Hatfield House, Herts
=How to get there.=–From King’s Cross. Great Northern Railway.
=Nearest Station.=–Hatfield.
=Distance from London.=–17-3/4 miles.
=Average Time.=–35 minutes.
1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=–Single 2s. 6d. ... 1s. 5-1/2d.
Return 5s. 0d. ... 2s. 11d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=–"Red Lion Hotel,” etc.
Permission to see the interior of Hatfield House can be obtained when
the Marquess of Salisbury is not in residence.
After the Norman Conquest Hatfield, the Haethfield of the Saxons,
became the property of the bishops of Ely, and was known as Bishops
Hatfield, as indeed it is marked on many maps. There was here a
magnificent palace, which at the Reformation became the property of
Henry VIII., and was afterwards given to the Cecils by James I., who
received Theobalds in exchange.
The town of Hatfield is a quaint, straggling place, with narrow streets
and many antique houses. A steep declivity leads up to the old church,
dedicated to St. Etheldreda, just outside one of the entrances to the
grounds of Hatfield House. The church contains a monument to Sir Robert
Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury, also tombs of the Botelers, Brockets,
and Reads of Brocket Hall.
The entrance gateway, close to the churchyard, leads to what are now the
stables of Hatfield House, a fine red-brick structure, once the
banqueting-hall of the Bishop’s Palace. This building, with its fine
open timber roof, is perhaps the only example of its kind in England
used as a stable.
Hatfield House is one of the most perfect and magnificent of Elizabethan
mansions in the kingdom. It was built by the first Earl of Salisbury in
1611, and is practically unaltered. The fine oak panelling and carving,
the plaster ceilings, and much of the furniture, all remain as they were
in the days of the great Lord Burleigh. The great hall, with its
splendid timber roof, and the gallery, with a fine collection of
pictures and curios, are two striking features. The staircase is
magnificent in design and detail, and is furnished with gates at the
bottom, placed there originally for preventing the dogs from wandering
upstairs.
The paintings in the hall and other rooms in Hatfield House include
portraits of the great Burleigh, Sir Robert and other Cecils, by Lely
and Kneller; Henry VIII., Anne Boleyn, Mary Queen of Scots, the Earl of
Leicester, and Queen Elizabeth.
[Illustration: Photochrom Co., Ltd.
HATFIELD HOUSE.]
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Preface •
Ham House and Petersham •
Walton-On-Thames (scold’s Bridle) •
Harrow •
Holwood House, Keston •
Chigwell, Essex •
Waltham Abbey and Cross •
Downe •
Epsom: Its Races and Its Salts •
Epping Forest •
Hampton Court •
Rye House, Broxbourne •
Hatfield House, Herts •
Runnymead, the Signing of Magna Charta •
The Oldest Brass in England •
St. Albans •
Stoke Poges Church, Bucks •
Windsor •
Jordans and William Penn •
Knole House and Sevenoaks •
Greenstead Church •
Chalfont St. Giles •
Westerham •
Guildford, Surrey •
Gad’s Hill •
Ightham Mote, Kent •
Penshurst •
St. Michael’s Mount and Marazion •
Rochester Cathedral •
Tunbridge Wells •
The Quintain Post At Offham and Malling Abbey •
Eversley •
Farnham, Surrey •
Hindhead, Surrey •
Shottermill •
Penn’s Chapel At Thakeham, Sussex •
Chawton the Home of Jane Austen •
Selborne •
Elstow •
Lewes, Sussex •
Bodiam Castle, Sussex •
Colchester, Essex •
Layer Marney •
Battle Abbey •
Cambridge •
Arundel Castle •
Olney, Bucks •
Wantage and the Country of Alfred the Great •
Canterbury and Its Cathedral •
Reculvers •
Oxford •
Midhurst •
Pevensey Castle •
Savernake Forest •
Ely Cathedral •
St. Ives, Huntingdonshire •
Winchelsea and Rye •
Blenheim Palace •
Peterborough Cathedral and Crowland •
Peterborough •
Southampton •
Helmingham Hall •
Stonehenge, Wiltshire •
Netley Abbey •
Salisbury and Its Cathedral •
Sandwich, Kent •
New Forest, Hampshire •
Osborne House •
Carisbrooke Castle •
Lutterworth •
Compton Wynyates •
Kenilworth Castle •
Belvoir Castle •
Bath •
Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers •
Warwick •
Gloucester and Its Cathedral •
Norfolk Broads •
Norwich Cathedral •
Lichfield •
Sherborne and Its Abbey Church •
Newark •
Wells and Its Cathedral •
Stratford-On-Avon •
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk •
Lulworth Cove, Dorsetshire •
Corfe Castle •
Lincoln and Its Cathedral •
Somerset, the Birthplace of Tennyson •
Glastonbury Abbey •
Walsingham, Norfolk •
Cheddar Caves, Cheddar, Somerset •
Newstead Abbey •
The Wessex of Thomas Hardy’s Romances •
Tintern Abbey •
Chesterfield, Derbyshire •
Dukeries •
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire •
The Isle of Athelney, and Sedgemoor •
Raglan Castle •
Dovedale •
Wellington and the Wrekin, Shropshire •
Wroxeter and the Roman City of Uriconium, Salop •
Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire •
Ludlow and Its Castle •
Shrewsbury •
Buxton and the Peak District •
Tewkesbury •
Exeter and Its Cathedral •
Market Drayton, Salop •
Chester •
Exmoor •
Knutsford •
Torr Steps On the Barle, Somerset •
Cleeve Abbey, Somerset •
Hawarden •
York Minster •
Coxwold, Yorkshire •
Llangollen and Valle Crucis Abbey •
Knaresborough, Dripping Well •
Fountains Abbey •
Ripon Cathedral •
Dartmoor •
Haworth •
Rievaulx Abbey •
Brixham, Devon •
Conway Castle •
The Doone Valley, Exmoor •
Llandovery, South Wales •
Dartmouth, Devon •
Richmond, Yorkshire •
Tintagel •
Whitby •
Carnarvon Castle •
Plymouth •
Durham and Its Cathedral •
Raby Castle, Durham •
Snowdon •
Harlech Castle •
Grasmere and Rydal Mount •
The Lake District •
St. Davids Cathedral •
Furness Abbey, Lancashire •
Monkwearmouth, Near Jarrow •
The Isle of Man •
Brantwood •
Fowey •
Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall •
The Lake District •
Keswick •
Alnwick Castle •
Lanercost Priory, Cumberland •
Lanercost Priory and Stepping-Stones.] •
St. Ives, Cornwall •
Bamborough Castle, Northumberland
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