HATFIELD is entitled to high rank among the Stately Homes of England, whether we consider its architectural merits, its historical associations, or the picturesque attractions by which it is surrounded. Seven centuries have passed since Hatfield became a place of note; and the crown, the mitre, and the coronet have successively held sway over its destinies. Of its architectural glories, little now remains of a date anterior to that of James I., in whose reign the present noble house was built. A part, however, of the previous palace of Hatfield still exists, interesting as the home of the Princess Elizabeth, during the reign of her sister, Queen Mary. Nor was her residence here, though compulsory, a state of imprisonment and oppression, as some have said; for it is proved, from various records, that she met with considerate treatment, and lived in a state befitting her lofty rank and queenly prospects, till, on the death of Mary, she proceeded hence to take possession of the throne of England.

Hatfield House lies some twenty miles from London, in the county of Hertford, and is the seat of the most noble the Marquis of Salisbury—the representative of the grand old line of the Cecils. The history of the mansion is one of considerable interest, dating, as its name Hetfelle indicates, from Saxon times, and undergoing many changes under its royal and noble and ecclesiastical owners. It belonged to the Saxon kings until, in the reign of Edgar, it was given by that monarch to the monastery of St. Etheldreda, at Ely, which was founded in 673, destroyed in 870, and refounded in 970, and erected into a bishopric in 1108, in the reign of Henry I.

Thus Hatfield being attached to the new bishopric, and the manor becoming one of the many residences of the prelates, acquired, it is said, its appellation of “Bishop’s Hatfield.” Hatfield continued to be one of the palaces of the Bishops of Ely, and was occasionally used as a royal residence, until the reign of Henry VIII., when it was made over to the crown. “William de Hatfield, second son of Edward the Third, was born at the palace,” and at various times before it finally became vested in the crown, it was used and frequented by royalty. During the latter part of the reign of Henry VIII. the young Prince Edward, afterwards Edward VI., resided at this palace, and is variously stated to have been here and at Hertford when the news of the death of his father was conveyed to him, and when, consequently, his accession to the crown took place. In the fourth year of his reign the youthful monarch conveyed Hatfield to his sister, the Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen Elizabeth, and here she frequently resided. Indeed, the greater part of the troublous reign of Mary, the Princess passed at Hatfield, “with few privations and no personal hardships to endure,” but with much mental torture; for it must not be forgotten that she had been removed from Ashbridge to London and imprisoned in the Tower, for her supposed participation in Wyatt’s rebellion, and was then, under surveillance, permitted to retire to Hatfield. It was at Hatfield that Elizabeth, it is said, while seated under an oak, received the welcome intelligence of the death of her sister, “the bloody Queen” Mary, and on hearing the news she fell upon her knees, exclaiming in Latin, A Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile oralis nostris (“It is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes”), words which she adopted as a motto for her gold coinage, while on her silver issue she chose the somewhat similar one, Posui Deum adjutorem meum (“I have chosen God for my helper”). Thus Hatfield became identified with the coinage of the realm as well as with many of its rulers. The day following this event Elizabeth was waited upon at Hatfield by several noblemen of the late queen’s Council, whom she received very kindly, “but presently showed her decided preference for Sir William Cecil (afterwards Lord Burleigh)—the astute, the most politic Cecil—whom she instantly appointed principal Secretary of State.” On the 23rd of November the Queen removed from Hatfield with an escort of more than a thousand persons, and made her progress by slow degrees to Somerset House.

In 1587 Elizabeth had, it is recorded, been visited at Hatfield by Mary, whom she received with much state, and with great festivity, playing herself upon the virginals, to accompany a child who sang. It was at Hatfield, too, it is said, that Elizabeth received the proposals of marriage from the King of Sweden for his son Eric, which she turned to such profitable account with her sister by declaring that she would never listen to any overtures of this nature which had not previously received her Majesty’s sanction.

It does not appear that after her accession to the throne Queen Elizabeth ever resided at Hatfield, although she had previously been much attached to the place, and had kept up Christmas revels and Shrovetide and other festivities in a liberal manner. At one of these, Sir Thomas Pope, her guardian, made “for the Ladie Elizabeth, alle at his own costes, a greate and rich maskinge, in the great hall at Hatfielde, where the pageauntes were marvelously furnished” with “banket of sweete dishes,” “a suttletie in thirty spyce,” and wonderful garnishings, but for which “folliries” Sir Thomas got “snubbed” by his queen, who ordered these mummeries to cease.

