Background
In 1528, King Henry VIII wrote the following letter to Anne Boleyn:
Mine own Sweetheart, this shall be to advertise you of the great elengeness that I find here since your departing; for, I ensure you methinketh the time longer since your departing now last, than I was wont to do a whole fortnight. I think your kindness and my fervency of love causeth it; for, otherwise, I would not have thought it possible that for so little a while it should have grieved me. But now that I am coming towards you, methinketh my pains be half removed; and also I am right well comforted in so much that my book maketh substantially for my matter; in looking whereof I have spent above four hours this day, which causeth me now to write the shorter letter to you at this time, because of some pain in my head; wishing myself (especially an evening) in my sweetheart’s arms, whose pretty duckkys I trust shortly to kiss.
Written by the hand of him that was, is, and shall be yours by his own will,
H.R.
David Starkey examines the letter in Six Wives and explains that the word ‘elengeness’ means loneliness, dreariness or misery (Pg. 339). He states that Henry would have encountered the word ‘in the continuation of the Romaunt of the Rose by a follower of Chaucer’:
She had a ….scrippe (bag) of faint distresse
That full was of elengenesse.
He goes on to say that Anne would have been familiar with the poem in its original French as well as in the English translation and would have understood the meaning immediately.
‘Elengenesse is a word for lovers, to describe the pangs that only lovers – separated by distance, or necessity, or a false parade of virtue – know. (Starkey, Pg. 340).
Although Anne had only been gone from Court a couple of days, to Henry it felt like ‘a whole fortnight’. He was dreaming of holding her in his arms and kissing her ‘pretty dukkys (breasts)’.
The only two things that comforted Henry was the ‘book’ he was writing to help argue the case for his divorce and the other consolation, ‘now that I am coming towards you methinketh my pains be half removed’.
Carew Manor
Henry had decided that if Anne could not be with him in London, then he would visit her.
‘Or at least he would come almost half way and meet her in the vicinity of Beddington. This was the country seat of his friend and Anne’s cousin, Sir Nicholas Carew. Beddington is near Croydon in Surrey; it is some ten miles from London and about sixteen miles from Anne’s parents’ house at Hever. There Carew had turned his old family home into a ‘fair house (or palace rather)…which by advantage of the water is a paradise of pleasure.’ Even in November, it was a fitting retreat for the would-be lovers’ (Starkey, Pg. 340).
Henry spent four days of ‘business and pleasure at Beddington’ and returned to business in London on the 14 November (Starkey, Pg. 341).
Carew Manor
Carew Manor is located in Beddington Park and was the home of the Carew family. The family moved to Beddington in the 14th century but rose to prominence during the Tudor period.
Sir Nicholas Carew was one of Henry’s young favourites and a member of Henry’s Privy Chamber.
Sir Nicholas Carew by Hans Holbein the Younger
The Manor of Beddington continued in the Carew family until Sir Nicholas Carew was executed for treason in March 1539. His lands were seized and returned to the Crown but his son, Sir Francis Carew, was later restored to his inheritance under Mary I.
The home was rebuilt in its present form in about 1709 and another Nicholas Carew added two extra wings to the home. Unfortunately, a fire shortly after destroyed much of the interior.
The manor was home to the Royal Female Orphange Asylum and today is home to Carew Manor School.
The Great Tudor Hall, which boasts a fine arch-braced hammerbeam roof, still stands today and is the only grade 1 listed building in the Borough of Sutton.
For a more detailed description of the Hall visit Carew Manor Great Hall.
Not only is this an important stop On the Tudor Trail because it is a place that Henry and Anne visited, the grounds also resonate with the memories of other great Tudor personalities.
According to Alison Weir, on 4 May 1536, Jane Seymour took up temporary residence at Beddington Park (Pg. 321). Henry visited Jane discreetly under the cover of darkness.
Local legend has it that Elizabeth I and Sir Walter Raleigh used to take walks in the park and some even say that Raleigh’s embalmed head is buried on the grounds!
The grade I listed Hall is open on select days. Tours run on Sundays only, a couple of times a year. Tours cost £4 and must be booked in advance. Ring 020 8770 4781 for details.
The buildings and grounds of Carew Manor are steeped in Tudor history and I look forward to visiting one day.
References & Sources Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn, 2009. Starkey, D. Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII, 2004. Weir, A. The Six Wives of Henry VIII, 2007. British History Online, viewed March 25 2011, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45372&strquery=Manor%20of%20Beddington Carew Manor Great Hall, viewed March 25 2011, http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1299 History of Carew Manor, viewed March 25 2011, http://www.suite101.com/content/history-of-carew-manor-in-beddington-surrey-england-a270320 The Tudor Carews, viewed March 25 2011, http://www.sutton.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1297
