Early History

There has been a house on the site of Hall Place for untold centuries. A Roman villa, burned down in the fourth century stood four hundred yards downstream from the present building. We do not know if there was any hall or manor house there when Cenwulf, King of Mercia, son of the great Offa, granted Bexley to Wulfred, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 814 or even at the time of the Domesday survey, although the Hall Place Mill may have been one of the three recorded for the village.

The house derives its name from the At-Hall family, who had lived there for many years. A Robert At-Hall is recorded as a juror in the Canterbury assize of 1241. Thomas At-Hall is said to have sold Hall Place to the Shelley family in 1367. One, John Shelley, is recorded as farmer and Reeve of the manor in 1425. He died in 1441 when the farm passed to Thomas Osmer. In 1454 the Shelleys regained their old lands, holding them without interruption for eighty three years. Roger Shelley, who held the farm up until 1509, appears on numerous royal commissions and acted as the Archbishop's General Receiver for Kent responsible for collecting revenues throughout the county. He was succeeded by John Shelley, who bequeathed the by now substantial estate to his son, William, in 1533. With considerable wealth at their disposal, the Shelleys might have built themselves quite a comfortable residence. However, no remnant of this or other earlier houses remains.

The history of the present house begins with the purchase of the estate by Sir John Champneys from the Shelley family. This took place on or about 14 June, 1537 not without controversy. Sir John's will contained provisions warning that John Bere of Dartford might demand payment of a bond in connection with the purchase of William Shelley's lands in Bexley. Sir John had agreed to grant this sum to Bere if he should obtain possession of the Hall Place estate for Sir John through his good offices. However, in the event Sir John was able to negotiate a sale directly with Shelley. The bond was therefore void, but this would not necessarily stop John Bere, he being "knowed to be a man of large conscience".