Shelton Hall is a large estate in the village of
Shelton Shelton may refer to:
Places
United Kingdom
*Shelton, North Bedfordshire, in the parish of Dean and Shelton, Bedfordshire
*Lower Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire
*Upper Shelton, in the parish of Marston Moretaine, Bedfor ...
,
Norfolk,
England. The estate has around of surrounding fields, the names of the fields include "Magic field" and "Echo field" and has a
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...
around the house and another smaller one in one of the fields. There are also many trees, shrubs and a bridge.
The house belonged to the
Shelton family
The Shelton family is a family that was once prominent in the English gentry, and based in Norfolk. Their family seat was Shelton Hall.
John De Shelton, the first Lord of the Manor, was born c. 1140. It is said that Nicholas De Shelton was amon ...
, who reached their zenith during the reign of
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
. John De Shelton, the first Lord of the Manor, was born c. 1140. It is said that Nicholas De Shelton was among those barons presenting ''
Magna Carta
(Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...
'' to
King John King John may refer to:
Rulers
* John, King of England (1166–1216)
* John I of Jerusalem (c. 1170–1237)
* John Balliol, King of Scotland (c. 1249–1314)
* John I of France (15–20 November 1316)
* John II of France (1319–1364)
* John I o ...
, while Sir Ralph Shelton was knighted for his services to
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
at the
Battle of Crecy (1346). In the Tudor period
Sir John Shelton
Sir John Shelton (1476/7 – 1539) of Shelton in Norfolk, England, was a courtier to King Henry VIII. Through his marriage to Anne Boleyn, a sister and co-heiress of Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire of Blickling Hall in Norfolk, he became ...
, the twenty-first Lord of the Manor, and his wife
Anne Boleyn were entrusted with the custody of
Princess Mary and
Princess Elizabeth as children, partly because Anne was the aunt of
Queen Anne Boleyn and the mother of
Mary Shelton
Mary Shelton (1510-1515 – 1570/71) was one of the contributors to the Devonshire manuscript. Either she or her sister Madge Shelton may have been a mistress of King Henry VIII.
Family
Both Margaret and Mary were daughters of Sir John Shel ...
, the mistress of Henry VIII during his marriage to Anne. A portrait of Mary Shelton by Hans Holbein remains in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.
Elizabeth visited her relatives at Shelton and had her own pew in the church of St Mary.
About St Mary's Church
After her coronation she summoned her great aunt's family to London, and their descendants including Audrey Shelton would live at court during her reign.
There is a glazed effigy of Sir John Shelton and his wife in the church. A descendant, Captain James Shelton sailed in 1610 to America with Thomas West, Lord De La Warr, his uncle & brother of his mother, Jane West, Baroness Shelton, thus establishing the Sheltons in Virginia. John Smith in his "General Historie of Virginia" (Volume 2, p. 549) writes that James Shelton was a resident of Jamestown, Virginia in 1620 and that he was a member of the court from 1619–1624. Smith writes that the Sheltons owned property in Virginia and did a large business with Bermuda. As soon as trade opened between Bermuda and Virginia, James Shelton moved from Virginia to Bermuda where he had large grants of land, and died there in 1668.
The current house, dating from the 17th century, with 18th and 19th century additions, stands within the original moat on the site of the Tudor mansion of the Sheltons, which was destroyed by fire. Evidence of the moat of a former settlement remains in the "Dark Park" to the south-east of the current hall.
References
Country houses in Norfolk
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