Greetings Zoe,

When you called a couple weeks ago -- from Jolly Old England -- we were reminiscing about our spontaneous visit to Spains Hall and how godcidently Sir John was home and gave us a tour of the house and grounds. That was 23 years ago -- on July 4th, 2001.

You told me, which I didn't know, that Jamie Oliver, the TV chef, had bought Spains Hall and was living there, which surprised me totally because the house had been in my father's mother's family for centuries and it had never occurred to me that it would one day be sold. Here's a 1960 news clipping from an album I created years ago about SPAINS HALL:

"Celebrations commemorating the 200th anniversary of the ownership of Spains Hall, Finchingfield, by the Ruggles-Brise family were held at the Hall on Saturday. Visitors were shown round the beautiful mansion home, at present occupied by the Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Colonel Sir John Ruggles-Brise, and also saw an exhibition of old dresses, deeds and documents mainly connected with the family and the estate. Spains Hall was first bought by the Ruggles-Brise family in 1760 from Lady Swinnerton Dyer. It was purchased by Mr Ruggles, of Bocking, who was very fond of racing at Newmarket. Throughout the whole history of the ancient mansion, only 2 families have ever lived there. The place was built by the Dyer family in 1580..."

To confirm that what you said was true -- about Spains Hall being sold -- I googled and sure enough, you were right. Jamie Oliver bought the estate almost five years ago, in 2019. Here's news coverage and fascinating history about which I'd heard only snippets before.

"...Spains Hall, which sits on a 70-acre estate, has 12 bedrooms, 10 bathrooms, 2 drawing rooms, and a great hall. Outside, there is a heated swimming pool, an all weather tennis court and a 2-storey folly. The house is also rumoured to be haunted, with a rocking horse in the top-floor nursery that rocks and creaks in the night..."

"Celebrity TV chef Jamie Oliver's Essex home was once at the centre of a 150-year sunken treasure mystery. The star lives in a Grade-I listed mansion in the Essex village of Finchingfield, near Braintree -- and the property has a fascinating past. Spains Hall came with a price tag of 6-million pounds when it was put up for sale in 2016 for the first time in 250 years. The grand mansion house dates back to the Norman Conquest when Hervey de Ispania had three homes built in the area to house his three mistresses. It was originally built in 1570 -- and 700 years later, it became a target for raiders who wanted to get their hands on some of its silver.

"At the time, the property was occupied by William Kempe, who remodelled the house on buying it in 1585, according to Historic England. Kempe is said to have taken a seven-year vow of silence as self-punishment for wrongly accusing his wife of having an affair. And legend has it that while in a nearby town one night, he overheard a plot to burgle Spains Hall. He wrote a note warning his family, which he gave to his servant to take back to the hall. However the ink washed away in the rain and by the time the servant returned the note was illegible. The warning not heeded, the robbers were able to carry out their raid, escaping with silver, plates and cutlery. But in a bizarre twist to the whole affair, their getaway cart became stuck in mud. They threw their loot into a lake on the estate for safekeeping. And it wasn't until 150 years later when the lake was drained that the stolen items were recovered. They were then cleaned up and put on display in the house. While it isn't known whether the Olivers have taken on the treasures, Jamie, wife Jools and their five children certainly have plenty in the property to keep them busy....

"Before being bought by the Olivers, the mansion had been owned by the same aristocratic family since the 1700s. When it went on the market in 2016, Archie Ruggles-Brise, 36, told the Express: "The estate is mentioned in the Doomsday Book but the oldest part of the existing house dates to 1410 with bits added to it in the 16th and 17th centuries. "My ancestor Thomas Ruggles bought the hall in 1760. He was a clothier from Braintree. I am the 10th generation to have owned the property but now is the right time to move the estate on again. I don't really see my own future at the house and it is probably time to give it to someone with deeper pockets". Mark Rimell, from Strutt and Parker, said when the home went on the market in 2016 that the "beautifully restored" house "oozes history but also makes a lovely family home". And Jamie Oliver isn't the first famous resident of Finchingfield. Author Dodie Smith -- whose books include The Hundred and One Dalmations -- also lived and was buried there."

My father's parents emigrated to Canada in the early 1900s to take advantage of home-steading land in the prairies -- pioneers and colonizers building and populating the nation. My father was born on the farm in 1925. When in their late 70s Granny and Grandad flew to England for a visit. My grandmother wrote and illustrated a book, pages of which are scanned and transcribed below, describing their visit to Spains Hall:

"...Wednesday, June 17th... We went to my old house Spains, where my nephew John Ruggles-Brise lives. He sent his Bentley to take us and bring us back to London. We enjoyed the ride through the Essex countryside and seeing the lovely village of Finchingfield again. John gave us lunch and took us all round the old house and gardens and we saw many of the familiar haunts. He had kept the place in wonderfully good condition and it is very modernized since I lived there! The roses were all out in my Mother's rose garden and there is a very good gardener who has revived the vines in one of the greenhouses. In another greenhouse he has managed to make bourganvillia to grow all over it. The roots were brought from Kenya by my niece Violet who used to live there. The flowers were a beautiful sight of pink and blue and yellow. Just as we were leaving two girls from the B.B.C. came to get information from John about the Kempe Legend of the seven ponds made by Thomas Kempe after making a vow that he would not speak for seven years, as he had sworn at his wife. There is still one of the lakes left in the park. We treated ourselves to dinner at the Russell Hotel when we got back to London."

When you and I visited Spains Hall in July 2001 I had Granny's book in mind as we toured the house and grounds. And Sir John, while we were sitting in the library, told us stories about his trip to Canada in the 1920s where he visited his aunt (my grandmother, his father's sister) at the farm. You were so impressed by Sir John's aristocratic elegance and blown away by his silk socks -- which you laugh about to this day!

Here are the photos I told you I'd dig out and send. They have new significance now that we know more of the history of Spains Hall.

After we left Spains Hall in Essex (it having been arranged by my cousin Tim, the inheritor of Spains) we drove in your little red Mini Cooper to Hazells Hall, my father's father's ancestral home in Bedfordshire -- about which I'll send photos later.

Thanks so much for making the call so we could reminisce the fun visits we've had over the years since meeting "down under" in the early 70s (our early 20s).

Tons of love,
Jackie, August 12, 2024

The day before you and I went to Spains & Hazells Halls we went to London VISITING PRINCESS DIANA'S PLACES. There's you dwarfed by massive Westminster Abbey

cont'd at SPAINS & HAZELLS HALLS 2004 VISITS