Doddington Hall is situated six miles from the city of Lincoln. The property is recorded in the Domesday Book, when it belonged to the abbot of Westminster. The present house, designed by the architect Robert Smythson, was constructed in the early seventeenth century for Thomas Tailor, registrar to the bishop of Lincoln. Although the exterior remains much as it was built, the interior was remodelled extensively in the 1760s by Sir John Hussey Delaval who inherited Doddington from his mother, Sarah Apreece. The house, which remains in private ownership, currently belongs to James and Claire Birch, who have collaborated closely with the Paul Mellon Centre on developing the present case study.

The research team for Doddington Hall comprised: Jonathan Law, research fellow and filmmaker, at the Paul Mellon Centre; Martin Postle, deputy director for grants and publications at the Paul Mellon Centre; Rodolfo Rodriguez, an architect and architectural historian; and Leah Warriner-Wood, a historic objects conservator and associate lecturer at the University of Lincoln.

The principal focus of research for this study was the collection and display of over one hundred paintings dating from the early seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, and two sets of Flemish tapestries dating from the seventeenth century. Particular attention is paid to the development of the collection and display strategy during the mid-eighteenth century, under the aegis of Sir John Hussey Delaval. As with the other case studies included in the project, the research topics can be reviewed separately or collectively.