Your chance to get a little piece of Orsett Hall!

RESIDENTS and visitors to Essex who have enjoyed a stay or function experience at the Orsett Hall Hotel over recent decades have the chance to buy up a memento of the hotel in a forthcoming online auction.

In November last year it was announced the prestige local venue which has 57 bedrooms and multiple function facilities, had been sold to Hiddenwell, which is planning to turn the business into a destination spa resort hotel.

The current hotel building rose from the ashes of a disastrous fire in 2007, with a significantly increased capacity.

Prior to the fire the hall was a smaller bijou-style hotel, converted from the 17th-century Grade II listed building which was the historical family home of the Whitmore family, who refurbished it in the early 20th century.

In 1961, Sir John Whitmore competed in his first ever British Saloon Car Championship, and won it by a landslide in his Mini Minor.

The Whitmores were a family steeped in military tradition, led by Col Sir Francis Whitmore, who was given a baronetcy, which was inherited by his son Sir John Whitmore, who became a noted British racing driver.

The family sold the house in 1968 and it was later converted to a 'high end' hotel, becoming a popular wedding venue and home to many fundraising events organised by local organisations and charities.

Carrying on the racing tradition set by Sir John, international racing drivers stayed at Orsett Hall while competing in the British Grand Prix at venues like Brands Hatch and Silverstone – flying by helicopter from the hotel grounds.

After the fire and rebuilding, the hotel became a popular venue for celebrities – either to stay while they worked in London – or to host events.

In 2011 it hosted the lavish, televised engagement party for The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) stars Mark Wright and Lauren Goodger.

And other celebrities to use the venue as a stage for a wedding-related event were pop star and celebrity David van Day and his wife Sue Moxley.

David Van Day & Sue Moxley

Their wedding reception there was prominently featured on the reality television show Celebrity Four Weddings.

Film star Tom Hardy is reported to have stayed at Orsett Hall while filming in south Essex, most notably at the nearby Tilbury Fort for the drama series Taboo.