New Hall

New Hall is the surviving wing of a great quadrangular palace built by Henry VIII shortly after 1518, originally called Beaulieu. The king rebuilt or enlarged an existing important building to create a magnificent residence that became one of his favoured palaces. Mary Tudor lived here for much of 1532 and 1533. In 1573 Elizabeth granted New Hall to Thomas Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex, who made considerable alterations and probably largely rebuilt the north wing, which is the present main building. In 1622 the Sussex family sold it to George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham for £30,000. During the Civil War Cromwell held it briefly before selling it. At the Restoration in 1660, it came into the possession of George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, who lived here splendidly. In 1713 his widow sold it to Benjamin Hoare, who removed many fine fittings for his new house, Boreham House. In 1737 it was sold to John Olmins, Baron Waltham of Philipstoun, who demolished all but the north wing and remodelled it into a gentleman's residence. In 1798 it was bought by the English Community of the Cannonesses of the Holy Sepulchre, a Roman Catholic order whose nuns had fled their house at Liege. The building now serves as their convent and school.

The present building is constructed of red brick and comprises a long range, formerly the north side of the original quadrangle, with smaller wings at each end and a small courtyard on the east side flanked by 18th-century ranges.

The south front of the long range features seven half-octagonal two-storeyed bays, each with stone mullioned and transomed windows containing 24 lights in the upper storey and 16 in the ground storey. A parapet with a stone modillion cornice and moulded stringcourse runs round each bay. Between and at the centre of the bays stand small stone pilasters rising from the stringcourse and surmounted by square piers with ball finials. The central bay contains a Tudor arched doorway set within a stone Roman Doric doorcase with plain columns, triglyph frieze with ornamented metope, cornice, and a carved coat of arms in a panel framed by pilasters, frieze and cornice. The parapet features a central sundial with a segmental pediment bearing the date 1660. The west half of this long range suffered severe bomb damage in 1943 but has been very carefully restored. The short wing on the west was probably rebuilt in the 18th century and much of it has been restored to match the south front. The east wing displays features ranging from early 16th-century columns in the basement to an 18th-century wood clock tower on the roof. Facing the courtyard on the east side are fine original windows to each storey including the basement; upper storey windows contain 6 lights. The north side of the long range has been much altered and added to in the 20th century, but retains seven chimney stacks with two and three octagonal shafts, all restored and some rebuilt in facsimile. Large square bay windows with three ranges of lights mirror those on the south front, though other alterations are extensive.

The east courtyard has on its south side an 18th-century three-storeyed range of six windows with segmental heads and a modern covered way with a slate roof on the ground storey. The east side contains an 18th-century range of twelve windows, double-hung sashes with glazing bars set in segmental heads, beneath a parapet with a small pediment over a gateway featuring two reset 16th-century arches and a covered way to the ground storey. The north side of this courtyard is a 20th-century building.

The interior contains few 16th-century features apart from the basement of the east wing, but displays many 18th-century features, particularly in the long range. A central chapel of mid-18th-century date, altered again after 1798, contains the magnificent carved achievement of arms of Henry VIII, formerly positioned above his gatehouse. The building suffered extensive bomb damage in 1943 but has since been exactly restored, with extensive new additions and alterations carried out.