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Master Tobacco Pipe Maker with Tracy Borman OBE -
Master Furniture Maker -
Furniture Makers' staircase
Tracy Borman OBE: Ann Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell and Austin Friars
16th July 2026Furniture Makers' Hall
An invitation not to be missed!
A talk on Ann Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell by Tracy Borman OBE, Chief Historian of Historic Royal Palaces, was too tempting to resist. I quickly bagged two tickets – one for myself and one for my sister, a fellow Tudor history enthusiast – and we set off for Austin Friars.
The Furniture Makers' Hall is tucked away behind the modern Dutch Church, on the northern side of Austin Friars where Thomas Cromwell established his magnificent London home in the 1530s. Built in 1882, the Hall survived the Blitz relatively unscathed, while the church opposite, whose origins dated back to the 1300s, was almost completely destroyed. The Hall has since been beautifully modernised, although a contemporary mahogany circular staircase still rises elegantly from the entrance hall. Lists of Past Masters by the front door include members of the famous Ercolani and Perring furniture-making families, and I was delighted to meet and chat with Ian Peers, Operational Director at Ercol in High Wycombe.
The doors were due to open at 5.00 pm, so we arrived early and joined the growing crowd enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, perched on benches, walls and every available ledge outside the Dutch Church, all eagerly anticipating what promised to be a fascinating evening.
We were welcomed into the Hall by Jessica, Master Furniture Maker, and settled into our seats. Tracy delivered an absorbing and beautifully illustrated talk, exploring how the lives of two seemingly very different people – Anne Boleyn, the ambitious noblewoman who became Henry VIII's second queen, and Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith's son from Putney who rose to become the King's chief minister – became inextricably intertwined. Initially political allies, they eventually became bitter enemies, their rivalry contributing to a chain of events that ultimately destroyed them both.
After Tracy's talk, which included a photograph of her own wedding at the Tower of London, Jessica gave a fascinating account of the history of Austin Friars, explaining how Cromwell had transformed what had once been a modest friary into one of the grandest private residences in London. She described where the house had stood and how it would have appeared, together with some of the rather ruthless and occasionally nefarious methods Cromwell employed to acquire neighbouring land and extend his estate.
The evening concluded with Tracy signing copies of her latest books before everyone gathered for drinks and canapés. As we drifted away into the warm City evening, crossing Austin Friars on our way to Liverpool Street, it was impossible not to imagine that we were treading in the footsteps of Thomas Cromwell, his household and the countless Tudor Londoners who had walked those same streets nearly five hundred years before.