The history of Hall Place can be traced as far back as 1234. Then La Halle, as it was known, was the manor house of Hurley and owned by John de Hurley.
In 1372, the Hall and its surrounding land were acquired from the de Hurley family by Hurley Priory.When the monasteries were dissolved by Henry VIII in 1536, they were surrendered to the Crown.
From then on, the old manor house was to change hands regularly. In 1690 it
was owned by Jacob Bancks, who was secretary to the Swedish Embassy and
served in the English Navy. It was around this time that the spectacular avenue
of lime trees was planted.
In 1728 the old house was purchased by William East, a lawyer from London, it was pulled down and the present early Georgian mansion was completed by 1735. The house is typical of its period, symmetrical in design with a great statement of personal wealth in the main room of the building, now the William East Room. The room symbolises the marriage of George II’s daughter to the Dutch royal family, a political marriage of two great sea powers of which William obviously approved.
Hall Place remained in the ownership of the East family, later Clayton-East, until the late 1940’s. Sadly the final heir Richard died in the 1930’s; Richard was a Royal Navy pilot and he and his young wife Dorothy, also a qualified pilot, were the basis for the young English aristocratic couple set within the story, The English Patient’.
The Hall and its estate was acquired by the then Berkshire County Council in 1948 as the home for the new Berkshire Institute of Agriculture, now BCA.
Today, the ground floor of Hall Place is used for conferences, functions and weddings. The atmospheric rooms, displaying many of the original features, they make a magnificent setting for any special event.
