The Civil War wrought huge destruction on the portfolio of royal houses and in 1660 King Charles II had to re-assemble a collection of residences that would suit his needs. One of these was the acquisition of a large country house where he could take the whole court. In 1666 his eye fell on Audley End, Saffron Walden, Essex that was conveniently located on the way to Newmarket where the king enjoyed the racing.
The house which caught the king’s eye had been built by Thomas Howard earl of Suffolk and sometime Lord Treasurer to James I. It was ruinously ambitious, indeed the largest private house to be built in James’s reign. Howard, determined to be host to James and Anna of Denmark, built his mansion with two suites of royal lodgings facing each other across a courtyard and joined at one end by a long gallery. It was, thus a ready-made royal palace for King Charles.
The third earl of Suffolk, now the owner of the house, was still burdened with debt and keen to sell and, after three years of negotiation, the King bought Audley End for £50,000. The joy of the purchase was that the house was ready for immediate royal occupation and only the most minor changes had to be made to accommodate the royal family. In the end Charles did not use the house much and switched his interests to Winchester. However the house remained a royal residence until William III transferred it back to the earl of Surrey in 1701.
It is now looked after by English Heritage and well worth a visit. Although later alterations have obscured the arrangement of royal apartments the great hall and the saloon are the first two of the king’s chambers. The saloon, originally the presence chamber, is a very rare survival of a Jacobean state room.