WOKING THROUGH THE AGES
Tudor Woking
Some of the Tudor remains of Woking PalaceThe Tudor period was good to Woking. Woking was an important Royal Manor, with Lady Margaret Beaufort turning the manor house at Woking into WOKING PALACE. The palace at Woking was later used by her son (Henry VII) and grandson (Henry VIII) - the latter staying at Woking almost every year of his reign! Only after Elizabeth’s time was the Palace finally abandoned and Woking’s Tudor heyday ended.
By then, several ‘new’ properties had been built many of which still survive. Fisher’s Farm (built in the late 15th or early 16th century) is said to have been the home of Lady Margaret’s favourite - Cardinal Fisher. The Old Manor House (begun in the 16th century), may once have been the home of the Steward of the Manor (it was certainly never the Manor House).
The Old manor House, Old Woking High StreetDuring the Tudor period many courtiers must have come to Woking, including gentlemen like Sir Richard Weston of Sutton Place and Sir Anthony Browne - the Master of the King’s Horse during Henry VIII’s reign.
In 1527 Sir Anthony had been made ‘Keeper of the Park’ at BYFLEET and letters signed by him show that he was living at ‘Byfleet Lodge’ in 1534. In 1539 he was responsible for the demolition of Newark Priory after its dissolution. It appears that Sir Anthony did rather well out of the dissolution of the monasteries! In 1547 (according to the Dictionary of National Biography) ‘During the last illness of Henry VIII, Browne with good courage and conscience undertook to tell the King of his approaching end.’
Sir Anthony Browne died at his house in Byfleet in 1548 (less than a year after Henry VIII). His widow - Elizabeth - later married Sir Edward Clinton, the Earl of Lincoln (to whom Elizabeth I later granted the Manor of PYRFORD)!
The Weston family of Sutton Place had mixed fortunes during Henry VIII’s reign.
Drawing of Byfleet manor HouseSir Richard Weston was given the Manor of SUTTON in 1521. Sutton had once been an independent manor, but since the 14th century it had been merged with Woking and the manorial site at Sutton abandoned. In 1523 Sir Richard began work on a new house about a quarter of a mile away from the old site. The house was one of the first undefended country-houses to be built in this country and its architectural style (with moulded terra cotta and brick) has a very Italian feel.
When Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn in 1533, Sir Richard’s son - Francis - was created a Knight of the Bath. Francis was great at sport and games and the King’s accounts show many instances (perhaps too many) of Henry losing to the young courtier! Francis was also close to Anne Boleyn and when Henry tired of his Anne, Sir Francis was one of the men accused of adultery with her. He was sent to the tower and, despite pleas from his family (and the French Ambassador), he was executed on Tower Hill on the 17th May 1536.
Sutton Place in the SpringThe Weston family were also staunch Catholics, but this did not stop them from entertaining royalty. Elizabeth I visited Henry Weston (the son of Francis) on several occasions - with one visit in 1560 being especially memorable. The north wing caught fire soon after she left and eventually had to be demolished!
Linked Pages.
More information on the Saxon, Norman and Medieval period may be found under the pages of the relevant places mentioned in the text above. Friends of Woking Palace
Booklets.
Booklets on ‘The Tudor Buildings of Woking Palace’, ‘Woking Palace in Tudor Times’, ‘A Brief History of Newark Priory’, ‘A Brief History of Sutton Place’ and ‘A Brief History of the Manor of Byfleet’ are also available - please see the list of publications on the HERITAGE WALKS page.
