Drawn by Thomas Sadler and engraved by James Collins. This view was included in David Mortier’s ‘Britannia Illustrata’ first issued in 1707. A very fine large engraving of Hatfield House in Hertfordshire built by Robert Cecil, Ist Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to King James I from 1607 to 1611. The Estate has been in the Cecil family for 400 years, one of England’s foremost political families. The Royal Palace of Hatfield (c 1485) in the West Garden is where Elizabeth I spent most of her childhood. In the Park, an oak tree marks the place where the young Princess Elizabeth first heard of her accession to the throne.