The Vyne, a Hampshire country house in the care of the National Trust, has always been a building of great interest. Much of this appeal is due to the way in which different periods of construction and furnishing interlock with each other, and to the links the house has with the Tudor period, and particularly with the court of Henry VIII. However, until archaeological recording was carried out during 1996-98, the early Tudor house was largely misunderstood. The extent and extraordinary character of this great house, built for King Henry's Lord Chamberlain, Willian Sandys, and his wife Margery, is now revealed for the first time, both in the context of a great courtier's life and against the broader background of archaeology as a constantly changing technique.