Elizabeth's successor, King James I, did not like the palace much and so gave it to Elizabeth's (and his own) chief minister Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, in exchange for Theobalds which was the Cecils' family home on the current site of Cedars Park, Broxbourne.
During World War II, Hatfield house was the location of the first Civil Resettlement Unit, and acted as Headquarters for the scheme [REF].