Tudor Women day 2

Tudor Women day 2 Travelling north out of London we managed to find some sunshine for our visit to Hatfield House the home of Elizabeth I and the place where she was told that she was Queen of England. The big house was built in 1611 by Robert Cecil Elizabeth’s chief minister. King James swapped the Palace with him for Theobalds nearby and it has remained in the hands of the same family ever since. The house has many great portraits and tapestries including the Rainbow and Ermine portraits of Elizabeth. The place is used for filming too, Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchette was made here though the script writers made a complete hash of the Armada speech in that film. The great hall of the old palace still stands which is used for weddings and banquets now but the splendour of the building remains with it’s high beamed ceiling. The formal gardens are a delight to just wander around and some sculptures can be found all about you. We were very lucky and privileged to catch a little rehearsal time of the Hatfield chamber orchestra in St Ethelreda’s church right outside the gate by the old palace. The music was beautiful in that old church. Moving on we saw something a bit more energetic 2 masters of the game of Real tennis in one of the few real Tennis courts in the country. We had plenty of time to walk the parkland of the estate and see some magnificent old Oak trees that would not have been out of place in the Lord of the Rings. We headed off to Warwickshire for our next days sightseeing.