Blake Hall is a country house in the parish of Bobbingworth, just north-west of Chipping Ongar in Essex. The house is Grade II* listed and its park and garden are registered Grade II. It is still a family home, and weddings take place in its barns.
The house
The hall was rebuilt in the eighteenth century by the Clarke family. Capel Cure bought it in 1789, and the Capel-Cure family still live there. George Basevi altered the house from 1822, and a third storey and a south wing were added in the mid nineteenth century. Inside is a staircase from around 1698, brought from Schomberg House on Pall Mall.
It has a war history too. The house was an auxiliary hospital in the First World War. In the Second, after RAF North Weald was bombed in September 1940, the airfield's sector operations room moved into the house. It went back to the family in 1948.
The barns
The barns date from the seventeenth century and are hired on an exclusive-use basis. Ceremonies are held in the Hay Barn, which has a large picture window, or outside under the Saddlery canopy. The Essex Barn seats up to 150 for the wedding breakfast and holds 200 in the evening. Around them are wildflower meadows and water.
On the day
St Germain's church sits at the end of the drive, so a church wedding is possible, and guests can walk back to the barns afterwards. Stable Cottage on the estate is there for the wedding night. I filmed Adam and Jahba's wedding at Blake Hall in September 2025, and their film is on this page.
If you are marrying at Blake Hall and want a film of the day, send me your date to check availability.
