When Henry VIII had his dust up with the Catholic Church, he spent about five years from 1536 to 1541 taking possession of the monasteries and sending the priests, brothers and nuns off to do whatever they liked so long as it wasn't anything to do with the church. He even paid them some type of "stipend" as they were flung to the wind.
Then, his clever plan was to sell off the monasteries, pocketing the proceeds. The one stipulation to the sale of the property was that the church or chapel had to be dismantled. He did not want residue left of the old church as he was establishing his new church, the Church of England, also known as the Anglican Church.
One of the early buyers was Sir Robert Grenville. He then fell upon some financial downturns and found it a hardship to continue ownership of a large estate, with a big house, many out buildings and lands to be managed. He offered the property for sale, and the buyer turned out to by his cousin and nemesis, Sir Francis Drake. This house has forever after been known as the home of Drake, though he only lived here for 15 years.
As promised in the original sale, Grenville tore down enough of the church to obliterate it and then he used the stones to redesign the rest of the buildings to make a house for his family.
The house looked pretty much the same as it does today. Several owners made changes to make it more comfortable or more convenient, but basically the house looked pretty much the same.
These gorgeous ornate ceilings were high style in Elizabethan times, and later were installed into houses to fancy them up. The style was then called Elizabethan Revival.
This is the original floor and it is still in reasonably good shape. Plus, for about eight months of the year, tourists walk all over it with no protection. When I asked about the uncarpeted floors, the guide said that actually putting down any type of runner or carpet would attract dust and damp, both being detrimental to preservation.
This is the remaining chapel from the original church. It was saved for use by the family for their religious services.
History buffs will know that Drake was famous for winning the battles against the formidable Spanish Armada. He was a very skilled and experience sailor, having sailed around the world. He was engaged in privateering (aka pirating), and was extremely successful in plundering other ships, especially Spanish ships laden with supplies and/or precious meals (like gold and silver). He also dabbled in the slave trade, either going directly to Africa to pick them up, or just stealing them from other slave ships.
All of this background is to say that he was not a particularly nice guy. But as I said, he was a very skilled sailor. When Queen Elizabeth I needed someone to go out to sea and win the war against Spain, she chose him. He did not disappoint. As a result of his success against the Armada, he became a favorite of hers and was the beneficiary of further business situations which brought him great wealth.
One reason that he was so successful was that he planned every voyage carefully. All, that is, except for his last one. He sailed to Puerto Rico to relieve them of some of their wealth. While near there, he got a case of dysentry and died at sea.
He had had two wives, but no children. Therefore, his estate passed to one of his brothers (there were 11 of them) and the property came down through that Drake over the remaining centuries, until in the last century when the Drake-in-Charge at the time gave the property to the National Trust.
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