December 1: Wolf Hall
Our very first Anne Boleyn Files Advent Calendar treat is from Catherine Brooks, membership secretary for the Tudor Society. Thank you so much to Catherine for sharing her article and wonderful photos with us.
Over to Catherine...
In October 2018, I was truly honoured to be invited, with my wonderful friend and Tudor novelist, Adrienne Dillard, to take a tour of the excavations at Wolf Hall. Left to them by their mother in 2013, Wolf Hall is now the residence of the four Bruce-Binney siblings, direct descendants of the family of Queen Jane Seymour.
First mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, Wolf Hall lies at the edge of Wiltshire’s Savernake Forest, a favoured hunting ground of Henry VIII. Although much of the original Tudor building was torn down, it retains, on the western side, the half-timbered Tudor villa, which faces the gardens. The northern frontage is Georgian, built around 1750, and a Victorian extension was added in 1880. Smaller now, at the time the grandeur of the building rose with the royal favour of the Seymours, and it needed to be ‘Fit for a King’ when Henry visited with Queen Anne Boleyn on their summer Progress of 1535.
The Friends of Wolf Hall Newsletter, Autumn 2018 (available on their website www.realwolfhall.com), describes how research has discovered:
‘There were at least two courtyards, a gatehouse, the king’s chamber reserved for royalty, a long gallery, a treasury, weaponry, evidence room, chapel (with resident priest) and massive kitchens, together with family rooms and nurseries and many outbuildings and barns. It had over 30 beds. There were eight gardens, including a box garden, primrose garden, great paled garden, and my old lady’s garden and my young lady’s garden.’
Extensive excavations have been being carried out at Wolf Hall, led by Wolf Hall researcher Graham Bathe, and working alongside archaeologist Robin Holley (both of whom work with the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society), they have made some truly thrilling discoveries, including the sewer tunnels, a very new concept and indicative of the wealth and grandeur associated with Wolf Hall at the height of the Seymours’ favour.
Edward Seymour, later Lord Protector and first Duke of Somerset, shared an interest in gardens with King Henry VIII. A survey of the Wolf Hall estate of around 1540 records the existence of eight gardens, as mentioned, and eight orchards. The focus of the restoration of Wolf Hall is now on the gardens, which would have been equally as impressive as the house.
If you would like to keep up-to-date with the events at Wolf Hall, and support them, perhaps by becoming a Friend of Wolf Hall, please visit www.realwolfhall.com. You can also follow their progress on Facebook, The Real Wolf hall, and Twitter @RealWolfhall.
