Boscobel House facts for kids

Boscobel House is a house on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border, near Wolverhamptonand Albrighton, England. It was built around 1632 when landowner John Gifford of White Ladies Priory turned a farmhouse into a hunting lodge. Charles II famously hid in a tree at the Boscobel House to escape discovery by Parliamentary soldiers after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. The tree became known as the Royal Oak

42 days after the Battle of Worcester, Charles escaped to France on a coal ship called Surprise. Nine years later, Charles ll was invited back to England to become king. In 1660, he came back to England to be the king and Charles named that day "Oak apple day".

Related pages

• Escape of Charles II

Images for kids

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  Boscobel House

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  A descendant of the Royal Oak at Boscobel House

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  Alleged priest hole on the first floor of Boscobel House, at present in a bedroom cupboard. Its authenticity is open to challenge.

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  Priest hole on the second floor. At present it is at the top of a staircase, but the stairs were a few feet to the left in the 17th century.

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  The restored parterre garden, behind the 17th-century house constructed by John Giffard.

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  The 16th-century barn which bounds the northern edge of the farmyard.

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  Frontage of the 16th-century farm, adjoining the 19th-century structure, seen in the background. The older building is genuinely timber framed, although the outer skin has been replaced with brick.

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  The wattle and daub construction of the 16th-century building, still exposed where it is partitioned between the dairy and entrance hall.

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  Internal oak timbers, much perforated by woodworm, on the first floor of the 16th-century farm building.

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  16th-century timber framing seen inside the entrance hall, formerly part of an undivided 16th-century hall.

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  The hunting lodge, framed by its own chimney stack and stairway.

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  The hunting lodge from the west. The stucco that covered the original patchwork of brick and daub has false windows painted on, a common practice at the time to avoid paying window tax.

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  The stuccoed "turret" of the hunting lodge, actually a former stairwell that was turned into living and sleeping rooms by the 19th-century modification.

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  The 19th-century farm building, painted in mock-Tudor style. This later building dominates the site from the farmyard and strikes the visitor first.

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  The Entrance Hall, part of the 16th-century farm. A previous division into two floors is still apparent.

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  A dresser in the parlour. 19th-century German reproduction of 16th or 17th-century work.

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  A view into the Oratory from the parlour, showing the fireplace and the portrait of "Dame Joan" Pendrell.

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  Carved chest commemorating 17th-century events – probably 19th-century work on an earlier artefact.

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  The Squire's Room, a first floor room furnished in 17th-century style.

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  The upper floor of the hunting lodge, originally an attic store, but converted into bedrooms in the 19th century.

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  Display of butter-making equipment on the ground floor of the 16th-century farm.

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  Curd mill and cheese press in the dairy display.

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  Water pump outside the 19th-century farm building.

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  Display of farm machinery in the yard: single furrow plough, potato plough, and rakes.

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  The nut garden, an avenue of hazelnut trees.

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  The Mount, with the Royal Oak and the tercentenary oak in the background.

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  The Royal Oak as it appeared in 2011. It was further distanced from visitors after serious cracks were discovered in Autumn 2010.

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  Granddaughter tree of the Royal Oak, planted in 1951 to commemorate the tercentenary of the escape of Charles II.

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  Commemorative plaque on the third generation oak planted in 1951.