Exhibitions at Rainham Hall

Layers of History at Rainham Hall

The exhibition reveals and explores aspects of people who have lived in the Hall.  

Focusing on six distinct time periods in the Hall’s 300-year history you will find interactive displays, historical information, film and audio stories as well as historical objects from the times.  

Everything John Harle Left Behind 

The son of a South Shields mariner, John Harle was one of six brothers who came to Rainham in 1728. John acquired the land on which the Hall was built and secured access to a wharf on the nearby Rainham Creek to land his cargo.  We don’t know much about Harle but in recent years a Rainham resident, when at a car boot sale, made an extraordinary connection with a dealer who sourced an original copy of John Harle’s will which she generously donated to the Hall in 2014. The exhibition explores the times he would have lived in and the objects and places he might have come across. 

Victorian Vicar & Curious Curate: Brady at Rainham Hall 

Reverend Nicholas Brady first came to Rainham Hall in 1874 following his appointment as vicar to the ‘out-of-the-way parish’ of Wennington, a small village near Rainham. Nicholas and his wife Emma lived at the heart of Rainham Village until their deaths. Brady was a member of the Cyclists’ Touring Club (now Cycling UK) and both he and Emma were actively involved in setting up schools in all the parishes where he worked, including becoming chair of the Wennington school board responsible for founding Brady Primary School in 1887, still in existence today. 

Restoring the Hall focuses on 1914-1924 when Colonel H.H. Mulliner bought the Hall to restore it. Although he never lived in the Hall, Mulliner altered, added, and upgraded architectural features and rooms. A controversial and eclectic figure, Mulliner was known as 'the man who foretold WW1'.

The Sturges Family owned the Hall from 1924-1942 and used it as a country home away from their main residence in London. During this period, the Hall had local domestic servants and gardeners;  there were village tennis tournaments, and 'enemy aliens' registered here during the second World War.

Remembering the Day Nursery 

In 1942 Rainham Hall was requisitioned by Essex County Council as a day nursery. Many Rainham women were conscripted to work on the land or in local factories to contribute to the war effort. To allow mothers with young children to go out to work, the government set up wartime nurseries. The exhibition includes memories and stories from six local people who remember attending the nursery.

The Denney Edition: celebrating an icon of 20th century design

Anthony Denney (1913-90) is perhaps Rainham Hall's most glamorous former resident. An influential photographer, interior designer and socialite, he lived at the Hall from 1964 to 1969.  Denney was a renaissance man; first studying painting at the Royal College of Art, and later turning to photography, interiors, and art collecting. From 1947, Denney became one of Condé Nast’s chief photographers. His work featured in many influential titles, including House and Garden magazine and advancing to Decorations Editor for British Vogue.