HIGH COUNTRY HISTORY GROUP
GREENSTED,
STANFORD RIVERS,
STAPLEFORD TAWNEY & THEYDON MOUNT
Theydon
Mount (Essex)
"Theydon Mount: Thegn's hill - the lordship of a
Saxon Thane"
Webpage devoted to one of our four parishes in the High Country in Essex.
Theydon Mount in 1887.
The following is taken from
‘Durrant’s Handbook For Essex’ written by
Miller Christy (Durrant & Co.,
Chelmsford, 1887).
Theydon Mount. A.1500; P. 148;
Vicarage, value
(with Stapleford Tawney) £750, 3m,. E from Theydon Bois, and
S.E. from Epping.
Hill
Hall, the property, but not now the
residence, of the Smijth family, baronets, is a noble quadrangular
building, of
large size, very massively built, and in the classic style of
architecture,
though part of it dates from 1548. The entrance-hall, dining and
drawing-rooms,
library, &c., are large and lofty apartments, hung with an
extensive series
of old family portraits. That of Sir Thomas Smijth is ascribed to
Titian, and
another of Henry VIII. to Holbein. The view from the S. front is a fine
and
very extensive one, stretching over the well-wooded park to the hills
on the
opposite side of the Roding valley. The mansion was begun by Sir Thomas
Smijth,
who was born at Saffron Walden in 1514. He was one of the most eminent
statesmen and accomplished scholars of his day, and held many important
offices, including that of the secretary of state under Edward VI. and