| Where: | Blickling, Norfolk at Blickling Hall and London at The Tower of London |
| When: | 19th May |
| Time: | Tower- flowers viewable during afternoon |
In 1536 on 19th of May, Queen Anne Boleyn was executed at the Tower of London, the first Queen of England to be beheaded. A French executioner struck off her head with a sword, on the orders of Henry VIII after a trial in which she was convicted of high treason, with charges including adultery and incest. She’s long been a character of great fascination and is the subject of numerous books, films, tv shows and plays and she’s remembered on the anniversary at both her place of execution and at Blickling Hall in Norfolk, which was one of the residences of the Boleyn family and is believed to the Anne’s birthplace. Roses are delivered annually to the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula inside the Tower, where her corpse was summarily laid to rest, and are also laid outside on the monument that marks the spot where the beheadings of Anne and some other high status prisoners took place in the comparative privacy of the Tower grounds. For a long time, the source of the Chapel posy was cloaked in mystery but apparently it’s been solved as its distant relatives who arrange their delivery. Blickling Hall, now a National Trust property, has a costumed procession along the drive, performed by the Living History team and of course featuring Anne herself and others in Tudor attire.
Helpful Hints
Normal admission charges apply at both venues, and both are on the actual anniversary 19th May.
The flowers stay in place during the afternoon inside the Chapel at The Tower of London- check the website and social media for the opening times (the Chapel has shorter opening times than the general times for the Tower).
Click here for the Tower’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/toweroflondon
and website: https://www.hrp.org.uk/
The procession at Blickling is weather dependent so if it’s too bad it won’t go ahead. Check the Blickling Estate Facebook link below for updates. Also, Anne’s ghost is supposed to appear on this date at Blickling, but I haven’t managed to contact her to confirm…
Click here for Blickling’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BlicklingEstateNT
and website: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/norfolk/blickling-estate
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