In the late 15th century, a family named Roper farmed the Manor of Brook Street and Henry Roper greatly enhanced the moated house, which he called The Place. He became an important officer in the royal household of Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII and it seems likely that both she and her husband were visitors to The Place. After the death of Henry Roper, The Place remained in his family until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII when the chantry and it’s land came under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Lancaster. Soon afterwards, John Wright of nearby Kelvedon Hall, held The Place and 80 acres of the Chantry lands and one of his sons, Robert, actually lived there.