Background

In 1535 Henry VIII purchased the site from the Abbot of Chertsey and set about expanding it into a 500-acre hunting park.  Henry may have visited and hunted several times.  When, after Henry's death, the Archbishop of York bought the property, Elizabeth I visited several times.

Project Approach

To determine the existence of the Tudor house and hunting park by:

1. researching the documented history
2. conducting an aerial photography survey
3. landscape study
4. resistivity analysis

Results

Documented History Research

In 1535, two years before Chertsey Abbey was dissolved, Henry VIII obtained the manor house in Chobham.  "The chief messuage (house) of the manor of Chobham, called Chobham Park, was granted to the king by John Cordrey, Abbot of Chertsey" (^{2 p415} Patent Roll of Letters, 27th of Henry VIII , pt.ii, m. 28-29).  "chief messuage" was the accepted term at the time for a manor house.

Since this record comes from 1535  it appears to indicate that the estate was, at the time of the transaction, known as Chobham Park and would therefore have already been a hunting park - probably the Abbot's.

Henry very quickly extended the hunting park to approximately 500 acres.  Robbie Schueller ⁴ tells us that "John Weever, writing in 1631, has this to say about this transaction:

Services done by the said Cromwell unto King Henry the eight, within a few yeares after his first coming into the favour and service of the said king, copied out of the Original written with his own hand, and now remaining in the Treasury of the Exchequer.

• Imprimis. the King purchased Hampton Court....

• Item, his Higlinesse hath purchased the Mannor, and certain other lands in Chombham, whereof a Park is made, of the Abbot of Chensey ....

  Evidence of Henry using compulsory exchange to extend the area of the park comes from the record of the Court of Requests brought during Queen Elizabeth's reign (after 1564): Complainant John Martyn of Chertsey Surrey joiner. Thomas MARTYN his grandfather was lawfully seized of certain customary or copyhold lands called Chalvers Lands parcel of the Manor of Chabham. He surrendered them according to the custom to Johan his wife for life with remainder of his heirs and so died. She was admitted tenant [a manor of the King, Henry VIII ] The lands were taken from her to make a park. In consideration the King granted Johan by copy of court roll of the same manor a moor called Hellgrove and certain parcels of land called Buttyes in the said lordship of Chabham for life with remainder to the heirs of her husband [admitted 27 Henry viii] On death of Johan, Nicholas MARTYN her son & next heir was admitted 18 May in 1st year of the queen that now is. [1559] On his death the complainant was admitted 12 Oct 1st year of the said queen and has held the lands undisturbed Now one William HEATHE of parish of Chabham Esq having the estate of Dr HEATHE late archbishop of' York his brother who by patents 5 & 6 Phil & Mary purchased the manor. He has now unlawfully entered on the land. Petition to summon William HEATHE to the Court. (Public Records Office, Court of Requests, Req2/149/60)

This might give another clue as to whether Chobham Park was already a park but unfortunately is ambiguous - was a park made of the manor? or of the 'certain other lands in Chobham'?

The Victoria County History has the following entry for the adjacent manor of Stanners "In 1539, widow Alice and daughter Collubra, wife of Richard Warde, conveyed the manor to the king in exchange for other lands. In 1554 the Crown extended the lease previously made to John Rogers to his son Henry for a term of twenty-one years. The manor in 1559 was granted to Thomas Reve and George Evelyn and the latter's heirs, to hold by knight's service."

So it would appear that Henry extended his landholding in 1539 to include Stanners but we don't know if the park was extended to include Stanners.

James Nedeham, Henry VIII’s ‘Surveyor of the King’s Works’, in his account books for Chobham Park recorded the making of a pair of steps “going forth of the kitchen down to the moat”. which suggests that:

• a moat existed in Tudor times (either constructed by Henry or inherited from the Abbot's house)
• the moat lay close to the kitchen.  However, due to fire risks kitchens were often separate from the main house so this does not tell us much about the location of the house relative to the moat.

Henry visited, and maybe hunted, in his park at Chobham in 1538 and again in 1542. ^{2 p415}  Each visit was preceded by an army of workers whose job it was to move the huge tented and prefabricated village that travelled around with Henry.  By 1539, Henry had become too unwieldy for taking an active part in hunting. He was in the habit of viewing the chase and the coursing of hares from a raised 'standing'.^{3 p145}  By 1546, or possibly the year before, Henry began using a special chair or `tram' with shafts back and front, something akin to the later Sedan chair, in which he was carried from room to room when his legs were weak.⁴

Neither Henry's son Edward, or his successor Mary, are thought robust enough to take an active part in hunting.  

After Henry’s death, his daughter, Queen Mary, sold it in July 1558 to her chancellor, Nicholas Heath [1501c-1578], Archbishop of York, for £3,000. 

Mary's successor, her half sister Elizabeth I, is said to have visited Nicholas Heath at Chobham Park several times.

On the death of Archbishop Heath, his Chobham manor house and estate passed to his nephew, Thomas, who forfeited both, probably for religious dissent, but ultimately had them restored to him. In 1606 he conveyed them to Francis Leigh [d.1653] afterwards 1^st Earl of Chichester. 

Norden map of 1610 shows Chobham Park enclosed by a pale and therefore probably still functioning as a hunting park. Gracious Pond, with its dam can be clearly seen top right - its outlet flows into the park. There appears to have been a pond in the park. It clearly is not in the stream coming from Gracious Pond and must therefore be in the branch coming from Langshot/New House. Disappointingly there is no sign of a moat or even a road to Chertsey.  The map is however very inaccurate in its topology; for instance, the village of Chobham is shown as being north of the Bourne.

This image is from the 1792 map "His Majesties Encampment at Wickham Bushes - Plan of Country Around" gives an indication of the possible shape and extent of the Park. Although the boundary is clear on the northern and western sides, there is some ambiguity on the eastern side.  The boundary can be interpreted to include Stanors Manor which was obtained by the King in 1539.  However that would make the park larger than the stated 500 acres.

Survey

Neither the aerial or the geophysical surveys throw any light on the form or location of Henry's house; nor on the existence of a hunting park from this era.  If present-day Chobham Park House lies on the site of the medieval house then it would be very difficult to detect the medieval house.

A field survey has show that in some parts the boundary bank contains what appears to be very old tree stumps: these may indicate the boundary of the Tudor period park.  Further work is needed.

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