Sutton House has had several names over its 500 year life. The National Trust chose the name in 1950s, believing that Thomas Sutton, founder of Charterhouse School lived here – he didn’t! He lived at Tan House, a separate building that was demolished in the 19th century.

“The Bryk Place”

In 1534–35, the brick house was completed for Ralph Sadler (1507–87) and his family. Sadler, had close ties with Thomas Cromwell and built a home that reflected both his rising status and his wealth.

Its early nickname, ‘the bryk place,’ says a lot—brick was a costly, unusual choice in an age when most homes were timber-framed with wattle-and-daub infill. In other words, this house would have stood out dramatically in the local landscape.

Hilary Mantel wove Sadler into Wolf Hall. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Bookclub in 2013, she described how a visit to Sutton House helped her imagine the period: descending into the basement and seeing small, irregular Tudor bricks—one marked with the print of a dog’s paw made while the clay was still drying, at a time when Thomas More lived and Anne Boleyn was queen. Moments like that, she said, make the past feel vividly present in a way that documents alone can’t.

Merchants, Money, and the East India Company

Sadler sold the house in 1550 to John Machell (1509–1558), a wealthy member of the Clothworker’s Company who used it as a country retreat. Machell’s profits from the textile trade likely funded some of the fine interior panelling still admired today. He became Sheriff of London in 1556, though he died in 1558—just a year shy of becoming Lord Mayor.

Ownership then passed to his widow, Jane Machell (née Luddington) (c.1489–1565), and later to their eldest son, also named John. The younger Machell was far less fortunate in managing his finances. He borrowed money in 1594 from Sir James Deane (c.1545–1608), a draper who in 1599 invested £300 in the newly emerging idea of a joint-stock enterprise—the one that would soon evolve into the East India Company.

When Machell failed to repay him, Deane claimed the house in 1598, triggering a lengthy legal dispute. Things worsened for Machell: in 1606 he was arrested for debt and imprisoned in Southwark for six years, while his wife Ursula continued living at the Hackney property.

Deane died in 1608 and left ‘bryk place’ to his niece, Olive Clark (1572–1624), who lived in Hampshire and almost certainly never occupied the house herself. John Machell the younger died in 1624, ‘worn out with care and grief for his great losses,’ never having succeeded in winning back the property that had meant so much to his family.

In 1627, the house was purchased by Captain John Milward, an East India Company merchant who specialized in luxury goods, particularly silks. Milward decorated the house with rich silk carpets imported from Asia and commissioned murals for the newly built staircase. Hackney, with its clean air and open spaces, was a popular area for East India Company officials and their families. The Milwards were deeply connected to the Company: John’s older brother, Humphrey, was one of its 214 founding members when it received its Royal Charter in 1599, and John’s daughter Elizabeth married Edward Abbott, the son of Sir Maurice Abbott—a former East India Company Governor and brother to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

However, Milward’s fortunes declined after a collapse in silk prices. He was later summoned before the Star Chamber on charges of illegally dyeing silk to sell for profit. At its peak, his stock was valued at around £30,000, but by the time of his death in the early 1640s, it was worth only a tenth of that sum. In 1639, Milward transferred the estate to his son-in-law, Sir Maurice Abbott, and passed away soon after. His son, Thomas, continued to live in the house with his family until his death in 1655.

A Centre for Education

Hackney’s reputation for clean air also made it an attractive location for schools. In 1657, Sarah Freeman (c.1635–1700) leased the house to establish a school for girls, where pupils would have learned embroidery and paper craft. During restoration work in the 1980s, examples of decorative paper-cutting and folding from this period were discovered beneath the floorboards.

In 1751, John Cox (c.1692–1760) acquired the property and divided it into Ivy House and Milford House, altering the façade to reflect its current appearance. Between 1816 and 1837, Milford House operated as a boys’ school under Reverend Thomas Burnett, before becoming a girls’ school in 1837, run by Eliza and William Temple until 1875.

St John-at-Hackney Church Institute

By 1891, the two halves of the building, then called Picton House and Milford House, were reunited to form the St John-at-Hackney Church Institute. Soon after, London County Council declared the building unsafe. A major refurbishment, funded by public appeal, restored the property and added modern facilities, including the Wenlock Barn and rooms for 12–20 residents. Known affectionately as the ‘Tute’, the institute became a hub for young men, offering lectures, debating societies, and Bible study classes.

In 1938, the National Trust acquired the building thanks to a bequest from William Alexander Robertson (1871–1937), made in memory of his two brothers, Norman Cairns Robertson (1876–1917) and Laurance Grant Robertson (1878–1916), both of whom were killed in action during World War I. Their sacrifice, along with William’s generosity, is commemorated by a plaque on the front of the house. The bequest also funded urgent repairs to preserve the building.