Hatfield House

Hatfield House stands in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, on the edge of a large park known as the Great Park. It is a grand Jacobean country house built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, for James I. The estate includes parts of an earlier royal palace where Elizabeth I spent her childhood. A notable feature is the Queen Elizabeth’s Oak, linked to the moment she was told she had become queen. The house remains the home of the present Marquess of Salisbury. Visitors can walk through rooms that still hold objects from Elizabeth I’s time. The house holds many items tied to Elizabeth I, such as her gloves and the first silk stockings worn in England. The library displays a long parchment roll tracing her ancestry back to Adam and Eve. The Marble Hall contains the famous Rainbow Portrait of the queen. The Grand Staircase and private chapel’s stained glass window survive from the original Jacobean design. During the Second World War, the house served as a Civil Resettlement Unit for returning prisoners of war. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the unit in 1945. The gardens cover 42 acres and were first laid out in the early 17th century by John Tradescant the elder. They include orchards, water features, terraces and a foot maze. The gardens were restored in the Victorian era and later redesigned in a formal Jacobean style. A Mark I tank once stood on the grounds after being used for trench tests during the First World War. The estate also features a memorial to the Rhodesian Light Infantry. Five miles of marked trails wind through the parkland, offering views of the house and gardens.