Thomas Tailor brought the manor of Doddington from Sir John Savile in 1593 and immediately commissioned the renowned Elizabethan architect, Robert Smythson, to build him a new house that would declare his wealth and status in society.

England was enjoying a period of great stability at this time, and the architectural style of the day reflected this fact. Houses were lofty, proud, and angular and were lit by masses of natural light pouring in through large mullioned windows. Defensive moats and small leaded windows, often a feature of Tudor buildings, had virtually disappeared.

Doddington Hall itself is formed in the shape of two capital E's placed back to back, and was constructed using bricks made on site. Locally quarried stone was used for the quoins (corner stones), string courses and mullion windows. The front elevation differs from the rear by the insertion of three turrets, finished some 20 ft (6m) above the parapet by leaded cupolas.

Entrance to the house is gained via a Dutch-gabled gatehouse and a walled forecourt garden on the eastern side, and enables the visitor a view of Doddington Hall that has probably changed little in the last 400 years. The central stone porch, that provides access to the house, is rather austere in design giving the property an imposing feel.

Doddington Hall eventually passed to Thomas Tailor's son and, in 1652, to Elizabeth Anton who married Sir Edward Hussey from a prominent Lincolnshire family. The Hussey family remained at the Hall for nearly a century before the estate passed to the Deleval family on the marriage of Rhoda Apreece to Francis Blake Deleval in 1724. Rhoda, a daughter of Sarah (nee Hussey), left the Hall to her second son, Sir John Hussey Deleval, to comply with a stipulation in her mother's will that Doddington Hall should not to pass to the owner of the Seaton Deleval estate.

Finding Doddington Hall in a poor state of repair, Sir John immediately set about the restoration of the building, completing a programme of internal redecoration over a four year period. He was also responsible for removing the original diamond lead-lights in the windows and replacing them with crown glass, making the rooms even lighter than they were already.

On the death of Sir John in 1808, the estate passed to his younger brother Edward for a short time before passing to Edward's wife in 1814. She, in turn, made arrangements for Doddington Hall to pass to their only daughter, Sarah Gunman. In the event Sarah died before her mother, but she had ensured that arrangements were in place for the estate to pass to her close friend George Jarvis on the death of her mother.

After receiving his inheritance in 1829, George Jarvis decided to leave his home in Kent and take up residence on the estate. Doddington Hall was clearly to the liking of both George Jarvis and his descendants as very little in the way of structural changes were made to the house during the course of the 19th century.

As was the case with many large estates, Doddington Hall suffered financially between the World Wars due to crippling death duties. By 1950 the state of the house had reached a critical level but, luckily, grant monies were made available to carry out the necessary repairs with a proviso that the house be opened to the public. This happened for the first time in 1954.

Today, much of the house is open to the public and the rooms contain many interesting artefacts, furniture and family portraits. In contrast to the rather severe east forecourt, the west gardens to the rear of the hall are beautifully laid out and are a riot of colour during the spring and summer months.