To the north-west of the town, off the High Street and somewhat apart from the main area of urban activity was the manor house, in the 16th century this became Wivenhoe Hall. The form of the earlier building is not known.

The Hall (TM 0382 2181)
On the north-western side of the town, off High Street, stood Wivenhoe Hall. The hall was brick built and according to Morant, it was a ‘large and elegant seat’, which had ‘a noble gatehouse with towers of great height, that served for a seamark’, probably similar to the gatehouses at St Osyth and Layer Marney. The earliest part of the Hall dates to the 1530’s, and it was probably rebuilt in brick following the restoration of the land to the Earl of Oxford by Henry VII. The hall was demolished in 1927. <1>