatric training hospital.