Eltham Palace
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Eltham Palace is a large house in Eltham, within the London Borough of Greenwich, southeast London, England; it is currently owned by English Heritage and open to the public. It has been said the internally Art Deco house is a "masterpiece of modern design".[1]
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[edit] Historic palace
The original palace was given to Edward II in 1305 by the Archbishop of Durham, Anthony Bek, and used as a royal residence from the 14th to the 16th century. According to one account the incident which inspired Edward III's foundation of the Order of the Garter took place here. As the favourite palace of Henry IV it played host to Manuel II Palaiologos, the only Byzantine emperor ever to visit England, from December 1400 to January 1401, with a joust being given in his honour. There is still a jousting tilt yard. Edward IV built a Great Hall in the 1470s, and Prince Henry also grew up here; it was here that he met and impressed the scholar Erasmus. Tudor courts often used the palace for their Christmas celebrations. In the 1630s, by which time the palace was no longer used by the royal family, Sir Anthony van Dyck was given the use of a suite of rooms as a country retreat. The palace never recovered from its neglect during the English Civil War.
The current house was built in the 1930s on the site of the original, and incorporates its Great Hall, which boasts the third-largest hammerbeam roof in England.[2] Fragments of the walls of other buildings remain visible around the gardens, and the 15th century bridge still crosses the moat. A little known fact about eltham palace, is the existence of at least 3 escape tunnels. they exit in various parts of eltham. one used to exit in the garden of the vicarage, which used to be adjacent to eltham baths.[unfortunately demolished many years ago]another exits in avery hill park, if you enter the park from southend crescent, next to the church, walk in about 40 yard and on your left you will see the remains of a brick construction. the third tunnel exits in the grounds of what was a farm, just up the road from the palace, its actually right next to a scout hut, which in my youth was used by the 2nd royal eltham scout group.
[edit] Modern house
In 1933 Sir Stephen and Lady Virginia Courtauld acquired the lease of the palace site and restored the Great Hall while building an elaborate home, internally in the Art Deco style. Stephen was the younger brother of industrialist and art collector Samuel Courtauld, founder of the Courtauld Institute of Art. The Courtaulds' pet lemur had a special room on the upper floor of the house which had a hatch to the downstairs flower room; he had the run of the house. The Courtaulds remained at Eltham until 1944 (during which time the roof of the Great Hall was badly damaged by a wartime bomb). In 1944 they moved to Scotland, giving the palace to the Royal Army Educational Corps in March 1945; the corps remained there until 1992.
In 1995 English Heritage assumed management of the palace, and in 1999 completed major repairs and restorations of the interiors and gardens.
The palace is open to the public and can be hired for weddings and other functions. Public transport is available at the nearby Mottingham railway station or Eltham railway station, both a short walk from the palace, and there is free parking on site. There are also a café and gift shop.
[edit] Filming
Many films and television programmes have been filmed at Eltham Palace, including:
- Bright Young Things
- I Capture the Castle
- High Heels and Low Lifes
- The Gathering Storm
- Home Front
- Any Questions
- The History of Romantic Love
- This Morning
- Antiques Roadshow
- The Truth
- The 200 Year House
- Brideshead revisited (2007 BBC production)
[edit] References
- ^ masterpiece LondonTown.com
- ^ Dowsing, James: Forgotten Tudor palaces in the London area; Sunrise Press, London
[edit] External links
- Eltham Palace website
- English Heritage - visitors guide
- English Heritage - information for teachers
- English Heritage - Medieval and Tudor Eltham Palace - information for teachers
- Eltham Palace: An Alternative Guide
- Flickr images tagged Eltham Palace
no:Eltham Palace pl:Pałac Eltham pt:Eltham Palace
Categories: Art Deco | Art Deco buildings in London | English Heritage sites in London | Buildings and structures in Greenwich | History of Greenwich | Grade I listed buildings in London | Houses in London | Tudor royal palaces in England | Royal buildings in London | Palaces in England | Royal residences in England | Former castles, palaces, and fortresses
