We also encountered an interesting fact about the special locks on doors in a couple of rooms of the house. Remember that this was the childhood home of Anne Boleyn, who would become one of Henry VIII's queens. Henry VIII visited this house when he was courting Anne.
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| Henry VIII |
HENRY VIII's UNIQUE LOCKS - We learned that whenever Henry VIII traveled he brought locksmiths, who attached special locks on doors to rooms in other people's homes he visited (for security). Historians know that Henry VIII dined in this room because one of his special gilt locks are still affixed to one of the doors. There were two gilt locks on each of the doors to this dining room, and another in the bedchamber where Henry VIII slept in the house. Can you imagine visiting someone's house and bringing a locksmith to put special locks in the rooms you went into?
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| Dining room and Clipsham Fireplace. Credit: http://www.squaremeal.co.uk |
GEORGE'S GHOST IN THE MORNING ROOM - This room was known as a "private retiring room" in Tudor times, George Boleyn's ghost followed us in this room and I felt the same burning pain, but this time on the back left side of my neck.
WHAT WAS GEORGE'S GHOST TELLING ME?
When I think of the pain on the back left side of my neck, coupled with the pain on the elbow in the other room, it was almost as if George was sitting with his back to the fireplace and the heat burned his neck and elbow.
QUIRKY FACT: WHAT IS A "PRIEST HOLE"?
One of the former owners, Henry Waldegrave, carved his initials, "H.W." in the stone around the fireplace. During the reign of Henry VIII's daughter Elizabeth the first, when Catholic Mass was forbidden, the Waldegrave's owned the home and built a secret "priest hole." That's a closet where a priest could hide if needed.
NEXT: ANNE BOLEYN'S BEDROOM AND A DOG SITE
