The 1535 Progress: The Old Palace of Langley, Oxfordshire

The ruins of King John’s Palace, which was inhabited by the royal family till the beginning of the reign of Charles I, are still to be seen in the edge of the forest at a place called Langley; these vestiges of the palace remain: The Queen’s garden, park pool, the slaughter-house, the park closes with stone walls ten feet high, a barn and a farm-house with Gothic arches and windows. The prospect is extensive and beautiful.
Warton 1815

The Old Palace of Langley: A Medieval Pleasure Palace

Perched on high ground south of the village of Shipton-Under-Wychwood is the small hamlet of Langley. Locally famous for being home to a site where it’s traditionally said King John’s Palace once stood, this ‘Langley’ should not be confused with another oft-visited medieval palace, King’s Langley in Hertfordshire, sometimes informally referred to as just ‘Langley’.

Our palace’s origins are obscure. However, Langley was a hunting lodge much-beloved by medieval monarchs. It was a pleasure palace away from the prying eyes of the wider court, which would often remain housed at the nearby Manor of Woodstock. In contrast, the monarch could enjoy the privacy and seclusion afforded by the Old Palace of Langley with a much smaller ‘riding party’, often comprising of a core of the king’s family and closest advisors and friends.

In this instance, we are not pursuing any Plantagenet king. The monarch whose footsteps we follow at Langley is Anne Boleyn, and on this rare occasion, we find the evidence of her presence there penned in Anne’s own delicate hand.

A Short History of The Old Palace of Langley

In the fifteenth century, the manor of Langley belonged to the Nevilles. It passed with Isabelle Neville to her husband, George, Duke of Clarence and became Crown property upon his execution in 1478. From 1485, Henry VII was a regular visitor, and from 1496 onwards, the founder of the Tudor dynasty was responsible for much of the building works at the palace.

Henry VIII favoured Langley like his father, as shown by the number of recorded visits. On 18 July 1535, Queen Anne Boleyn wrote a letter to Thomas Cromwell from ‘my Lord’s manor of Langley’:

As you have heretofore been good to Robt. Powre whom we put to you in service, and have granted him the nomination and preferment of an abbacy for his friend, we request you now to help his said friend to the preferment of the abbey of Wallryall, in Lincolnshire, of which the abbot is lately deceased.

The court had made the twelve-mile journey from Abingdon Abbey, arriving on 16 July and staying for five days before proceeding to Sudeley Castle near Winchcombe on 21 July.  Anne’s brother, Lord Rochford, and her uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, were among the royal entourage.

From Langley, Anne wrote a second letter to Cromwell concerning the wardship of a child, ‘Poyns’, which had been granted to her by the King. It’s clear that there was a matter that needed addressing; however, Anne did not want to trouble the king and requested that Cromwell deal with it:

Mastar Seretery, I pray you despache with spede this matter, for myn honneur lys mouche on ytt, and wat should the Kynges attornne do with Poyns hoblygassion [obligation], sens I have the chyld be the Kynges grace gyfte, but wonlly to trobe(l) hym her haffter, wyche be no mens I woll soffer, and thus far you as well as I wold ye dyd. Your lovyng mestres Anne the Quene.

This was not the first time that Henry and Anne had visited Langley. In September 1529, most of the court was left behind at Woodstock, nine miles away, while the king and a small party moved to this place, one of Henry’s lesser houses. Although there is no way of knowing whether Anne was part of this intimate retinue, the greater privacy afforded by such a visit makes it highly likely.

The royal party returned again to Langley in August 1532, when Henry VIII was given 100 crowns to play at dice; this amount and more he lost to a ‘master Weston’, almost certainly Francis Weston, who had been made a gentleman of the privy chamber earlier that year. On the same day, a servant of ‘my lady Russelles’ was rewarded for bringing a stag and a greyhound to Anne, which Anne then gave to the King.

In September 1534, the court was again at Langley, and later that month, the house was considered a residence for the one-year-old Princess Elizabeth. On 20 September 1534, Sir John Shelton, Anne’s uncle through marriage, wrote to Cromwell:

I received your letter on Sunday afternoon of the Princess’s removal to Langley or Knebworth I know not in what case those houses stand, and whether they be meet for her Grace and her household. Hunsdon, St. Matthew’s eve.

