Hatfield House

History

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 of Queen Elizabeth I. Built in 1497 by Cardinal John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry VII's minister, it comprised four wings in a square surrounding a central courtyard. The palace was seized by Henry VIII with other church properties. The nearby parish church of St Etheldreda's in Old Hatfield once served the bishop's palace as well as the village. Henry VIII's children, Edward VI and the future Elizabeth I, spent their youth at Hatfield Palace. His eldest daughter, Mary, 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 marry Thomas 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. The Queen 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 first Council 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 ft 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 the jointure estate of his wife Anne of Denmark. In 1607, King James gave it to his chief minister, Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, in exchange for Theobalds, which was the Cecils' family home on the current site of Cedars 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 surveyor Simon Basil, and Inigo Jones who visited in October 1609.

During World War II, Hatfield House was the location of the first Civil Resettlement Unit and acted as headquarters for the scheme. CRUs were created to help repatriated British prisoners of war transition back to civilian life and the luxurious setting of Hatfield was considered very beneficial to these men. On 12 July 1945, the king and queen visited the CRU at Hatfield, which generated significant news coverage.

Gardens

The gardens, covering 42 acres, date from the early 17th century and were laid out by John 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 represent no man's land and German trench lines on the Western Front. To commemorate this, the only surviving Mark I tank was sited at Hatfield from 1919 to 1970 before being moved to The Tank Museum, Bovington.

The Rhodesian 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 with Southern Rhodesia. Around its base is a roll of regimental members ('troopies') who fell in the Rhodesian Bush War and several inscriptions, including 'In reconciliation and hope for future peace in Zimbabwe'.

Tours

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.

Gallery

File:Hatfield House (14207504937).jpg|Hatfield House File:Long gallery, Hatfield House-19670646391.jpg|The Long Gallery File:Hatfield House Armoury-8454284614.jpg|The Armoury File:Hatfield house north wing.jpg|Hatfield house, North wing File:Hatfield House - geograph.org.uk - 1838612.jpg|Hatfield House, Side view

Film credits

Hatfield House has been used for location filming on a number of film and television productions, including: Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984); Orlando (1992); Batman (1989); Tomb Raider: Underworld, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider; Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005); The New World (2005); Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007); Hot Fuzz (2007); Shakespeare in Love (1998); Dustbin Baby; Sherlock Holmes (2009); Agatha Christie's Marple (2010); Get Him to the Greek (2010); Antiques Roadshow (2010); MasterChef Australia (2010); Garden Secrets (2010); Royal Upstairs Downstairs (2011); My Week with Marilyn (2010); Paddington (2014); Mr. Holmes (2015); Doctor Thorne; Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016); The Crown; Breathe (2017); All the Money in the World (2017); Trust;The Favourite (2018); "Sucker" (2019); Enola Holmes; Rebecca (2020); Bridgerton (2020); Cromwell; Henry VIII and His Six Wives; The Avengers (1998); V for Vendetta; Mortdecai (2015); and Paddington 2.

References

References

1. {{NHLE
2. [[Edmund Lodge]], ''Illustrations of British History'', vol. 3 (London, 1791), pp. 207.
3. Giles Worsley, ''Inigo Jones and the European Classical Tradition'' (Yale, 2007), p. 10.
4. White, Alice. (2016). "From the Science of Selection to Psychologising Civvy Street: The Tavistock Group, 1939-1948". University of Kent.
5. (13 July 1945). "The King and Queen with Ex-Prisoners: Visit to Civil Resettlement Unit". The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Mercury.
6. (13 July 1945). "Resettling War Prisoners: Aids to Civil Life: The King and Queen at Hatfield". The Times.
7. (13 July 1945). "Army's Civil Resettlement: King and Queen Visit Hatfield House Centre". The Manchester Guardian.
8. "Hatfield House {{!}} Visit Hatfield House, Park & Gardens In Hertfordshire, UK".
9. (May 2006). "Identity Crisis". The Bovington Tank Museum.
10. [http://www.therli.com/Troper_report.asp Troper Report] {{webarchive. link. (27 May 2015)
11. (2010). "Filming". Hatfield House.
12. Medd, James. (18 November 2018). "Where was 'Hot Fuzz' filmed?".
13. (5 May 2010). "BBC One's Antiques Roadshow here this summer". Hatfield House.
14. [http://tvnz.co.nz/masterchef-australia/week-fifteen-recap-3864619 Masterchef Australia, Television New Zealand website.] Retrieved on 27 October 2011.
15. (8 November 2010). "Alan Tichmarsh's Garden Secrets". BBC.
16. "Filming Locations for Paddington (2014), around London.". The Worldwide Guide To Movie Locations.
17. (5 December 2014). "On location: Paddington". Financial Times.
18. Davies, Alan. (19 June 2015). "Mr Holmes starring Sir Ian McKellen filmed in Hatfield". Welwyn Hatfield Times.
19. "13 Film Locations from the Crown (That Yes, You Can Visit IRL)".
20. (29 October 2017). "Breathe starring Claire Foy and Andrew Garfield filmed in Hatfield".
21. (2 April 2018). "Here's How FX's New Series Trust Replicated the Sutton Place Estate of John Paul Getty III".
22. Hill, Erin. (1 March 2019). "The Jonas Brothers' Music Video Has a Major Royal Connection – and It's Not Just the Corgi Cameo!".
23. Andriotis, Mary Elizabeth. (13 October 2020). "You Can Visit These English Estates from Netflix's 'Enola Holmes'". [[House Beautiful]].
24. Davies, Alan. (26 September 2020). "Netflix movie Enola Holmes filmed at Hatfield House". Welwyn Hatfield Times.
25. Zemler, Emily. (21 October 2020). "Where Netflix's 'Rebecca' found its Manderley". [[Los Angeles Times]].
26. Andriotis, Mary Elizabeth. (22 October 2020). "You Can Visit These English Manor Houses from Netflix's ''Rebecca''". [[House Beautiful]].
27. Davies, Alan. (15 December 2020). "Bridgerton 'has something for everyone and that's why it's a special show'". Welwyn Hatfield Times.
28. (executive producer & showrunner of ''Bridgerton'') Chris Van Dusen. (28 December 2020). "We searched and searched for the perfect garden maze to shoot this scene in. Found it at Hatfield House. #Bridgerton #LiveTweet https://t.co/z9rjkmt6Ac".