HISTORY OF OTLEY HALL
Otley Hall has long been regarded as the oldest house in Suffolk to have survived largely intact, with many rooms remaining unchanged for 500 years. The Hall is an impeccable example of tudor architecture and is steeped in history.
Surrounded by serene countryside, Otley Hall has a magical, timeless atmosphere where the present is inextricably interconnected with the past. Step back in time to discover the fascinating historic moments that took place within its walls, including how Bartholomew Gosnold planned his two voyages to become the first settlers the United States, and how Otley Hall may have inspired some of Shakespeare’s greatest works.
THE GOSNOLD FAMILY
There has been a country residence at Otley Hall since the 12th Century (then known as Netherhall Manor) when the Otteleys were the Lords of the Manor, however, the most noteworthy name in the Hall’s history is the Gosnold family, who resided at Otley Hall for over 230 years from 1440.
The Gosnold family were educated lawyers and built up their status within East Anglia and proximity to the Court through important legal positions, including Justice of the Peace for Suffolk and Solicitor-General for England, and a series of beneficial marriages into noble families.
The family had links to many remarkable figures including Sir Cardinal Wolsey, the Earl of Essex, Francis Bacon and the 17th Earl of Oxford. Two of the most significant marriages were between Robert Gosnold III and Ursula Naunton (1559) and their son John Gosnold to Winifred Windsor (1599), a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. Through his marriage to Ursula Naunton, Robert III became associated with Edward de Vere (the 17th Earl of Oxford), who some regard as the author of Shakespeare’s plays.
BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD & THE NEW WORLD
Bartholomew Gosnold (1571-1607) is perhaps the most renowned name within the Gosnold Family, being instrumental in the founding of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America and founding a new civilisation.
His uncle, Robert Gosnold III, established connections with the 2nd Earl of Essex and arranged for him to join the Cadiz and Azores expeditions of 1596 and 1597, fuelling Bartholomew’s desire to explore the world further.
In March 1602, the Concord set sail from Falmouth for North Virginia, with Bartholomew Gosnold as the nautical captain. He pioneered a successful direct route to the New World, becoming the first recorded European expedition and named some of his discoveries Cape Cod and, after his infant daughter, the picturesque Martha’s Vineyard that we know today. Unfortunately, their expedition failed to establish a settlement in the New World. Soon after returning home, Bartholomew began organising a new voyage, for which Otley Hall was used as a recruiting base.
In 1606, 13 years before the famous Mayflower landed from Plymouth, the Godspeed set sail for the New World. Gosnold was a ‘prime mover’ of the Virginia Company expedition that, in April 1607, arrived in Virginia and went on to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America and becoming the modern USA that we know today. It is believed that these two significant voyages could have been planned at the hearthside of The Great Hall.
THE LINENFOLD PANELLING & HAMPTON COURT PALACE
When Robert Gosnold I became Justice of the Peace for Suffolk in 1524, it is thought that he may have become acquainted with Cardinal Wolsey, who acquired the King’s lands in Otley in 1528.
The exquisite panelling in the Linenfold Parlour is believed to have come from Hampton Court Palace when Sir Cardinal Wolsey came to Ipswich. It resembles the style of panelling in Hampton Court, with a design including pens, paintbrushes, flutes, and legal scrolls – the disciplines of the new Renaissance Humanism.
In the 1520s, it was customary for a person moving to a new house to take panelling with them and so, when Wolsey left Hampton Court Palace, he may have taken it with him to Suffolk. Cardinal Wolsey is thought to have stored the panelling at Otley Hall, intending to use it at a school he opened in Ipswich, which was closed by Henry VIII before the panelling could be installed.
THE EARL OF OXFORD & SHAKESPEARE
In 1588, Robert III built ‘the Playhouse’ wing of Otley Hall, possibly because of his cousin Edward de Vere’s success in the theatrical world. Indeed, it is suggested that Elizabeth I granted de Vere (the 17th Earl of Oxford) a yearly annuity as recompense for producing Shakespeare’s plays. Some Historians believe that the 17th Earl of Oxford was the author of Shakespeare’s plays and maintain that Hamlet and Othello could have been completed in 1588/9 when he may have been staying at Otley Hall and advising on the theatre.
Visitors who come in search of Bartholomew Gosnold, Cardinal Wolsey and the Earl of Essex come face to face with the identity of Shakespeare and the link between the geography of the Tempest and Bartholomew Gosnold’s 1602 voyage to the New World.
Over the years, the theatre was used to host many Suffolk nobles and numerous Globe Theatre productions have stayed at Otley Hall to rehearse in the stimulating Elizabethan surroundings to draw inspiration from the Elizabethan architecture and early theatre.
