Penshurst Place

Penshurst Place was built as a hall house in 1341 for Sir John de Pulteney, a London merchant and four times Lord Mayor of London who wanted a country residence within easy distance of London. This was at the time when such properties ceased to be castles: they were more dwellings that could be defended in an emergency. it then stayed in the crown estate for the rest of Henry's reign, with documented evidence Henry used Penshurst Place as a hunting lodge and visiting with his courtier Brandon, the property being only a few miles from Hever Castle, the childhood home of Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn. In 1550, Henry VIII's son, King Edward VI, granted the house and estate to Sir Ralph Fane,…