Royal Progress day 11

Day 11 The Vyne and Syon House The Vyne is set in deepest Hampshire in peaceful countryside the house just appears out of the woods as you drive along narrow roads of the county. The Vyne is a Tudor mansion and home to the Sandys family, Henry VIII visited here at least four times during his lifetime and the oak panelled long gallery has many emblems of Henry and Catherine Of Aragon carved and intertwined. It takes little imagination to see Henry VIII and Catherine being very pleased indeed to see this gallery on their visits. The Chapel has some fine stained glass windows that predate the great windows of Kings College chapel in Cambridge. The windows at the Vyne are of Henry VIII Catherine of Aragon and Henry’s sister Margaret praying to their respective patron saints. The detail on these windows is incredible and it’s a wonder they have survived to this day. In fact there is a story that these were in a local church and were taken down, hidden on a pond so that Oliver Cromwell’s troops could not smash them up after the Civil war in the 1640’s. The place we see today is only one sixth of what was there in Tudor times, Tastes change, living standards improved and there was no need for a house to be a defensive structure either. On to Syon House on the river Thames only 16 miles form the centre of London. Syon is a very important place in Tudor time. Originally an Abbey founded by Henry V in 1415 it was taken over during the dissolution. Anne Boleyn was said to have railed against the nuns for their wonton habits. Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen here in the Long gallery by her Uncle the Duke of Northumberland. Catherine Howard was imprisoned here for a few days on her way to the Tower of London. Henry VIII’s body rested here on his final journey to Windsor, his coffin burst open and some dogs licked his leaking blood a gruesome tale indeed yeuk! We finished the day with a pub meal in the Kings Arms hotel right outside the park gates of Hampton Court Palace