James I., in the third year of his reign, exchanged Hatfield for the house, manor, and park of Theobalds, with his minister, Sir Robert Cecil, afterwards created Earl of Salisbury, whose descendant, the Marquis of Salisbury, is the present owner, the estates passing in regular succession from that time to the present day, and continuing to be the principal residence of that noble family, about whom we now give some details.

The family of Cecil is one of considerable antiquity, and many of its members have distinguished themselves both in statesmanship, in the field, and in the arena of literature. The greatness of the family was laid by Sir William Cecil, the friend and adviser of Queen Elizabeth before she came to the throne, and her first chief Secretary of State. “This distinguished statesman,” says Sir Robert Naunton, “was the son of a younger brother of the Cecills of Hertfordshire, a family of my own knowledge, though now private, yet of no mean antiquity, who, being exposed and sent to the city, as poor gentlemen used to do their sons, became to be a rich man on London Bridge, and purchased (estates) in Lincolnshire where this man was born.” First he became Secretary to the Protector Somerset, and afterwards, on the accession of Elizabeth, he was appointed Secretary of State. In 1561 he was made President of the Court of Wards. His great talent and assiduity won for him much regard at court, where he was treated with great favour. In 1571 he was created Lord Burleigh, and continued to maintain his distinguished position in the state till his death. He resided chiefly at Theobalds, where he often had the honour of entertaining his sovereign, who was “sene in as great royalty, and served as bountifully and magnificently, as at anie other tyme or place, all at his lordship’s chardge,” &c. The events in the life of this statesman are so closely associated with the history of England itself in the stirring times in which he lived, that they are too well known to need more than a passing notice. After being mixed up in every affair of state from some time before the accession of Elizabeth, having taken part in all the proceedings connected with the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots, and with his own hand drawn up her death-warrant, and after having for forty years mainly directed the councils of the “Virgin Queen,” Sir William Cecil, now Lord Burleigh, died on the 4th of August, 1598, in the seventh-eighth year of his age, to the great grief of Elizabeth, who is said to have wept bitter tears at his death.

The eldest son of Lord Treasurer Burleigh succeeded him in his title, which has since been augmented by the Earldom and Marquisate of Exeter; while his youngest son, Sir Robert Cecil, inherited much of his father’s talent and wisdom, “with a more subtle policy and a superior capacity for state intrigue.” For certain secret services to James, during the life of Elizabeth, he was raised by the king to the peerage. In 1604 he was created Viscount Cranborne, and, in the year following, he was made Earl of Salisbury. After filling the office of sole Secretary of State, he succeeded, on the death of the Earl of Dorset, to the high post of Lord Treasurer. “Shrewd, subtle, and penetrating,” he discharged his duties with great ability, and while attending to the interests of his country, forgot not his own, having, “by various methods,” increased his inheritance to a very ample extent.