This was not the only time Langley would be named in connection with the Princess. On 9 October 1535, Sir William Paulet informed Cromwell that:

The King having considered the letter to Cromwell from lady Brian and other of the Princess’s officers, has determined that she shall be weaned with all diligence, and that Langley shall be put in readiness. Sends letters to them, and one from the Queen to lady Brian. The King desires the commissions for the despatch of the ambassadors to be shortly sped, and Cromwell to return to him. Salisbury, 9 Oct.

Throughout the sixteenth century, Henry stayed at Langley while hunting in Wychwood Forest, and the house was often used as a satellite for Woodstock.

Recreating The Old Palace of Langley

Occasional repairs were made to the manor house during Henry VIII’s reign; however, very little documentary evidence exists, making it difficult to build a thorough picture of the buildings. 

In 1536, the accounts of James Nedeham, as Clerk of the Works, show that work was done to the King’s and Queen’s wardrobes and lodgings, including new plastering. The account provides us with other fleeting glimpses of the buildings that Anne would have known. We hear about stairs going from the King’s lodgings to the hall, from the queen’s apartments to the inner court, and a flight of stairs leading directly to the ‘king’s garden’. In 1539, the roofs of ‘divers lodgings’ in the inner court were repaired, as were the roofs of the king’s apartments.

The overall picture is fragmentary and not helped by the fact that only a portion of one wing of the manor house survives, incorporated into a nineteenth-century farmhouse. The evidence does, however, seem to indicate that this was only a tiny part of a much larger house, confirmed by the complex of earthworks surrounding it. Clearly, it was comfortable enough to frequently entice the court and to be considered fitting for a young Princess Elizabeth.

The site is now called ‘Langley Farm’ and, although extensively remodelled in 1858, incorporates fifteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth-century fabric, including Tudor walls on the north and west and a lovely bay window of two storeys. It’s still possible to see the initials H E, for Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, on a stone panel at the front of the farmhouse and on stonework above the windows both on the outside and inside of the house.

The house is privately owned and can only be viewed from the street. Although it is currently rented out for self-catering breaks. The now empty field, littered with cow pats, is a far cry from the splendid sight that must have greeted Anne. Still, it’s easy to summon an image of her sumptuously attired, strolling with her ladies in the manicured pleasure gardens, breathing in the scents of summer, auburn highlights in her dark hair catching the sun and her black, profound eyes gleaming with hope.

Visitor Information

In our opinion, the site of the Old Palace of Langley is a haunting place. Its significance is virtually lost, even to the local population.

In Anne’s day, it was close to the extensive Wychwood Forest, which remains in pockets around the nearby town of Charlbury. But today, the location sits isolated and forgotten on a ridge close to Shipton-under-Wychwood, with the current farmhouse standing as the only witness to the site of a once much-loved medieval palace.

Finding the location can be tricky, and you will probably need a map. Perhaps the easiest way is to locate the B4437 between Charlbury and the A361 near Shipton-under-Wychwood. Look out for a crossroads which signpost Swinbrook two and a half miles to the right as you head toward Charlbury. The first turn on your left is signpost Fordwells. Take this turn and continue along the road until you come to a farmhouse. This is ‘Langley Farm’, comprising a main house fronting the road and several farm buildings straddling the lane. A sign, Langley Farm, on one of them tells you you are in the right place.

You can pull over here and wander along the deserted lane. You may even meet the farm owners, as we did the day we were there. Having explained what we were doing, they were very hospitable and showed us around the house’s exterior, which incorporates fragments of the old hunting lodge.

Sadly, you cannot get a good view of all these pieces from the road, and the property is on private land, so cannot be accessed ordinarily. However, in the field to the left of the house, as you stand facing it, you will see earthworks of a ditch, which presumably was once a moat. The field then levels to a plateau; on this plateau, the formal gardens of the palace were once laid out for pleasure.

For rest and refreshment, nearby pubs can be found in Swinbrook – The Old Swan, owned by the Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, or The Shaven Crown at Shipton-under-Wychwood, once part of an old monastic complex, hence the rather unusual name!  Another location within easy driving distance is The Old Palace of Woodstock.

Postcode of Langley Farm: OX29 9QD.

To listen to the podcast episode associated with this blog, click here.

THE NEXT STOP ON THE 1535 PROGRESS IS SUDELEY CASTLE: CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE.

Other Tudor Places of Interest Nearby

Oxford: (15 miles)
Woodstock: (9 miles) (Site of the Old Palace in Woodstock Park)