Historic Acton Court is about to be featured in two television programmes to mark the 500th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Henry VIII.

The Tudor manor house in Iron Acton, near Yate, once hosted a visit by the king and his second wife, Anne Boleyn.

Historian David Starkey is presenting a four-part series Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant on Channel 4, which started on Monday. Acton Court will feature in the third and fourth episodes at 9pm on April 20 and 27.

Time Team has also been filming at the house for an Easter special presented by Tony Robinson.

Details of the Channel 4 show, Henry's Lost Palaces, will be announced later.

Acton Court was owned by local courtier Sir Nicholas Poyntz, who made alterations in 1585 especially for the royal visit when he discovered the king and his entourage were touring the West Country and his house was on the list of venues.

Sir Nicholas spared no expense in adding an east wing, with 350 craftsmen labouring to get it ready in time.

The state apartments still exist and, during conservation work in 1994, workers discovered the king's en-suite garderobe, or privy, complete with the original plaster, which had remained hidden for centuries behind a false wall.

Clay pipes have also been dug up in the grounds and it is believed that when Sir Walter Raleigh visited Acton Court he gave one of the first public demonstrations of tobacco smoking to the local gentry.

In an interview with the Radio Times, Dr Starkey said he found it "bizarre" that so much historical effort was now focused on the monarch's six wives and his programme marked an attempt to return Henry to centre stage.

He said: "One of the great problems has been that Henry, in a sense, has been absorbed by his wives. Which is bizarre.

"But it's what you expect from feminised history, the fact that so many of the writers who write about this are women and so much of their audience is a female audience. Unhappy marriages are big box office."

He warned that the "soap opera" of Henry's personal life should be viewed as less important than the political consequences of his reign, such as the Reformation and the break with Rome.

This summer, Acton Court will be open to the public from June 16 to August 23. Details are available on the information hotline 0145 422 8224.