2 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Mr Cresset. Francis Cressett) , Groom of the Privy Chamber extraordinary since Aug. 1660, became Groom-in-ordinary in Dec. 1667. A John Cresset(t) was Groom-in-ordinary from March 1669. (Companion)

Second Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The Cressett family were well known to the Royal Family:

In 1580 Upton Cressett Hall was substantially remodelled by Richard Cressett, High Sheriff of Shropshire for 1584, who encased the building in brick, added large brick chimney stacks and by creating a false ceiling in the Great Hall allowed the creation of first-floor rooms.

Richard was succeeded in 1601 by Edward Cressett, a prominent Royalist who was killed in 1646 at the Battle of Bridgnorth.
Edward's son, Sir Francis Cressett, became Steward and Treasurer to Charles I.

During the English Civil Wars, Upton Cressett Hall was a Royalist stronghold.
The Gatehouse dates from the 16th century and has sheltered Prince Rupert of the Rhine and Charles I.

James Cressett was a senior diplomat during the reigns of William III and Mary II and Queen Anne; he served as envoy at the Court of Hanover in the 1690s and envoy extraordinary to Frederick IV of Denmark in 1700.
For general history, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upt…

Upton Cressett Hall and the Cressett family: both Edward Cressett and his son Sir Francis Cressett played at important part in the Civil War, with Sir Francis Cressett (whose portrait hangs in the Great Hall dining room) being Treasurer to Charles I as well as his personal steward. Sir Francis was probably with the King at Naseby.

When Charles was incarcerated in Carisbrooke Castle in 1648, the king used Francis Cressett, along with a secret cipher code, to communicate with his allies. This code was known by very few Courtiers close to the king, with Francis being mentioned several times as the anonymous person known as ‘A’ in the secret missives.

Prince Rupert stayed in the Upton Cressett Gatehouse during the Civil War – escorted by a ‘troop of royal horse’ in 1646. It had been built in 1580 and was decorated with then-fashionable leather and gilt wall coverings. As the Commander of the royalist troops at Naseby and the King's nephew, Rupert would have known Francis Cressett.

There used to be a famous ‘King’s Chair’ at Upton Cressett (sadly now lost) which was used by Charles I when he visited the Hall to see his Steward and Treasurer.

For more, mostly about protecting the site of the battle of Naseby from wind turbines, see https://uptoncressetthall.co.uk/i…

Rupert slept here: https://uptoncressetthall.co.uk/h…

Upton Cressett Hall now has B&B accommodations, and can be used as a base for touring the medieval market towns of Ludlow, Much Wenlock, Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury. Other local attractions include the famous Royal Oak at Boscobel where Charles II hid up as he fled for his life after the battle of Worcester in 1651.

The Hall, with its huge twisted 16th century brick chimneys and 15th century Great Hall, stands in extensive topiary gardens next to a Norman church and includes one of the finest turreted gatehouses in the country.

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References

Chart showing the number of references in each month of the diary’s entries.

1667

  • Sep