Born in Chichester, William Hayley was sent to Eton in 1757 and then to Trinity Hall, Cambridge in 1762. In 1767 he left Cambridge and went to live in London. His private means enabled Hayley to live on his patrimonial estate at Eartham, Sussex and he retired there in 1774.

The location of this house in Eartham is now occupied by the Great Ballard School. In 1800 Hayley also lost his natural son, Thomas Alphonso Hayley, to whom he was devotedly attached. He had been a pupil of John Flaxman's, to whom Hayley's Essay on Sculpture (1800) is addressed.

Flaxman introduced William Blake to Hayley and after the latter had moved in 1800 to his marine hermitage at Felpham, Sussex. Blake settled near him for three years to engrave the illustrations for the Life of Cowper. This, Hayley's best-known work, was published in 1803–1804.

The Blue Plaque is located on the entrance wall to Turret Court