After taking a prominent part in the affairs of state during Elizabeth’s reign, he was the one who, on her death-bed, succeeded in inducing her to name her successor. Cecil, who was then her Secretary, approached her bed with the lord-keeper and the lord-admiral, and begged the dying Queen to name her successor, when she started and said, “I told you my seat had been the seat of kings; I will have no rascal to succeed me!”—when Cecil boldly asked her what she meant by “no rascal?”—to which she replied, a king should succeed her, and who could that be but her cousin of Scotland? and she begged to be no more troubled. Nevertheless, some hours later Cecil again “besought her, if she would have the King of Scots to succeed her, she would show a sign unto them, whereat, suddenly heaving herself up in her bed, she held both her hands joined together over her head in manner of a crown. Then she sank down, fell into a doze, and at three o’clock in the morning died in a stupor.” Five hours after her death, Cecil proclaimed James of Scotland, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., and thus at once secured the country against conflicting claimants to the crown. Soon afterwards he received the new monarch at Theobalds, who a few days later rewarded him by important offices, and by creating him Baron Cecil and afterwards Viscount Cranborne and Earl of Salisbury. From the moment of James’s accession, through all the troublous times of the gunpowder plot, and all the matters relating to Lady Arabella Stuart, to Sir Walter Raleigh, and others, down to 1612, Cecil’s was one of the most prominent names in the kingdom. In that year “he died, worn out and wretched, at Marlborough, on his way back to court.” In his last moments he said, “Ease and pleasure quake to hear of death; but my life, full of cares and miseries, desireth to be dissolved.” It was this nobleman who exchanged his mansion of Theobalds, with the king, for Hatfield. On his death, his title and estates descended to his only son, William Cecil, who became second Earl of Salisbury; and, dying in 1688, was succeeded by James Cecil, as third Earl of Salisbury. The fourth Earl of Salisbury, also named James, died in 1694, and his great grandson, James Cecil, the seventh Earl, was created Marquis of Salisbury by George III., in 1789. This nobleman had succeeded his father in 1780. He married the Lady Mary Amelia Hill, second daughter of the Marquis of Downshire, by whom he had issue a son, who succeeded him, and two daughters. He died in 1823, and was succeeded, as second Marquis of Salisbury, by his only son, James Brownlow Williams Cecil, Viscount Cranborne, who was born in 1791. His lordship married, first, in 1821, Frances Mary Gascoigne, daughter and heiress of Bamber Gascoigne, Esq., and assumed the surname of Gascoigne-Cecil. By this marriage he had issue three sons, Lord James Emilius William Evelyn Gascoigne-Cecil (who died during the lifetime of his father), Lord Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoigne-Cecil, the present Marquis, and Lord Eustace Brownlow Henry Gascoigne-Cecil, M.P.; and two daughters, the Lady Mildred Arabella Charlotte Henrietta, married to A. J. B. Beresford Hope, M.P., and the Lady Blanche Mary Harriet, married to the late J. M. Balfour, Esq. The marquis married secondly, in 1847, the Lady Mary Catherine Sackville-West, daughter of Earl Delawarr, by whom he had issue three sons and two daughters, Lords Sackville Arthur, Arthur, and Lionel; and Ladies Mary Isabella (married to the Earl of Galloway), and Margaret Elizabeth. His lordship died in 1868, and his widow, the Marchioness of Salisbury, was re-married, in 1870, to the present Earl of Derby. He was succeeded by his son, the present peer.

Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoigne-Cecil, third Marquis and sixth Earl of Salisbury, Viscount Cranborne, and Baron Cecil, Chancellor of the University of Oxford, was born in 1830, was educated at Eton and at Christ Church, Oxford (B.A., 1850, M.A. and Fellow of All Souls’ College, 1853), and in 1853 was returned to parliament as M.P. for Stamford, for which place he sat until, in 1868, he succeeded to the title. In 1866-7 he held the office of Secretary of State for India, and still holds many important local appointments. In 1857 his lordship married Georgina, daughter of Sir Edward Hall Alderson, Baron of the Court of Exchequer, by whom he has issue living four sons, viz., James Edward Hubert, Viscount Cranborne, born 1861; Rupert William Ernest, born 1863; Algernon Edward Robert, born 1864, and another born 1869; and two daughters, Beatrix, born in 1858, and Gwendolen, born in 1860. His lordship is patron of eight livings in Hertfordshire, Dorsetshire, and Essex. The arms of the Marquis of Salisbury are quarterly, first and fourth Cecil, viz., barry of ten, argent and azure, over all six escutcheons, three, two and one, sable, each charged with a lion rampant, argent, a crescent, gules, for difference; second and third Gascoigne, viz., argent, on a pale, sable, a conger’s head, erased and erect, or, charged with an ermine spot. Crests, first, on a wreath six arrows in saltire, or, barbed and feathered, argent, banded, gules, buckled and garnished, or, surmounted by a morion or steel cap, proper (Cecil); second, on a wreath a conger’s head erased and erect, or, charged with an ermine spot (Gascoigne). Supporters, two lions, ermine.

Hatfield House is of vast extent; it is of brick, with stone dressings. It was built between the years 1605 and 1611 by Robert Cecil, first Earl of Salisbury. After being suffered to fall into decay, it was restored and beautified by the sixth earl, about the middle of the last century.[38] In 1835, a great part of the west wing was destroyed by fire (in which the Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury perished), little being left of that part of the house besides the outer walls. On this disaster occurring, occasion was taken to effect a general reparation of the entire building. The house is built in the form of a half H, comprising a centre and two wings, the hollow part being turned towards the south. The centre is a magnificent example of the Palladian style, and, although of mixed architecture, presents, in its totality, a design of great richness and beauty.

