The exact birth date of Anne Boleyn remains a subject of historical debate, yet a statue at Blickling Hall boldly declares she was born there in 1507, anchoring the estate to one of the most consequential figures in English history. While historians like Eric Ives suggest her siblings Mary and George were also born at this Norfolk estate between 1499 and 1505, the house itself was merely a Tudor ruin when the Boleyn family held it. Sir John Fastolf, a wealthy knight who amassed his fortune during the Hundred Years War, owned the property in the 15th century, and his coat of arms still hangs within the walls today. The Boleyns, including Thomas Boleyn who later became the Earl of Wiltshire, lived here before the current mansion was constructed, making Blickling a silent witness to the early lives of the family that would eventually produce a queen and a king. The inscription on the statue, Anna Bolena hic nata 1507, serves as a permanent claim to the estate, even though the building that stands today was not raised until decades after Anne's execution.
The Hobart Legacy
Sir Henry Hobart, the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, purchased the ruins of the Boleyn property in 1616 and commissioned Robert Lyminge to design a new Jacobean mansion that would define the estate for centuries. Lyminge, who also designed Hatfield House, created a structure that replaced the old Tudor building, establishing a grandeur that reflected Hobart's high status in the legal and political spheres. Hobart married Dorothy Bell, the daughter of Sir Robert Bell, a former Speaker of the House of Commons, and together they began a lineage that would transform the estate from a private residence into a sprawling aristocratic domain. Their son, Sir John Hobart, the second Baronet, completed the building of the house and married Frances Egerton in 1621, a union that lasted for twenty years. The couple incurred massive debts during their tenure, and Frances managed to reduce the debt by 6,000 pounds, though she had to constantly forestall her creditors. John Hobart fell ill, and Frances cared for him until his death in 1647, leaving behind only one surviving child, Phillipa, who later married her cousin and her father's heir, Sir John Hobart, the third Baronet.Earls and Remodeling
The estate passed to Sir John Hobart, the fifth Baronet, in 1698, who was later created the Earl of Buckinghamshire in 1746, marking a new era of expansion and architectural modification. This Earl was responsible for creating the ha-ha, a sunken fence that allowed for uninterrupted views of the park, and he built the Doric Temple in the grounds while extending the park by purchasing adjacent land. His son, John Hobart, the second Earl of Buckinghamshire, remodeled the hall between 1765 and 1785, radically altering the interior and exterior to suit the tastes of the Georgian era. The estate eventually devolved to Caroline, the youngest daughter of the second Earl, who was married to William Harbord, the second Baron Suffield. The couple died childless, and the property passed to Caroline's nephew, William Schomberg Robert Kerr, the eighth Marquess of Lothian, who remodeled the west front. The Kerr family maintained ownership for generations, with Philip Henry Kerr, the eleventh Marquess of Lothian, inheriting the estate in 1930 and later engaging gardener Norah Lindsay to remodel the gardens after disparaging comments in Country Life.