Publisher's Synopsis
Built c. 1575 for a rising Tudor diplomat, (Sir) Ralph Sadleir, Sutton House is a rare survival of a courtier house in the London countryside. At various times the home of wool and silk merchants, girls' and boys' boarding schools, several Huguenot families, a church institute and trades union headquarters, the house has recovered from a period of dereliction and decay in the 1980s to become a thriving cultural amenity and centre for community use. Remodelled externally in the eighteenth century, inside the house retains a wealth of architectural detail from every century. This monograph traces the history of the house from its Tudor beginnings through to the recent restoration by its owners, the National Trust. The book contains a detailed analysis of the documentary and fabric evidence and provides an insight into the changing social condition of Hackney, from a village in the sixteenth century, providing a healthy country retreat for London's rich, to a cosmopolitan inner London borough in the late twentieth century.
