The house was built in the early sixteenth-century on the site of a Roman villa and Norman manor. It was expanded in 1597 by William Moulsoe. The house was completed by his son-in-law, Sir Everard Digby, one of the conspirators involved in the Gunpowder Plot. In spite of the Digby family's disgrace and Everard's execution, his widow, Mary was able to retain the property. Both of their sons, John and Kenelm, were strong Royalists in the English Civil War, during which parliamentary troops were billeted at Gayhurst and an inscription in the porch showing an 'X' and the date 1649 is said to record the execution of Charles I. The estate was subsequently inherited by Sir Kenelm Digby, the courtier, diplomat and natural philosopher, whose initials are inscribed on stone pillars in the gardens. In 1704 the estate was sold to Sir Nathan Wrighte.
