The King's Chamber
Leading off the Gallery is the room known as the King's Chamber where slept James I in 1604 and Edward VII in 1901.
The remarkable chimney-piece dates from the renovation of 1554, the lower half being of stone while the overmantle is of stucco. The central panel shows dryads (spirits of the wood) dancing round an oak and beneath is an inscription from Ovid.
Whereas the Queen Anne's room chimney-piece is essentially English and solid, this chimneypiece is French, fresh and very lively and is similar to work in the Galerie Francois I at Fontainebleau. Sir Simon Jenkins in England's Thousand Best Houses calls it "a work of national importance". It is known that chimney-pieces of a similar style were made for Henry VIII for Nonsuch Palace, but none has survived.
The wallpaper is eighteenth century Chinese hand painted.
The bed was made in 1992 by Robin Furlong of Great Wonford in Gloucestershire. Constructed in a special 'stainey' oak. It records the belief that every house
should contain some contemporary artifacts designed and made by skilled craftsmen.
Photograph from the Broughton Castle Guidebook (Photographs © the estate of Mark Fiennes, and Andrew Lawson)
