Theobalds Park now Cedars Park

An important Elizabethan renaissance garden was made by William Cecil, Lord Burghley after 1575 with help from John Gerard. The Tudor Palace, where Charles I spent much time as a boy, was completely destroyed after his execution. Many fragments of garden wall from different dates survive. An archaeological report, funded by the Heritage Lottery was undertaken by Oxford Archaeology and published in 2008.
The sixteenth century garden comprised a Privy Garden and a Great Garden with fountains and knots (approx 1 hectare square). A fragment of an eighteenth century grotto survives and as part of the conservation work undertaken after 2011 a new maze was created. It was formed with gravel paths, mown grass and a hedge (materials which would not have been used for the original maze). The name "Theobalds Park" was taken on and used by a De Vere hotel.