More's Travels near London

• Chelsea: More built his family home on a thirty-four-acre farm two miles from London. This location gave him easy access downstream to Westminster Hall, where he did much of his business, and upstream to Hampton Court.
  
• Eltham, Kent: More surprised Erasmus in 1499 by having him come along for an unannounced visit to Prince Henry at the royal palace. The Ropers had their family estate here.
  
• Gobions: More's father owned this country estate in North Mimms, Hertfordshire.
  
• Greenwich: The court at Greenwich was one of King Henry's favorites; it was just east of London, on the Thames.
  
• Hampton Court: Cardinal and Chancellor Wolsey built this magnificent palace in 1514, and Henry confiscated it in 1529 upon Wolsey's fall. More was often in this palace to do business with both Wolsey and Henry.
  
• Lambeth Palace: At twelve, More served as page to Archbishop and Chancellor Morton. It was probably here, at a feast in November 1503, that More delivered the comic poem he is thought to have written in honor of his father, who had become a sergeant-at-law, and his maternal grandfather, who had been elected sheriff of London. Later, More would come to this place to see William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury and former Lord Chancellor of England. Just prior to his imprisonment, More was interrogated in this palace by Cranmer, Cromwell, Audley, and Benson.
  
• Netherhall: More's wife Jane Colt, one of eighteen children, lived on this country estate in Essex.
  
• Shackelwell, Hackney: More became responsible for this magnificent manor and all of its lands when he became the guardian of Giles Heron, in 1523. After More's death, Heron was accused by a disgruntled former tenant of having "mumble[d] certain words touching the King" in the parlor of Shackelwell; he was imprisoned in 1539 and executed in 1540.
  
• Wanstead: This was another estate owned by Giles Heron, a property that Richard Rich acquired after Heron's execution.
  
• Westminster: Here the English Parliament began, and here More practiced law. He served in the Parliament of 1504, which met in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. He met with Wolsey frequently at Whitehall; here, during that famous incident of 1523, he tactfully broke off the Cardinal's "displeasant talk" by complimenting him on his beautiful gallery. More was tried and found guilty in Westminster Hall.
  
• Willesden: Giles Alington, husband of Alice (More's stepdaughter), owned an estate near this town. In 1525 a double wedding took place in Alington's private chapel: Elizabeth More married William Dauncey, and Cecily More married Giles Heron.
  
• Willesden, St. Mary: This shrine to our Lady dates back to the tenth century. More walked the seven miles to make his pilgrimage here.
  
• Windsor: At this castle, built as a fortress by William the Conqueror, More served at Henry's court.
  

The maps on this webpage are copyrighted and are taken from Thomas More: A Portrait of Courage, Scepter Press, P.O. Box 1270, Princeton, N.J., 08542-1270