Hatfield is the largest private estate in Hertfordshire.

The Old Palace has stood since 1485. It was built by the Bishop of Ely, John Morton, and is one of the foremost examples of mediaeval brickwork in the country. The Banqueting Hall retains most of its original roof timbers, many of which are marked with gunshot, apparently because sparrows flew in and were shot at when the building was later used as stables.

There have been deer parks at Hatfield House since its inception, with both fallow and red deer roaming the estate. In medieval times deer parks were used mainly as venison farms and for hunting.

Due to necessity, most of the herd was culled during World War I. However, in the mid-1990s the family created a new deer park on the estate.

Henry VIII acquired the Palace from the Bishop of Ely in 1538 and used it as a nursery for his three children, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward.

By all accounts Elizabeth had a happy childhood at Hatfield, but circumstances changed when her half-sister, Mary, came to the throne in 1553. Mary feared that her enemies might plot to place her Protestant sister on the throne, so Elizabeth was effectively kept under house arrest at Hatfield.

In 1558, Elizabeth was sitting under an oak tree in the park at Hatfield when she learned of her succession to the throne.

One of her first acts was to call her trusted advisors, including William Cecil, later Lord Burghley, together for her first Council of State which was held in the banqueting hall of the palace

In 1607 James I exchanged the palace at Hatfield for Theobalds, the home of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury. Cecil demolished three-quarters of the original building at Hatfield and began again with a new manor house.

Robert Cecil was appointed Lord Treasurer in 1607, as well as Chief Secretary, but he became ill and died just five years later. Although he was buried in Hatfield, he didn’t live to enjoy the house that was to become the home of his descendants for the next 400 years.

During World War I, Hatfield House took on a very different capacity to the royal palace it once had been.

The expansive grounds were the ideal location for the trial of a new kind of weapon.

On January 26, 1916, the first tank, known as ‘Mother’, was sent by train to Hatfield.

Members of the 3rd Battalion Herts Volunteer Regiment and a company of engineers set about digging trenches and creating obstacles for the tank to traverse.

On February 2, the first official trial of the tank took place. Those in attendance included Lord Kitchener, David Lloyd George and Prime Minister Herbert Henry Asquith.

A few days later, George V visited Hatfield for a demonstration of the tank, and even took a ride in it.

After the successful trial the first tanks went into production.

The impact of the tank was clear in helping the Allies to win certain battles, but it wasn’t long before a tank was captured by the Germans and they developed their own armoured vehicles.

After the war, Winston Churchill wrote to the 4th Marquess at Hatfield to thank him for his assistance and to ask whether he would like one of the original tanks. The Mark I tank, now the only remaining survivor of its model, was presented to the 4th Marquess and remained in Hatfield Park until 1969, when it was gifted to the Bovingdon Tank Museum.

Even if you have never visited Hatfield, chances are you’ve seen it on screen. It is a popular choice for productions and has been used as a location for The King’s Speech, Batman Begins, Harry Potter, Paddington, Shakespeare in Love and many more.

Today, Hatfield House is the home of the 7th Marquess and Marchioness of Salisbury.