Around 1208 the Manor of Cobham was granted to William de Cobham, whose principal family seat was at Cooling Castle. It is not certain when the present Hall and its deer park were first established but the de Cobham’s were granted free warren on their estate in the 1340’s. The original deer park was probably the area labelled The Ould Park on Norton’s map of 1641, now given over to the golf course. By the 15th century the ownership of Cobham had passed through marriage to the Brooke family, who developed the Hall and its formal gardens; which by the mid 16th century were ranked as one of the four greatest gardens in England.
William Brooke, 10th Lord Cobham, commenced the rebuilding of the house in the early 1580s and embarked on a thorough remodelling to create a hall impressive enough to match his standing at court. Work continued on the house under Henry, 11th and last Lord Cobham, who was implicated in a plot against the King in 1603 which resulted in the forfeiture of his honours and estates. The Cobham estate then passed to the Crown; James I granted much of the former Cobham Hall estate to his Stuart kinsmen, the Dukes of Lennox and Richmond, in 1612.
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