.. 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.
Pages:
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32