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
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk the King's attempt to have his marriage to Queen Catherine of Aragon annulled. By 1529, matters of state were being increasingly handled by Norfolk, the Duke of Suffolk, and the Boleyns, who pressed King Henry VIII to remove Cardinal Wolsey. In October, the King sent Norfolk and the Duke of Suffolk to obtain the great seal from the Cardinal. In November, Wolsey was arrested on a charge of treason, but died before trial. Norfolk benefited from Wolsey's fall, becoming the King's leading Councillor and applying himself energetically in the King's efforts to find a way out of his marriage to