The basement-story contains an arcade with eight arches, divided externally by pilasters, whereof the upper parts are fluted, and the lower parts enriched with Elizabethan arabesques. The lower pilasters are Doric, the upper Ionic. The wings are massive and comparatively plain, supported at each corner by square turrets, seventy feet high to the gilded vanes: the space between, comprising three stories, is relieved by a fine oriel window of two stories. The centre tower, over the grand entrance, is also seventy feet high; it has three stories with coupled columns at the corners, the whole having an agreeable pyramidal effect. The third story of the tower contains a clock, and also the armorial bearings of the founder, with the date 1611, in which year the present house was finished. The length of the southern front is 300 feet, the centre being 140 feet, and each wing 80 feet wide, with a projection from the centre of 100 feet.

The northern front is plain—a severe simplicity, nearly allied to grandeur, being its chief characteristic; the centre compartment, with its entrance-doorway below and noble clock-tower above, being the only elaboration it contains.

The south front contains the principal entrance, and, from its symmetry and ornate character, is, architecturally at least, the principal one. The east front has, however, certain advantages, which go far towards making it the most interesting, as it certainly is the most picturesque. The view in that direction, whether from the house or of it, is by far the most pleasing, as the founder well knew when he caused the principal apartments to be placed on this side. The scene from these rooms is of remarkable interest and variety; first there is a noble terrace-walk, with enriched parapet, over which the eye wanders at will among the clustering flowers of the Elizabethan garden, and from thence to the maze, beyond which is the park, with its fine sheet of water surrounded by noble old trees.

Entering the mansion the visitor is admitted into a spacious Hall which leads to the Gallery, in which are preserved many interesting relics of former days. Among these are the saddle-cloth on which “good Queen Bess” sat on her white charger at Tilbury Fort, and another saddle-cloth used by the first Earl of Salisbury, the celebrated Sir Robert Cecil; a large collection of arms, many of which were taken from the “invincible Armada” of the Spaniards; and a number of models and other interesting objects. It contains also several effigies of men in armour, one of which is given in our initial letter.

The Grand Staircase is one of the most magnificent parts of this palatial residence. It occupies, in plan, a space of 35 by 21 feet, and comprises flights with five landings. “The balusters are massive, and carved in the Italian form; above the handrail are represented genii, armorial lions, &c., and here is a hatch-gate, probably to keep the favourite dogs from ascending to the drawing-rooms. The upper division of the ceiling is enriched by a very beautiful pendant in the Florentine style,” relieved by gold and silver and colour. On the walls are hung a series of family portraits of the Cecils by Lely, Kneller, Vandyke, Zucchero, Reynolds, and others. At the foot of the staircase is the Dining-room, panelled throughout with oak, and having an enriched ceiling. Over the door is a marble bust of Lord Burleigh. Near this are the breakfast, summer, drawing, and other rooms, all of which are fitted and furnished in a style of sumptuous magnificence, and contain a vast number of very valuable paintings. Among the pictures contained in this noble mansion are no fewer than five original portraits of Queen Elizabeth, including the celebrated large one by Zucchero; and many portraits, &c., which were the private property of that sovereign.

The Great Hall, or Marble Hall, is 50 feet by 30 feet, and is extremely lofty. It is lit by an oriel window at the upper or daÏs end, and by three bay windows; and is panelled with oak and lined with fine old tapestry. A carved screen, with an open gallery, decorated with armorial bearings, badges, &c., is at the east end, and the ceiling, which is coved and divided into compartments, is decorated with the heads of the CÆsars. Here are deposited two banners presented to the late marquis by the Duke of Wellington—part of the “spoil” of Paris in 1814: here are also two other banners taken in the Crimea.

