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BLICKLING HALL

Norfolk, England

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Blickling Hall - History

The magnificent Blickling Hall that stands today was built during the reign of King James I, by the Holbert Family, on the ruins of the old Boleyn family property. During the Second World War Blickling Hall was requisitioned by the RAF and served as the officers mess for the nearby Oulton air base. It was at this time that the estate was passed to the National Trust. Blickling Hall in Norfolk has recently topped a National Trust poll as the Trust's Most Haunted Building.

Blickling Hall was in the possession of the Boleyn family between 1499 and 1507. There is a statue and portrait of Anne Boleyn in the Hall, the statue is inscribed "Anna bolena born here 1507".

Anne Boleyn, daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and niece of the Duke of Norfolk, was lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon the first wife of Henry VIII. Henry had been married to Catherine for 18 years when he became besotted with Anne, determined to marry her he sought to have his marriage to Catherine annulled. Unfortunately, Pope Clement VII refused to annul the marriage, but Henry was not to be denied.

Henry VIII had Parliament pass a law abolishing appeals to Rome on the subject of marriage. Thomas Cranmer the Archbishop of Canterbury declare the marriage illegal and void. This was to eventually lead to Henry VIII declaring himself "the Supreme Head on earth, under God, of the Church of England" in the Act of Supremacy, the break with Rome and the Reformation in England.

Henry VIII married Anne Boleyn in a secret ceremony, but she was unpopular with the masses who considered her to be an upstart, a schemer and a witch. She bore Henry a daughter, Elizabeth, but failed to produce a son and within 3 years Henry had tired of her and determined to rid himself of her. She was arrested on a charge of treason by adultery with a number of young men, including her brother George. George and the other men were found guilty of adultery and plotting to kill the king, they were all beheaded.

Sentenced to death by her own uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, Anne was beheaded on the 19th May 1536, on Tower green outside the Tower of London by a skilled swordsman specially imported from France specially for the occasion. This was her husband's one merciful concession to his fallen Queen.

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Blickling Hall-History
Blickling Hall-Ghosts

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