As you approach this rather imposing building you can almost
sense that this place has a rather colourful history. It dates right back to
the 11th century when Elvetham is first mentioned in the Domesday
Book where it’s rent is recorded as 30 shillings a year, with enough woodland
to support ten swine – or pigs to you and me! At this time the village would
have continue to grow around the church and Manor House, the peasants living an
agriculture lifestyle and fully dependent on the land. However in 1403, King
Henry IV granted a license to make Elvetham a 300 acre enclosed park, forcing
the peasants to relocate beyond the perimeter.
It is the next phase in the history of Elvetham that I found
most interesting though, for in 1426 Elvetham Hall became the residence of the
Seymour family – Jane Seymour of course, being one of Henry VIII’s 6 wives. During
this period the Hall began to host the upper echelons of society, including at one
time King Henry VIII himself who was entertained by Jane’s brother, Edward
Seymour, at various points in 1535 and it’s during the course of these visits
that it is believed Jane first met Henry, paving the way for their future
marriage.
The links to royalty don’t stop here however, for Edward’s
son also called Edward, Earl of Hertford, inherited the property. Edward was to
go on to marry Catherine Grey, the younger sister of Lady Jane Grey, must to
the distain of Queen Elizabeth I, who when she heard of their marriage, sent
both to the Tower of London in an act of fury. Both were eventually released,
although not together, and returned to Elvetham, Catherine dying shortly after
her release in 1567.
In 1591, in order to regain the favour of the Queen and to
have his children legitimised, Edward Seymour invited Queen Elizabeth and her
entourage of 500 to Elvetham and laid on lavish entertainments that lasted four
days. This included the erection of large pavilions to accommodate the court
and also the re-landscaping of the grounds to include a huge crescent shaped
lake, around which the entertainment was centred. But even more impressive, guests
to the hotel are also informed of how William Shakespeare was ‘commissioned to
write poems known as the Elvetham Entertainments’ and how ‘A Midsummer Night’s
Dream is thought to have had its first performance here’. I mean, what a
connection?! To think that this quaint little hotel just up the road has hosted
royalty and possibly Shakespeare – that’s a pretty cool fact don’t you think?
Furthermore, a reminder of this fantastic event still exists
thanks to Queen Elizabeth I, who planted an oak tree to commemorate her visit.
Amazingly the tree still stands and is now more than 32 feet in circumference!
Unfortunately the original hall burnt down in 1840 but it
was quickly replaced by Frederick, 4th Baron Calthorpe, who bought
the land and commissioned architect Samuel Sander Teulon to rebuild on the
site. Teulon was heavily influenced by ecclesiastical architectural accounting
for the religious feel to the property modern guests will experience,
especially that evoked by the stained glass windows and ornate fire places.
There is also a church on the site, St Mary’s, which the
leaflets informs us was built in 1840. This surprised me when I read it for I
would have dated it much earlier, a fact I think would please the original
architect for he apparently designed it to look like a 12th century
Norman church – he had me fooled! However, I did a bit of further research and
there seems to be conflicting information, other sources dating it to the 13th
century – odd! In fact the majority of other sources date the church much
earlier and place it as the original village church of Hartley Witney; hence it
is the location of the village War memorial, which was restored in 2012. The
church has since been deconsecrated and has fallen into ruin somewhat and at
the time I couldn’t understand why the memorial would have been placed here. However,
it makes sense if the church is in fact associated with the earlier history of
the village. How odd though to have the date of a church conflicting?
I think this is just another element that makes the Hotel an
interesting place to visit as a source of local history. I called my blog
ispyhistory because history is all around us and we can find it in the most
unlikely places and this was one of those times that I really didn’t expect to find
such an interesting historical tale just a few miles up the road.
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