| Hatfield House | |
|---|---|
 South-facing view of Hatfield House | |
| Type | Prodigy house |
| Location | Hatfield,Hertfordshire |
| Coordinates | 51°45′38″N0°12′33″W / 51.7606°N 0.2092°W /51.7606; -0.2092 |
| OS grid reference | TL 23715 08394 |
| Built | 1607-1612 |
| Architectural style | Jacobean |
| Owner | Robert Gascoyne-Cecil |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Hatfield House |
| Designated | 6 February 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1173363 |
| Official name | Hatfield House |
| Designated | 11 June 1987 |
| Reference no. | 1000343 |
  Location of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire | |
| The Old Palace, Hatfield House | |
|---|---|
 The Old Palace, Hatfield House | |
| Type | Bishop's Palace |
| Location | Hatfield |
| Coordinates | 51°45′40″N0°12′39″W / 51.76119°N 0.21070°W /51.76119; -0.21070 |
| Area | Hertfordshire |
| Built | c.1480 |
| Architectural styles | Medieval andTudor |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | The Palace |
| Designated | 6 February 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1348152 |
Location of The Old Palace, Hatfield House in Hertfordshire | |
Hatfield House is aGrade I listed[1]country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side ofHatfield,Hertfordshire, England.
The presentJacobean house, a leading example of theprodigy house, was built in 1611 byRobert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister toKing James I. It is a prime example of Jacobean architecture. The estate includes extensive grounds and surviving parts of an earlier palace.Queen Elizabeth's Oak is said to be the place whereElizabeth I was informed she had become queen. The house is currently the home ofRobert Gascoyne-Cecil, 7th Marquess of Salisbury. It is open to the public.
An earlier building on the site was the Royal Palace of Hatfield. Only part of this still exists, a short distance from the present house. That palace was the childhood home and favourite residence ofQueen Elizabeth I. Built in 1497 by the Archbishop of Canterbury (formerly Bishop of Ely),King Henry VII's minister,John Cardinal Morton, it comprised four wings in a square surrounding a central courtyard. The palace was seized byHenry VIII with other church properties. The nearby parish church ofSt Etheldreda's in Old Hatfield once served the bishop's palace as well as the village. Henry VIII's children,King Edward VI and the future Queen Elizabeth I, spent their youth at Hatfield Palace. His eldest daughter, who later reigned asQueen Mary I, lived there between 1533 and 1536, when she was sent to wait on the then Princess Elizabeth as punishment for refusing to recognise Henry's marriage to Anne Boleyn and his religious reforms.
In 1548, when she was only 15 years old, Elizabeth was under suspicion of having illegally agreed to marryThomas Seymour. The house and her servants were seized by Edward VI's agent, Robert Tyrwhit, and she was interrogated there. She successfully defended her conduct with wit and defiance. Seymour was executed in 1549 for numerous other crimes against the crown. After her two months of imprisonment in the Tower of London by her sister,Queen Mary, Elizabeth returned to Hatfield. TheQueen Elizabeth Oak on the grounds of the estate is said to be the location where Elizabeth was told she was queen following Mary's death, but is considered unlikely as Mary died in November. In November 1558, Elizabeth held her firstCouncil of State in the Great Hall.
Hatfield House is a popular tourist attraction because it has so many objects associated with Queen Elizabeth I, including gloves and a pair of silk stockings that are believed to have been the first in England. The library displays a 22-foot (6.7 m) long illuminated parchment roll showing the pedigree of the queen with ancestors back to Adam and Eve. The Marble Hall holds the "Rainbow Portrait" of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth's successor,King James I, did not like the palace. It was included in thejointure estate of his wifeAnne of Denmark.[2] In 1607, King James gave it to his chief minister,Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, in exchange forTheobalds, which was the Cecils' family home on the current site ofCedars Park, Broxbourne. Cecil, who liked building, tore down three wings of the royal palace (the back and sides of the square) in 1608 and used the bricks to build the present structure. The richly carved wooden Grand Staircase and the rare stained glass window in the private chapel are among the house's original Jacobean features. Cecil employed Robert Lemynge to supervise the construction, with input from the royal surveyorSimon Basil, andInigo Jones who visited in October 1609.[3]
During World War II, Hatfield House was the location of the firstCivil Resettlement Unit and acted as headquarters for the scheme.[4] CRUs were created to help repatriated Britishprisoners of war transition back to civilian life and the luxurious setting of Hatfield was considered very beneficial to these men. On 12 July 1945, theking andqueen visited the CRU at Hatfield, which generated significant news coverage.[5][6][7]
The gardens, covering 42 acres (170,000 m2),[8] date from the early 17th century and were laid out byJohn Tradescant the elder. Tradescant visited Europe and brought back trees and plants that had never previously been grown in England. The gardens included orchards, fountains, scented plants, water parterres, terraces, herb gardens and a foot maze. They were neglected in the 18th century, but restoration began in Victorian times and continues under the present Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury.
During World War I, the grounds were used to test the first British tanks. An area was dug with trenches and craters and covered with barbed-wire to representno man's land and German trench lines on theWestern Front. To commemorate this, the only survivingMark I tank was sited at Hatfield from 1919 to 1970 before being moved toThe Tank Museum, Bovington.[9]
TheRhodesian Light Infantry Regimental Association has placed its'Troopie' memorial statue on the grounds of Hatfield House due to the long association of the Cecil family withSouthern Rhodesia. Around its base is a roll of regimental members ('troopies') who fell in theRhodesian Bush War and several inscriptions, including 'In reconciliation and hope for future peace in Zimbabwe'.[10]
The State Rooms can be seen in the midweek guided tours and visitors can look around in their own time at weekends. On Friday, the Garden Connoisseur's Day, the house is open for guided tours and pre-booked specialist groups. There are five miles of marked trails.
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Hatfield House has been used forlocation filming on a number of film and television productions, including:Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984);[citation needed]Orlando (1992);[11]Batman (1989);[11]Tomb Raider: Underworld,Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life,Rise of the Tomb Raider andShadow of the Tomb Raider;Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005);The New World (2005);[11]Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007);[11]Hot Fuzz (2007);[12]Shakespeare in Love (1998);[11]Dustbin Baby;Sherlock Holmes (2009);[11]Agatha Christie's Marple (2010);[citation needed]Get Him to the Greek (2010);[11]Antiques Roadshow (2010);[13]MasterChef Australia (2010);[14]Garden Secrets (2010);[15]Royal Upstairs Downstairs (2011);[citation needed]My Week with Marilyn (2010);[citation needed]Paddington (2014);[16][17]Mr. Holmes (2015);[18]Doctor Thorne;[citation needed]Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016);[citation needed]The Crown;[19]Breathe (2017);[20]All the Money in the World (2017);Trust;[21]The Favourite (2018);[citation needed] "Sucker" (2019);[22]Enola Holmes;[23][24]Rebecca (2020);[25][26]Bridgerton (2020);[27][28]Cromwell;[citation needed]Henry VIII and His Six Wives;[citation needed]The Avengers (1998);[citation needed]V for Vendetta;[citation needed]Mortdecai (2015);[citation needed] andPaddington 2.[11]
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