Wolfhall Manor
Volume IX Chapters
- A Divided Estate
- Sir William Esturmy
- Sir John Seymour
- An Estate Surveyed
Wolfhall Manor is available online, and can be downloaded from the Apple Store. Please click on the iBooks button for a free sample.
The Wolfhall place name “Ulfe healh” has been dramatically interpreted as the “den of Wolves”. Although the personal name úlfr is an old norse word, which means wolf, the personal name was in common usage in 1086. A reasonable number of estates in the Domesday survey were held by various men called Ulf. The Domesday manor of Hanworth in Middlesex was held by another Ulf. This particular estate became the final abode of Ann Stanhope, widow of Sir Edward Seymour [Lord of Wolfhall manor 1536 - 1552 ] in 1558.
A healh is a corner of land, a secret place, or nook. The Wolfhall estate rests on the edge of the ridge or small plateau occupied by Burbage. The land is cut by four or five triburary streams which flow into the Bedwyn stream, and which have created several deep hidden valleys. There is a sense of remoteness about this estate which is shared with Puthall and Horsehall Hill, the other 'healh' settlements of Bedwyn. Assuming there was an earlier tenant of Wolfhall manor called Ulf, his name may have survived as Ulfe's hall, or corner of land.
Spelling was not a great discipline in the mediaeval period. Hence Wolfhall was sometimes called Wulfhall, Wolphal, or even Ulfela. The modern Wolfhall Farm has three signs, one of which relates to a favourite pastime of the mediaeval lords of the manor. Another advertises Wolfhall farm as a supplier of milk to Cadburys, and the third identifies the Crown estates as the owner of the farm.
A healh is a corner of land, a secret place, or nook. The Wolfhall estate rests on the edge of the ridge or small plateau occupied by Burbage. The land is cut by four or five triburary streams which flow into the Bedwyn stream, and which have created several deep hidden valleys. There is a sense of remoteness about this estate which is shared with Puthall and Horsehall Hill, the other 'healh' settlements of Bedwyn. Assuming there was an earlier tenant of Wolfhall manor called Ulf, his name may have survived as Ulfe's hall, or corner of land.
Spelling was not a great discipline in the mediaeval period. Hence Wolfhall was sometimes called Wulfhall, Wolphal, or even Ulfela. The modern Wolfhall Farm has three signs, one of which relates to a favourite pastime of the mediaeval lords of the manor. Another advertises Wolfhall farm as a supplier of milk to Cadburys, and the third identifies the Crown estates as the owner of the farm.
Where is Wolfhall
The location of Wolfhall is nearly as obscure as the place-name. In 1875, the Reverend JE Jackson went to great lengths to provide directions to what is now a forgotten farm in a remote corner of Savernake forest:
“In order to know exactly where Wulfhall is, you are to suppose yourselves on the railway going from Devizes towards London. Stop at Savernake Station, get out and walk along the towing path of the canal by the side of the railway for about a mile beyond the station, take the first turn to the right, and you are at Wulfhall”
The railway station is now closed, but the manor may still be reached by a pleasant canal walk, following the Kennet & Avon towpath from the former Savernake Forest Hotel. For the motorist, a more convenient route may start at Great Bedwyn, where a short stop at the local bakery can provide refreshments for later exploration on foot. Travelling west from the centre of the village, the route passes St. Mary's church, and takes the road to Crofton. The road meanders through that hamlet, and crosses over the canal to a junction, where a right turn will brings the motorist eventually to a first glimpse of Wolfhall.
A very sharp bend in the road lies within the mediaeval court, or farmyard, of Wolfhall. The modern Wolfhall appears as a number of farm building lying along two sides of a minor road, but in the mediaeval period, local roads terminated at gates to the outer courtyard of the manor. There was no through road.
The location of Wolfhall is nearly as obscure as the place-name. In 1875, the Reverend JE Jackson went to great lengths to provide directions to what is now a forgotten farm in a remote corner of Savernake forest:
“In order to know exactly where Wulfhall is, you are to suppose yourselves on the railway going from Devizes towards London. Stop at Savernake Station, get out and walk along the towing path of the canal by the side of the railway for about a mile beyond the station, take the first turn to the right, and you are at Wulfhall”
The railway station is now closed, but the manor may still be reached by a pleasant canal walk, following the Kennet & Avon towpath from the former Savernake Forest Hotel. For the motorist, a more convenient route may start at Great Bedwyn, where a short stop at the local bakery can provide refreshments for later exploration on foot. Travelling west from the centre of the village, the route passes St. Mary's church, and takes the road to Crofton. The road meanders through that hamlet, and crosses over the canal to a junction, where a right turn will brings the motorist eventually to a first glimpse of Wolfhall.
A very sharp bend in the road lies within the mediaeval court, or farmyard, of Wolfhall. The modern Wolfhall appears as a number of farm building lying along two sides of a minor road, but in the mediaeval period, local roads terminated at gates to the outer courtyard of the manor. There was no through road.
The Tenants of Wolfhall
Wolfhall manor has passed through many hands, and was the home of a large number of mediaeval families. In the early thirteenth century, it was associated with a number of well-placed influential mistresses. By the end of the same century, mistresses of a more respectable kind held the manor, as their less than hardy husbands passed on at an early age. At the end of the fourteenth century, all of the estate was acquired by the Esturmy wardens of Savernake forest. The failure of the family in the male line enabled the west-country Seymour family to succeed to the office of warden in 1427. Famously, Wolfhall was associated with the third wife of King Henry VIII, after he married Jane Seymour in 1536. She was the daughter of Sir John Seymour, the third and last warden of that name.
When he died at the end of 1536, his eldest son Edward became the last warden of Savernake forest. Both father and son entertained King Henry VIII on numerous occasions during the annual summer Royal Progress. Wolfhall appears to have been a popular choice, even without the attraction of Jane Seymour. Surviving financial accounts of some of these visits provide an interesting insight into life at Wolfhall during the early Tudor period.
As Duke of Somerset and Regent of England, Edward Seymour became the first private owner of the forest in 1547. Little good it did him. In January 1552, he was executed at the Tower of London, his ambitions and political career ruined. The fate of Wolfhall manor house mirrored the master. It lay effectively abandoned, and was never again a permanent residence of choice for the Seymours and their descendants.
Wolfhall manor has passed through many hands, and was the home of a large number of mediaeval families. In the early thirteenth century, it was associated with a number of well-placed influential mistresses. By the end of the same century, mistresses of a more respectable kind held the manor, as their less than hardy husbands passed on at an early age. At the end of the fourteenth century, all of the estate was acquired by the Esturmy wardens of Savernake forest. The failure of the family in the male line enabled the west-country Seymour family to succeed to the office of warden in 1427. Famously, Wolfhall was associated with the third wife of King Henry VIII, after he married Jane Seymour in 1536. She was the daughter of Sir John Seymour, the third and last warden of that name.
When he died at the end of 1536, his eldest son Edward became the last warden of Savernake forest. Both father and son entertained King Henry VIII on numerous occasions during the annual summer Royal Progress. Wolfhall appears to have been a popular choice, even without the attraction of Jane Seymour. Surviving financial accounts of some of these visits provide an interesting insight into life at Wolfhall during the early Tudor period.
As Duke of Somerset and Regent of England, Edward Seymour became the first private owner of the forest in 1547. Little good it did him. In January 1552, he was executed at the Tower of London, his ambitions and political career ruined. The fate of Wolfhall manor house mirrored the master. It lay effectively abandoned, and was never again a permanent residence of choice for the Seymours and their descendants.