Wolf Hall

Wolf Hall, not the new Booker Prize winning novel by Hillary Mantel about Thomas Cromwell. Wolf Hall in Wiltshire is the home of Jane Seymour third wife of Henry VIII and mother of Edward VI. Wolf Hall was recorded in the Domesday book of 1086 as Ulfela. Unfortunately there's not much left of the original building. The present building dates from the Victorian period. It's a large house set back from the narrow twisting road surrounded by large trees with a number of farm buildings all around.
The great barn that held the Wedding feast of Henry VIII and Jane survived until the 1920's and was destroyed by fire, there are photos of the Barn showing what it was like still available.
St Mary's church at Great Bedwyn a couple of miles away holds the tomb of Jane's father John. Above him is a stained glass window commemorating the wedding of Henry and Jane and dating from that time which came from the original house and was reset into the Church in 1901. John was also father to Thomas who married Catherine Parr after Henry died and was uncle and Protector of Edward VI.
Great Bedwyn is a Roman settlement but there is a chalk barrow indicating that the place has been inhabited for centuries before that. It was a city under the Saxons and appears in the Domesday book but was not assessed or tithed.

Jane was not high born but achieved the one thing that Henry wanted above all else, a son.





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