In 1793, Henry Vavasour bought the newly built Melbourne Hall and land in Melbourne with the idea to create a country estate for him and his family. A career soldier, he had married an heiress to the nearby Spaldington estate, the ancient seat of a branch of the prominent Vavasour family. In 1791, under the terms of her ancestor’s will, he and his wife had changed their name from Nooth to Vavasour. He first wanted a suitable setting for the hall and it is likely he engaged the services of Thomas White, one of the leading designers of the day. Having acquired more land at Melbourne in 1797, there was the opportunity to expand the designed landscape beyond the immediate grounds around the hall. However it was his son, Sir Henry M. M. Vavasour, who took this on from 1813.
Seemingly short of funds and with their properties mortgaged, the Vavasours often lived abroad but continued to improve the estate. They moved back in 1835 and Lady Vavasour became the tenant for life following her husband’s death in 1838. She embarked on an ambitious plan of plantations and remodelled the pleasure grounds around the hall, possibly to the design of Samuel Gray. However with her death in 1845, her son decided to sell Melbourne to pay off the large mortgage and it was acquired by James Christie in 1850. He and his successors removed most of the plantations in the next twenty years and the designed landscape reverted to the c. 70 acres around the hall. The parkland and some of the plantations remain around the hall, providing a suitable setting for it.