Hatfield House

Jacobean house in Hertfordshire, England, standing in a park 16 km/10 mi in circumference. It is the residence of the Marquess of Salisbury and is one of the best examples of Jacobean architecture in Britain. A surviving wing of the Old Palace of the bishops of Ely, built about 1496 by Cardinal Morton, Henry VII's principal minister, stands in the grounds.

The palace was seized by Henry VIII and inhabited by Edward VI and Elizabeth I before their accession. In James I's reign it was given to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, in exchange for Theobalds. Three wings of the palace were then pulled down and the materials used for the foundations of Hatfield, which was built between 1607 and 1611, Robert Lyminge being the master carpenter.

Features The house consists of a central block, with wings projecting southwards from its east and west ends. The principal features of the house are the lofty Marble Hall, with its original carved musicians' gallery and a number of portraits, including two of Queen Elizabeth. There is a third portrait (attributed to Federigo Zuccaro) of the queen, at the foot of the grand winding staircase, which has gracefully carved newel (central stair pillar) posts topped with putti (cherubs) and heraldic beasts. Near the head of these stairs hangs one of the very earliest sporting paintings, the picture of Queen Elizabeth's white horse and its groom, dated 1594.

In the panelled long gallery on the first floor, which runs the length of the centre block of the house, is a carved oak cupboard containing Elizabeth's pedigree, tracing her ancestry back to Adam. In the King James drawing-room, so called from the statue of James I above the fireplace, are family portraits by George Romney, Joshua Reynolds and others, and a portrait by David Wilkie of the Duke of Wellington. The Banquet Hall of the palace contains the visitors' restaurant.