Brocket Hall has seen more than its fair share of intrigue. It is a magnificent country house but also much more. The Hall's history is full of tragedy, farce, scandal and romance and some say there might even be a ghost!
Our interest as a nation in history and country houses is a fairly recent notion. For those early generations who built a house on this hill by the River Lea, concerning themselves with any idea of preservation and heritage would have been a very strange prospect. Families were always eager to build themselves a home that reflected their status in society. Anything considered to be old or out of fashion would be demolished, or existing houses would be "modified" to include new wings, exotic frontages and garish columns with very little thought to what we would call heritage now.
Read on for the first part in our History of Brocket Hall series, which tells of the estate's emergence in the 500 year period before the current house was built.
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The earliest evidence of a house dates back to 1239, though it was then called 'Watershyppes' and owned by a Simon Fitz Ade. The first Brocket to arrive here was Sir Thomas Brocket who married one of Fitz Ade's daughters. The Brockets originated from Yorkshire and quickly made Hertfordshire their permanent home. In 1440 the house was rebuilt and renamed.
The Brockets established themselves as one of Hertfordshire's leading families. In 1507, a Sir John Brocket was sheriff of his own county and of Essex. Sir John had a son, another Sir John, who married an heiress, Elizabeth More from Oxfordshire. Their portraits hang above the main stairs and date from 1568.
The elder Sir John was a close ally of Queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth's half-sister, Mary Tudor, sat on the throne and saw her as a threat putting her under house arrest at nearby Hatfield House, owned by the Cecil family. Mary clung to the throne for five years and then died. Legend has it the news that Elizabeth was now Queen was told to the 25 year old princess as she sat reading under her favourite Oak tree. Ever since, the location of that tree has been disputed; Hatfield House have long claimed that the tree stood on their land, but Brocket Hall has also claimed ownership for just as long. In an era when boundaries changed all the time and maps were far from accurate, both could now construct a convincing case if they chose to do so.
During the 17th Century another Sir John managed to survive the turbulence of the Civil War by frequently changing his allegiance. At first, he supported the Royalists and was made a baronet by Charles I. This meant Sir John had to be assessed for a contribution to the Royalist war effort - the King had hoped for around £600 from him. However the survey found that Sir John, although a Baronet, was a very poor one and had only a little money which his father sent him. By the time Sir John inherited his father's wealth, the war was over and he was already a supporter of Cromwell, ruler of the Commonwealth of England. Brocket was given a new baronetcy to replace the devalued one bestowed by the King, and he was absolved of his past support of the crown, acting as commissioner for Hertfordshire for the good of Cromwell's government.
In 1660 the Restoration saw Charles II recalled to the throne and once again Sir John was on the side of the new regime. He made his peace with the crown and in 1673 he again became Sheriff of Hertfordshire.
Sir John had two wives, one of which died in 1657. The other could not bear to live in Brocket Hall in the company of Sir John's mistress and left him after three years of marriage. Sir John Brocket eventually died in 1694 and the estate passed to his son James.
James was a very different animal to his father. He was a very serious young man and went to Rome to follow his interests in religion and politics, only to get smallpox and die in 1712.
There was no male Brocket heir, James left only sisters, and one of them owned Brocket Hall until her death in 1746.
The house was then put up for sale, and along came Matthew Lamb, eager for a country seat. He was full of plans for a grand new house and bought the estate.
