History

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Wolf Hall - Fact and Fiction​

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"The Mirror and the Light", the third and final part of the Wolf Hall trilogy by Hilary Mantel published in 2020, includes an important scene set at Shaftesbury Abbey.  This has now been dramatised in episode 2, series 2 of the BBC Wolf Hall drama.  Thomas Cromwell, portrayed by Mark Rylance, visits Shaftesbury Abbey and meets a young nun, Dorothea Clancy, portrayed by Hannah Khalique-Brown, alongside the Abbess, Elizabeth Zouche, portrayed by Amanda Root.

 

We do not know whether Cromwell ever visited Shaftesbury Abbey, but both Elizabeth Zouche and Dorothea Clancy (aka Dorothy Clusey) are real historical figures.  Dorothea/y was the illegitimate daughter of Cardinal Wolsey and was secretly placed in the Abbey.  There is correspondence from her adoptive father, John Clusey, asking Thomas Cromwell to intercede with the Abbess to allow Dorothy to remain at the Abbey.  There is no record of Abbess, Elizabeth Zouche's reply, but Dorothy was on the list of nuns receiving a pension when the Abbey was dissolved in 1539 on the orders of Cromwell.  

 

Unfortunately the destruction of the Abbey buildings was too thorough for the Wolf Hall scene to be filmed here in Shaftesbury, but the ruins are beautifully picturesque and tranquil, and our museum reveals many other fascinating historical stories.
 

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