The Staircase leads, almost direct, to King James’s Room, or the Great Chamber, one of the noblest apartments of the house, the extreme magnificence of which it is not easy to describe; in truth, it is too rich, and the eye turns involuntarily to the grand oriel windows for relief. The ceiling is of exquisite design, and was till recently plain white; now it is all gold and colours. The chimney-piece is massive, of white marble; and a central niche over the fire contains a life-size statue of James I. in dark stone. The fire-dogs are of silver; the furniture and the six chandeliers are gilt; the curtains are of white satin; the chair and sofa coverings are crimson velvet; and the carpet, “patent Axminster,” is of Elizabethan design, worked in brown, gold, scarlet, and blue. This room, which is very large, contains some of the most important pictures, including Reynolds’s portraits of George III. and Queen Charlotte.

The Gallery extends the whole length of the south front; it is about 60 feet long and 20 feet wide. The ceiling is of remarkable beauty, and of the finest examples of a period that was most prolific in such designs. The walls are panelled with oak, and are profusely carved.

The Library, of equal dimensions with King James’s Room, is enriched over the chimney-piece with a fine mosaic portrait of the first Earl of Salisbury—1608. The collection of books and MSS. is of extreme interest and value. Here, among other treasures, are preserved “the forty-two articles of Edward VI., with his autograph;” Cardinal Wolsey’s instructions to the ambassador sent to the Pope by Henry VIII., with Wolsey’s autograph; and a pedigree of Queen Elizabeth, emblazoned, tracing her ancestry to Adam. The state papers in the collection extend through the successive administrations of Lord Burleigh and his son, the first Earl of Salisbury, and include documents which came into Lord Burleigh’s hands through his connection with the court. Here are no fewer than 13,000 letters, from the reign of Henry VIII. to that of James I. Among the earlier MSS. are copies of William of Malmesbury’s and Roger de Hoveden’s English History; a splendid MS., with miniature of Henry VII.; another, with the autograph of Henry VI.; a treatise on Councils, by Archbishop Cranmer; the original depositions touching the divorce of Anne of Cleves; the proclamation of Edward VI. on ascending the throne; the original council-book of Queen Mary I.; historical MSS. by Lord Burleigh; the Duke of Norfolk’s book of copies of his letters on the affairs of Mary Queen of Scots; accounts of the Earl of Northumberland’s conspiracies, and the actual draft, in the handwriting of Sir Robert Cecil, of the proclamation declaring James of Scotland King of England, as well as the papers relating to the gunpowder plot, and to the Raleigh conspiracy, &c. Here are also many autograph letters of Queen Elizabeth, and the famous Cecil papers, “the oak cradle of Queen Elizabeth, the pair of silk stockings presented to her by Sir Thomas Gresham, and the purse of James I.”

The Chapel is a remarkably fine and interesting room, with a richly-painted window, and a gallery decorated with paintings of scriptural subjects.

The Park and grounds are full of fine trees, which from many points offer beautiful pictures, more particularly when seen in combination with the house or garden-terraces. Among the grand old trees in the park are the “Lion Oak,” nearly 60 feet in girth, and a thousand years old; and “Queen Elizabeth’s Oak,” under which she is said to have been sitting when she received the news of her accession to the throne. The Gardens and Vineyard are remarkably beautiful and interesting. The latter, which is entered through an avenue of yew trees forming a picturesque wall on either side, and cut so as to give the appearance of walls and towers, with loopholes and battlements, is immortalised by Pepys.

The Privy Garden, on the west side of the mansion, is enclosed within a high and closely-cut hedge, with a close walk or avenue all around it. In each of the four angles stood a mulberry tree, said to have been planted by King James I., and in the centre is a pond surrounded by rock-work.

The three pairs of splendid entrance-gates, of French metal work, and of the most elaborate and artistic character, were put up by the late Marquis of Salisbury in 1846, when Hatfield House was honoured by the presence of her Majesty and the Prince Consort.

The town of Hatfield presents few objects of antiquity; it stands on the side of a hill, on the height of which are the gates of the mansion. Close at hand is the parish church, a structure with little pretence to architectural beauty.

We may not omit to mention that at the termination of the grounds runs the clear and beautiful river Lee—here of considerable depth. There is no bridge to cross to the other side, where are the kitchen gardens of the house, but a ferry-boat is always at hand.

On a steep above the river is the yew-tree walk—a series of pathways bordered by the venerable trees, dwarfed generally, but producing a most agreeable effect.

In all respects, therefore, Hatfield House is largely gifted by Nature as well as Art.