The VCH records:
'In 1843-8 C.G. Round built the new Birch Hall, to designs by Thomas Hopper, as 'a hand- some mansion in the plain Ionic order' in beautiful grounds south-west of the site of the old Hall, which was still standing in 1846. It was Italianate, ashlar faced with a prominent balustrade and, though the use of the Ionic order was constant, each elevation was different: the seven-bayed north-west front had a portecochère of paired columns, the south-east front a colonnaded verandah along its length, and the six-bayed south-west front was Palladian in inspiration with giant columns broken forward. Attached to the north-east side was a service court and in 1876 a conservatory. Inside, the centre of the house resembled a covered colonnaded court with an imperial staircase. The stable court lay north-east of the house, with to its south a kitchen garden, in which a forcing wall formed the north boundary. The grounds, laid out from 1843, included plantations north-west and north-east of the house, which screened the church and outbuildings, a south- east garden, and open prospects to the west and north-west. The house was demolished in 1954 except for a plain three-bayed, two-storeyed brick wing, which formed part of the service court and in 2000 contained a flat, and a former servants' hall of one tall storey. The stables, to the north-east, have become part of industrial premises and the walls of the kitchen garden survive to the south of them. A late classical style lodge survives at the entrance to the drive, which in 1876 led from crossroads to the north-west. There is another lodge to the south-east and a third on the Maldon road. In the plantation east of the house is a mid 19th-century house, which was two cottages in 2000, with the remains of an Italianate belvedere.'<1>
'Birch: Manors', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 10, Lexden Hundred (Part) Including Dedham, Earls Colne and Wivenhoe, ed. Janet Cooper (London, 2001), pp. 44-46. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol10/pp44-46 [accessed 10 June 2016]

The Hall had three lodges. The North and South Lodges, on Birch Park Road, are both Grade II Listed (NHLE nos. 1337416 and 1306195). There is a third, Whitehorse Lodge, to the west on Maldon Road (recorded as Birch Gate on Chapman & Andre's 1777 map and on the 1st Edition 1:10,000 map (1800). Walls are also Grade II Listed (NHLE no. 1110899).

The site of the Hall has been plotted from the 1st Edition 1:2500 map (1874-1887). The hall and its associated park is marked as a roughly square parcel of land on Chapman & Andre's 1777 map, in the region of c.25ha. There is a lake on the south (east) side of the Hall, formed by damming a tributary of the Roman River at/to the west of Birch Park Road.

The VCH also records:
'The manor of LITTLE BIRCH was held in 1066 by Ulwin, and in 1086 of Robert Gernon by Robert de Verley. Robert Gernon's fief escheated to the Crown, and Henry I granted it to William de Munfitchet. On Richard Munfitchet's death without issue in 1267, the overlordship passed to Evelyn (d.1274), daughter of William de Forz count of Aumale, and wife of Edmund earl of Lancaster, who also died without issue, and from whom, presumably, the overlordship came to the de Vere family, earls of Oxford, as part of the honor of Castle Hedingham. The overlordship continued in the de Vere family and was last recorded in the 18th century.'
'The undertenancy was held in 1276 by Robert Verley, and from 1325 or earlier by the Tendring family. (fn. 18) William Tendring (1435-90) was M.P. for Maldon in 1478. William Tendring (d. c.1500) had two daughters, Margaret and Dorothy: Margaret's husband Robert Forster (d.1545) acquired three quarters of the manor and in 1514 bought the remaining quarter from Dorothy, then Dorothy Southwell. Robert's heir was his son George Forster (d.1556). Little Birch descended with Great Birch and Easthorpe manors until 1598 when Arthur Golding sold it to John Petre, Lord Petre. In 1605 John settled it on his son Thomas, who sold it in 1608 to Sir John Swinnerton (d.1616), lord mayor of London 1612, and the manor descended with Stanway until 1631, when Thomas Swinnerton retained it. (fn. 22) Thomas was succeeded by his son John, who died without issue, then by his daughter Thomasin (d.1697), and her second husband John Hopwood. Hopwood sold the manor in 1724 to James Round (d.1745). James was succeeded by his nephew, William Round (d.1772), and then by William's son James (d. 1806), M.P. and J.P. The succession continued through James's son James (d. 1809), that James's brother Charles (d.1834), Charles's son Charles Gray Round (d.1867), M.P. 1837-47, recorder of Colchester. Charles Gray Round was succeeded by his nephew, James Round (1842-1916), M.P., J.P., and Essex county council alderman. The estate then passed to Lt. Col. C.J. Round (1886- 1945), J.P., and his son Lt. Col. J. G. Round (1913-97), who had three daughters.
Little Birch Hall, the manor house in 1605, was said to have been built mainly by the Tendring and Golding families. In 1727-8 James Round (d.1745) rebuilt it 'in a handsome manner' and his nephew William made further improvements. The 18th-century house was of two storeys with dormer windows behind a plain parapet. The east and west facades were each of seven bays, with the centre three bays broken out under a pediment. On the west front the end bays had full-height canted bay windows. In 1777 there was a garden divided into symmetrical plots to the east, and by 1800 outbuildings between house and church, orchards south of the church, a plantation north of the house, and a ha-ha west of it.<1>

There is a black & white line drawing of the Hall c.1772 in the VCH.
A photograph of the Hall, demolished in 1954, can be found on the following website: http://www.lostheritage.org.uk/houses/lh_essex_birchhall_info_gallery.html [accessed 10 June 2016]