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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Hatfield House
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(10km/6m E of St Albans)
The most imposing of Jacobean houses, built from 1608 for Robert *Cecil. There had previously been a Tudor palace here belonging to *Elizabeth I (one wing survives, long used as stables but now with its great hall restored). In the first decade of the 17C the new king, *James I, forced Hatfield on Cecil in exchange for the more impressive Theobalds, which Cecil had inherited from his father. At Hatfield he immediately began to build a new house, designed mainly by his head carpenter, Robert Lyminge (d. 1628); it survives unchanged today and is still lived in by his descendants.
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Its most famous features are the magnificent hall (paved in black and white marble), the elaborately carved oak staircase and the long gallery. In the gallery are many mementoes of the family's links with Elizabeth, and two portraits of the queen hang in the marble hall. The Cecils recovered a leading role in the country's political life when Lord *Salisbury became prime minister in the late 19C.
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The gardens of Hatfield were planted in the early 17C by John *Tradescant, and in recent decades they have been restored to the style and the range of plants of that period. The sunken knot garden was created in the early 1980s.
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