For most people, Wolf Hall is nothing more than the title of Hilary Mantel’s book about Thomas Cromwell and the political machinations in the court of Henry VIII.
The real Wolf Hall has been long forgotten. But now remnants of the original house have been unearthed — and with it evidence of some of the extraordinary feasts put on there.
For one meal attended by the king no fewer than 428 birds were slaughtered. Researchers have discovered huge numbers of oyster shells, evidence of the vast quantities of sea food brought up from London to feed the nobility.
Mark Rylance played Thomas Cromwell in the Wolf Hall TV series
GILES KEYTE/BBC
The house — in Burbage, Wiltshire — was the home of the Seymour family, where Henry first showed an interest in his third wife, Jane Seymour.
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