History of the Hall > Royal Visitors

Royal Visitors

Sir Nicholas Vaux, a man "of a generous, liberal and festive disposition, and equally fitted for the camp or the court", entertained King Henry VIII at Harrowden Hall.

During the Civil War, Charles I came frequently to Harrowden to play bowls with the then Lord Vaux. "A quaint old summer house" (gazebo) close to the bowling green is where he and his courtiers used to refresh themselves after their games." The restored summer house now stands proudly in the middle of the first fairway.

In 1876, a girls' school was established here. Probably the most celebrated of the pupils was Princess Kaiulani of Hawaii, who was being groomed for a royal future but died tragically at the age of twenty three.