If trees could talk, the specimens standing in the grounds of Chenies Manor in Buckinghamshire would have some fascinating tales to tell. Set amid 400 acres of peaceful countryside overlooking the Chess Valley, the fortified brick house was built in 1460 by Sir John Cheyne as a family home. In 1526, the house passed by marriage to John Russell, a rising star in the royal court, who in 1550 was bestowed with the title of Earl of Bedford. Russell extensively developed the property, and by 1560 it was known as Chenies Palace.
For a hundred years Chenies Palace was the seat of the Dukes of Bedford, during which time it played host to royal visitors Henry VIII and Elizabeth I on numerous occasions. Elizabeth I famously lost a piece of jewellery, so the story goes, while sitting in the topiary garden underneath the canopy of an ancient, gnarled oak.
