Sutton House is a Grade II* listed Tudor manor house in Homerton High Street, Hackney, London, England. It is owned by the National Trust.
Originally known as ‘Bryck Place’, Sutton House was built in 1535 by Sir Ralph Sadleir and is the oldest residential building in Hackney. It is a rare example of a red brick building from the Tudor period. Sutton House became home to successive merchants, sea captains, Huguenot silk-weavers, Victorian schoolmistresses and Edwardian clergy. The frontage was modified in the Georgian period, but the heart and core remain an essentially Tudor building. Oak panelled rooms, including a rare ‘linen fold’ room, Tudor windows and carved fireplaces survive intact and an exhibition tells the history of the house and its former occupants.
The name is a misattribution to Thomas Sutton, founder of Charterhouse School, who was another famous Hackney resident in the adjacent Tan House. This residence was demolished in 1806 to allow for the extension of Sutton Place, a terrace of 16 Georgian Houses (Grade II listed).
Sutton House was bought by the National Trust in the 1930s with the proceeds of a bequest. During World War II it was used as a Fire Warden Centre, and wardens watched from the roof for fires. From the 1960s it was tenanted by the ASTMS Union, led by its charismatic general secretary Clive Jenkins. When the union left in the early 1980s, the house fell into disrepair.
In the mid 1980s the building was squatted and used as a music venue and social centre, known as the ‘Blue House’. A decorated wall from this time is preserved within the current museum. After the squatters were evicted the building’s condition continued to decline. An active local campaign was mounted by the Sutton House Society to rescue and open the building to the public. Renovations were completed in 1991. The building remains in use as a museum, as well as a cafe, an art gallery and gift shop.
This Most Haunted episode featured celebrity Lee Ryan.
First Broadcast: 6th March 2007
A self confessed super fan of Most Haunted and editor of GhostMag.com. Matt’s passion for ghost hunting began when he moved into a haunted house in his second year of university in Leicester! His favourite location is the Niddry Street Vaults in Edinburgh.