Old Gorhambury House located near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England is an Elizabethan mansion, built in 1563-8 by Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper, and twice visited by Queen Elizabeth.^[1] St Albans is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35. ... Hertfordshire (pronounced Hartfordshire and abbreviated as Herts) is an inland county in the United Kingdom and part of the East of England Government Office region. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... Sir Nicholas Bacon (1509 - February 20, 1579) was an English politician during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. ... The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. ... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ...

The house was built partly from bricks taken from the old Abbey buildings at St Albans, then in process of demolition following the Benedictine priory's dissolution some 25 years earlier.^[2] It was used as a residence by his youngest son, the polymath (scientist, philosopher, statesman and essayist) Sir Francis Bacon, before being bequeathed by him to his former secretary, Sir Thomas Meautys, who married Anne Bacon, the great-granddaughter of the Lord Keeper. Abbey gateway St Albans Abbey was an abbey at St Albans, Hertfordshire, England, dissolved in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. ... A Benedictine is a person who follows the Rule of St Benedict. ... A priory is an ecclesiastical circumscription run by a prior. ... The Dissolution of the Monasteries, referred to by Roman Catholic writers as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the formal process during the English Reformation by which King Henry VIII confiscated the property of the monastic institutions in England between 1538 and 1541. ... Leonardo da Vinci is seen as an epitome of the Renaissance man or polymath. ... The physicist Albert Einstein is probably the most famous scientist of our time. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... The term statesman is a respectful term used to refer to diplomats, politicians, and other notable figures of state. ... An essayist is an author who writes compositions which can be about any particular subject. ... Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban, KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman and essayist but is best known for leading the scientific revolution with his new observation and experimentation theory which is the way science has been conducted ever since. ...

The estate passed in 1652 to Anne's second husband Sir Harbottle Grimston, Master of the Rolls and Speaker in the Convention Parliament of 1660. The estate is owned by the Grimston family to the present day, having been passed via Harbottle Grimston's son Samuel, who died childless in 1700, to his great-nephew William Luckyn, who in turn became the first Viscount Grimston in 1719.^[3] Sir Harbottle Grimston (January 27, 1603 - January 2, 1685), English politician, ond son of Sir Harbottle Grimston, Bart. ... The Master of the Rolls is the third most senior judge of England, the Lord Chancellor of Great Britain traditionally being first and the Lord Chief Justice second. ... In the United Kingdom, the Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, and is seen historically as the First Commoner of the Land. ... The term Convention Parliament has been applied to three different English Parliaments, of 1399, 1660 and 1689. ... // Events January 1 - Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. ... Earl of Verulam is a peerage title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom created in 1815. ...

Towards the end of the 18th century, in 1777-84, a new building was built nearby (the current Palladian-style Gorhambury House, designed by Sir Robert Taylor and commissioned by James Bucknall Grimston, 3rd Viscount Grimston). Old Gorhambury House itself was left to fall into ruin. The surviving remains include a two-storey porch, chapel and clock tower.^[4] Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Italian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). ... Sir Robert Taylor (1714 – 1788) was a notable English architect of the mid-late 18th century. ...

External links

• Old Gorhambury House - English Heritage webpage
• Photographs of Old Gorhambury House
• Photographs of the Gorhambury estate, including the ruins of Old Gorhambury House
• Hertfordshire Genealogy webpage on Gorhambury
• Webpage regarding Old Gorhambury House on Sir Francis Bacon's New Advancement of Learning website, including anecdotes about the young Francis Bacon's conversations with Queen Elizabeth
• Tour UK webpage for the current Gorhambury House
• The Gorhambury Estate & Leverstock Green

References

1. ^ English Heritage website
2. ^ Hertfordshire Genealogy webpage
3. ^ A History of the County of Hertford Vol. 2 pp.392-405
4. ^ English Heritage website