Recorded history at Copped Hall starts in the 12th century when there was already a substantial building on the site. At that time Copped Hall belonged to the Fitzaucher family who served the King as huntsmen.
In 1303 the Copped Hall Estate consisted of 180 acres - comprising parkland, arable land and meadow land. In 1337 Copped Hall came into the hands of Sir John Shardlow who conveyed it to the Abbots of Waltham in 1350 in exchange for other lands.
The Abbots described Copped Hall as "a mansion of pleasure and privacy". They were granted leave by Edward III in 1374 to extend the park by a further 120 acres on the Epping side.
In 1537 the Abbot gave Copped Hall to Henry VIII in the vain hope of saving Waltham Abbey from being dissolved. This failed to appease Henry and the Abbey was dissolved in 1540.
Henry VIII visited Copped Hall but never lived there. In 1548 his son Edward VI allowed the future Queen Mary to live at Copped Hall where she remained - to a large degree - a prisoner, as she was a Catholic.
When Mary became Queen in 1533, Copped Hall was leased to Sir Thomas Cornwallis. In 1558 it was transferred to the Duchy of Lancaster. In 1564 Queen Elizabeth granted Copped Hall to one of her closest friends - Sir Thomas Heneage.
There is only one vague drawing indicating what the Copped Hall of this period might have looked like and this shows a row of roof gables. The mansion would have been altered and rebuilt over the centuries. It would have started off as a timber framed building but would later have acquired tall brick chimneys. The external walls of the principal parts would probably have also been rebuilt of brick with buttresses.
In 1564 Queen Elizabeth I granted Copped Hall to her close friend - Sir. Thomas Heneage. Almost immediately he started to rebuild the mansion - incorporating part of the old house in the south-west corner. The building was complete by 1568 when Queen Elizabeth came to stay.
Sir. Thomas Heneage occupied high office - including Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household. In 1594, after his wife's death, he married the Countess of Southampton. Shakespeare's 'A. Midsummer's Nights Dream' was almost certainly written for their wedding celebrations and was first performed at Copped Hall in the long gallery after the wedding ceremony in London.
Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex, acquired Copped Hall from the daughter of Sir Thomas Heneage in 1623. Cranfield became the Lord High Treasurer of England but was disgraced and lived in retirement at Copped Hall until his death in 1645. While at Copped Hall he filled the house with treasures and extensively cultivated the garden.
Lionel Cranfield's two sons (the 2nd and 3rd Earls of Middlesex) followed as owners of Copped Hall. The 3rd Earl was one of the six persons sent to the Hague to invite King Charles 11 to return home. The 2nd and 3rd Earls' sister, Frances, married Richard Sackville 5th Earl of Dorset. Their son Charles (8th Earl of Dorset) inherited Copped Hall 1674. He sold the hall in1701 to Sir Thomas Webster and took the best of the contents to Knole, near Sevenoaks - where they can be seen to this day.
Sir Thomas Webster owned Copped Hall from 1701 to 1738 but spent most of his time at his main house in Sussex. It seems that Copped Hall became rather dilapidated during his ownership. The foundations started to give way in one part and a hurricane damaged other parts. In 1739 the estate was sold to Edward Conyers whose son, John, demolished the mansion in 1752.
In 1739 Edward Conyers purchased the Elizabethan Copped Hall from Sir Thomas Webster who had owned it since 1701. Edward Conyers only enjoyed the house for three years before dying in 1742.
Edward Conyers son, John, inherited the property and considered repairing it as it had become dilapidated.
However, John Conyers moved in cultural circles and wanted to express the latest architectural ideas of the day, which were incompatible with living in the old house. Plans for a Palladian mansion were drawn up by his architect - John Sanderson. Assisting with these ideas were Sir Roger Newdigate and another architect - Thomas Prowse. Very grand proposals were produced a main block with a vast dome, a portico and attached curved colonnades leading to symmetrical pavilions. In the end only the main block was built - on a different site to the Elizabethan mansion. It was completed by 1758. Fragments of the Elizabethan house were retained and a rock garden was created in part of the cellars.
In 1775 John Conyers died and his son, John, commissioned the architect James Wyatt to make internal changes to the mansion. These changes did not improve the architecture and largely comprised of sub-dividing the rooms. James Wyatt did, however, design the southern gatehouses and screen, which are very satisfactory.
During the first part of the 19th century Copped Hall was little altered, its occupant, Henry Conyers (1782-1853) being more concerned with enjoying the place than improvements. His daughters did not appear to carry out any improvements before the estate was sold to George Wythes in 1869.
George Wythes (1811-1883) was an extremely wealthy man who had made his fortune in the construction of railways and as a developer. George Wythes never lived at Copped Hall, but bought the estate for his only son George (1839-1875) who lived there until his early death. During this time the mansion was given a new wing to the north to accommodate the rapidly expanding sophistication of the service requirements of a large house.
After George Wythes junior died, his two young sons went to live with their grandfather at Bickley Park near Bromley and Copped Hall was let for a period to a Mr.Burns. In 1887, four years after their grandfather had died, the elder of these two sons (George Wythes 1867-1887) also died aged 19 - so when the younger son (Ernest Wythes (b 1868) inherited he came into two fortunes - his own and his older brother's.
Ernest Wythes started spending immediately. In 1890 he commissioned one of the largest yachts in the Royal Yacht Squadron in which he sailed round the world. In 1894 he married a member of the aristocracy - Aline Thorold (b 1869). His half-sister married the 4th Marquess of Bristol. Copped Hall simply was not grand enough and from 1893 Ernest Wythes set about making substantial improvements.
By 1900 there were at least 31 gardeners and 27 house servants looking after the Copped Hall - together with all the farm workers. The Wythes were only at Copped Hall for part of the year. The rest of the time they were either at their house in London, in Scotland or abroad. When the family was not in residence the servants would clean the house and workmen would carry out building works.
The First World War changed life at Copped Hall. Many servants went off to the war - and did not come back. The land girls helped in the gardens and wounded soldiers were looked after by the family - especially Ernest Wythes' three daughters. The family used to watch the zeppelins over London from the roof of Copped Hall.
During the war, in 1917, the main eighteenth century block of Copped Hall was largely burnt out in a disastrous fire one Sunday morning. Much of the contents were destroyed, and the family killed. The site was sold by their estate to Epping Borough Council.