The Old Court House The Old Court House The Old Court House is a Grade II* listed house located off Hampton Court Green in Richmond upon Thames in south west London whose origins date back to 1536. The architect Sir Christopher Wren, who lived there from 1708 to 1723, was given a 50-year lease on the property by Queen Anne in lieu of overdue payments for his work on St Paul's Cathedral. The lease passed from Wren's son to his grandson. It was purchased from the Crown Estate in 1984. King Henry VIII obtained the newly built Hampton Court Palace from Cardinal Wolsey in
Leicester Abbey the abbey. It was during Abbot Pescall's tenure, in 1530, that Cardinal Thomas Wolsey visited the abbey. Wolsey was an influential minister in the government of King Henry VIII. He fell from favour after failing to secure papal permission for Henry to divorce his wife Katherine of Aragon, and on 4 November 1530 was arrested for treason. While en route from Yorkshire to London, where Wolsey would be held prisoner, he fell ill. The journey took Wolsey through Leicester, and he arrived at the abbey on 26 November, declaring: ""Father abbott, I ame come hether to leave my bones among