Spains Hall has been a family home for nearly ten centuries. Named after Hervey de Ispania who held the Estate after the Norman Conquest, Spains Hall has been in continuous occupation by only three families ever since.

The present house dates from the early 15th century when the Estate passed to the Kempe family on the marriage of Margery de Ispania to Nicholas Kempe. The front you see today was built in 1585 and in 1637 the house was beautified by Robert Kempe with Dutch gables and silver leaded drainpipes, the restoration of which won a Heritage award in 1977. Allegedly, Robert Kempe was knighted by Cromwell in front of the house in 1641.

The last of the Kempe male line is said to have been killed by robbers and in 1760 the Estate was purchased by Samuel Ruggles, a clothier from the nearby town of Bocking. His descendents, the Ruggles-Brise family, still live in the house today.