Henry VIII and East London History

If you walk past the BSix Sixth Form College building in Hackney’s Clapton area, you may not notice anything too unusual about the site. But, this was once the site of one of the most impressive Tudor homes in the East End and, at one point in time, it was one of the royal palaces of Henry VIII.

The original building that came to be known as King’s Place and latterly Brooke House, may no longer stand, but it has seen some interesting historical action over the years.

The building of Brooke House

In Tudor times, the East End was an attractive area to the nobles of the London court who liked to spend time here to get away from city life. This was a green and pleasant area that was full of woodlands and marshes. It is thought that the main house on this site started to be built in the 15th century. At this point, the land was owned by the Dean of St Paul’s, William Worsley. The original house is held to have been composed around a courtyard and was well known for its brick hall, gatehouse and chapel.

Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell

The estate passed to a couple of other families in the next few years until it was sold to the Earl of Northumberland, Henry Percy, in 1531. He swapped some land with Henry VIII a few years later and the house then became the property of the king for a while at least. Henry gave the estate to his trusted minister, Thomas Cromwell and the house really started to develop under Cromwell’s management.

He redeveloped and expanded much of the buildings, adding new chimneys and glass windows, for example. The house started to shape up as an impressive home and the redevelopment work cost Cromwell a lot of money. However, in 1536 Cromwell gave the house back to Henry – Cromwell was never to actually live there himself, despite all the work he did on it.

Henry VIII and the East End – Hackney’s Royal Palace

Henry visited the estate a few times. His most notable visit, in historical terms, came in 1537. He chose this estate as neutral ground where he could meet with his eldest daughter, Mary. They reconciled here when she agreed to take the Oath of Supremacy. This effectively meant that she accepted that she was illegitimate and that her father was the head of the Church of England.

Following Henry’s death in 1547, the estate was given to Sir William Herbert who had served Henry as a gentleman of the Privy Chamber.

Brooke House after Henry VIII

Herbert sold the estate in 1547 to Sir Ralph Sadleir. He had served Henry VIII at court and had been a protégé of Thomas Cromwell. Sadleir lived locally and had previously built his own home, Sutton House, in the Hackney area. Sutton House is still standing and is a fine example of Tudor architecture. He did not, however, hang on to the house and estate for long, as he sold it to Sir Wymond Carew a year later. The house stayed in Carew hands for the next few decades, but they did not live there and rented the estate out.

One of its most notable tenants was Lady Margaret Douglas who was a granddaughter of Henry VII. She could not enjoy the house as much as she may have liked as her relative Queen Elizabeth I imprisoned her in the Tower of London a couple of times!

The connection with Henry VIII continued, however, after the house passed on to new owners. Richard Carew sold the estate to Henry Cary in 1578. Cary was Ann Boleyn’s nephew. In 1583, the house passed into the hands of Sir Rowland Hayward, best known for twice being the Lord Mayor of London. By the late 1590s, it was owned by the Countess of Oxford, who then sold it to the family who was to give it its most recent name, the Grevilles who held the Brooke baronetcy.

The Grevilles are thought to have substantially altered and developed the house, adding a double courtyard. The house was changed yet again in the early 1700s when the house was sold on and divided up. By the mid 18th century, it was best known not as a royal palace or impressive Tudor stately home but as the local lunatic asylum.

Modern History: Brooke House Today

The house was severely damaged by bombing raids in the Second World War and fell into the hands of the local council in 1944. It made the decision in the mid-1950s to demolish it completely. It may be that people did not fully understand the historical significance of the house at this stage as it had been redeveloped so completely over the years. An archaeological dig was put in place before the house was pulled down, but by that time, it was too late to save Brooke House for the future.

Research More Henry VIII History

10 thoughts on “Henry VIII and East London History”

  1. I’ve come to this site from p248 of Hilary Mantel’s ‘Bring up the Bodies’ (re-reading in advance of the last volume of the trilogy being published tomorrow). She says that Harry Percy ‘was down from his own country for the Garter meeting, and is now at his house in Stoke Newington’.
    Of interest to me as I live in N16 albeit Stamford Hill, rather than SN proper. But we’re talking 1537…which doesn’t quite fit with the dates in the account above.

    Reply
  2. I am very interested in the 18th century era of Hackney and did discover that Brooke Housr was an asylum at this time. I have been trying to identify a house with quite a vague description and location “a large house surrounded with a thick wall and garden, in the district of the Cat and Mutton Fields, on the east side of Hackney Road, leading from the Mile End Road”. Would the location of Brooke House fit this location? Are there other large houses that would better fit the description of the location?

    Reply
    • Cat and Mutton Fields may be London Fields, it is definitely in that area. Brooke house is about a mile north of Hackney Road, so your large house is not Brooke Housr

  3. When I used the Hackney College, Stoke Newington site, library in about 1991 I saw a book entitled “History of Brooke House” or similar. Was this transferred to the Brooke House ( Hackney Community College) site? Did it get moved to Hoxton? Did it stay in BSix? It would be nice to find it.
    One photo showed the sign ” Brooke House: Private Lunatic Asylum” which made the staff laugh.

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    • When I moved from kent to London there were four low rise, new blocks of flats, behind the bombed site of Brooke House. The road was Brooke Road and one of the blocks of flats was called Haworth House. I know there was a Lord Haworth. We lived in Fulke House, will research for connection. I remember the old house very well, should probably have been restored and listed. Henry V111 was a frequent visitor. All ver interesting.

  4. Both sets of my grand parents I believe to be born around that area The Ashton’s William and Elizabeth had 16 children, my mum was one of them Elizabeth Rose Ellen Ashton born 9th December 1918 , the Hopewells John Edward and Mary Ann Thompson lived by the docks in bengeo st Victoria docks my grandfather was in the Navy then worked on the docks my father Edward Prince Hopewell born 26th April 1916 Believe to be one of 12 children served in the navy Cheif petty Officer, I would be greatful if anyone had any information , I have some but would love to know if any family is still alive , my parents moved to Swindon ibefore I was born n the late 50’s my mum died in 1972 and my father in 1965 there is no one left to ask any questions many thanks x

    Reply
  5. Great write up and history of what was to become the site of the school I attended from 1976. We were told but we weren’t interested at the time

    Reply
    • Thanks for your comment. My school in Ilford was built in 1896/1898 from what I remember and I know I was fascinated by that, as my great grandmother was born around the same time.

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