Place name
Like the adjoining Cardinal Drive, this is named after Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (March 1473 – November 29, 1530), the Archbishop of York, statesman and Cardinal of the Roman Catholic church. Under Henry VIII, as the King’s almoner, he became the controlling figure in virtually all matters of state carrying out his duties with vigorous efficiency, though not without his own personal extravagance. He rearranged England’s tax affairs so that the wealthy would pay most, he made allegiances and friendships and negotiated treaties among much else. He pursued an active foreign policy, endeavouring to utilise to England’s advantage the rivalry between Francis I of France and the emperor Charles V. It was Wolsey that organised the royal summit that brought Henry with his French counterpart at the Field of Cloth of Gold, so named after the extravagance of the meeting which included huge retinues, in 1520. But despite its splendour the event produced little in terms of real achievement. His moves to become Pope only resulted in a lose of English influence in the later 1520s. It was the failure of his greatest diplomatic test that brought his ultimate downfall, after failing to negotiate Henry’s annulment to Catherine of Aragon (Charles V’s aunt), he fell out of favour and was stripped of his titles. He died in disgrace after a short illness on his way from York to London to face the charges of treason. This is one of a cluster of local streets, the so-called Tudor Estate, that were laid out in the 1950s on the site of Fencepiece Farm, a former fenced clearing in Hainault Forest. One of the remaining parts of the ancient Forest of Essex, this royal woodland had been used by English kings and queens as a hunting ground for centuries. Near its centre stood an Elizabethan house known as Chappell Hainault. Following an Act of Parliament in 1850 the forest was disafforested meaning it was no longer a royal forest or the property of the Crown. It was broken up and sold as farmland which was later developed for housing.
