Eltham Palace is a large house at Eltham ( ) in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The house consists of the medieval

great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great ...

of a former

royal residence A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

, to which an Art Deco extension was added in the 1930s. The

hammerbeam roof A hammerbeam roof is a decorative, open timber roof truss typical of English Gothic architecture and has been called "...the most spectacular endeavour of the English Medieval carpenter". They are traditionally timber framed, using short beams pr ...

of the great hall is the third-largest of its type in England, and the Art Deco interior of the house has been described as a "masterpiece of modern design". The house is owned by the Crown Estate and managed by English Heritage, which took over responsibility for the great hall in 1984 and the rest of the site in 1995.

History

1300–1930

The original palace was given to

Edward II Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...

in 1305 by the Bishop of Durham, Anthony Bek, and used as a

from the 14th to the 16th century. According to one account, the incident which inspired

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

's foundation of the

Order of the Garter The Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry founded by Edward III of England in 1348. It is the most senior order of knighthood in the British honours system, outranked in precedence only by the Victoria Cross and the George C ...

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 mid-February 1401, with a joust being given in his honour. There is still a jousting tilt yard. The 1401 Eltham tournament was described or commemorated in literary form as thirteen letters, in old French, addressed to Henry's daughter Blanche of England. Each letter, purportedly written by a legendary patron, praises one of the combatants. Two of them, William Bardolf and John Clinton, are identified by their heraldry. The letters were probably read aloud during the event.

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

built the

Great Hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages, and continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great ...

in the 1470s, and the future

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

grew up here; it was here in 1499 that he met and impressed the scholar Erasmus, introduced to him by Thomas More. Erasmus described the occasion: Tudor courts often used the palace for their Christmas celebrations. With the grand rebuilding of Greenwich Palace, which was more easily reached by river, Eltham was less frequented, save for the hunting in its enclosed parks, easily reached from Greenwich, "as well enjoyed, the Court lying at Greenwiche, as if it were at this house it self". The deer remained plentiful in the Great Park, of , the Little, or Middle Park, of , and the Home Park, or Lee Park, of .Thornbury and Walford 1893:239. The courtier

Roger Aston Sir Roger Aston (died 23 May 1612) of Cranford, Middlesex, was an English courtier and favourite of James VI of Scotland. Biography Aston was the illegitimate son of Thomas Aston (died 1553), Thomas Aston (died 1553). Scottish sources spell his n ...

was keeper of the little park at Eltham in 1610 and built four bridges for the convenience of James VI and I. In the 1630s, by which time the palace was no longer used by the royal family, Sir

Anthony van Dyck Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy. The seventh c ...

was given the use of a suite of rooms as a country retreat. During the English Civil War, the parks were denuded of trees and deer. John Evelyn saw it 22 April 1656: "Went to see his Majesty's house at Eltham; both the palace and chapel in miserable ruins, the noble wood and park destroyed by Rich the rebel". The palace never recovered. Eltham was bestowed by Charles II on John Shaw and in its ruinous condition— reduced to Edward IV's Great Hall, the former buttery, called "Court House", a bridge across the moat and some walling—remained with Shaw's descendants as late as 1893. The current house was built in the 1930s on the site of the original, and incorporates its Great Hall, which boasts the third-largest

in England. Fragments of the walls of other buildings remain visible around the gardens, and the 15th-century bridge still crosses the moat. Eltham Palace Panorama.jpg, The south side of the palace, with the medieval great hall on the left Joseph Mallord William Turner - Interior of St. John's Palace, Eltham - Google Art Project.jpg, JMW Turner's painting of the great hall 1793 Eltham Palace, April 2018 (4).jpg, The great hall in 2018

1930–present

In 1933,

Stephen Courtauld Sir Stephen Lewis Courtauld (27 February 1883 – 9 October 1967) was an English philanthropist associated with geographical exploration, the restoration of Eltham Palace in south-east London, and cultural and education causes, both in the UK a ...

and his wife Virginia "Ginie" Courtauld (née Peirano) acquired a 99-year lease on the palace site and commissioned Seely & Paget to restore the hall and create a modern home attached to it. Seely and Paget added a minstrel's gallery and a timber screen to the hall, while creating a design for the main house inspired by

Christopher Wren Sir Christopher Wren PRS FRS (; – ) was one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history, as well as an anatomist, astronomer, geometer, and mathematician-physicist. He was accorded responsibility for rebuilding 52 churches ...

's work at

Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the chie ...

and Trinity College, Cambridge. The home was decorated internally in the Art Deco style. The entrance hall was created by Swedish designer

Rolf Engströmer Rolf Engströmer, (20 January 1892 – 2 August 1970) was a Swedish architect, interior designer, and furniture designer. He is known for his work in the Swedish Grace style. Biography and work Engströmer was born in 1892 in Hudiksvall in G� ...

; light floods in from a glazed dome, highlighting blackbean veneer and figurative marquetry. Other rooms in the house, including the dining room, drawing room and Virginia Courtauld's circular bedroom and adjoining bathroom, were the work of the Italian designer

Piero Malacrida de Saint-August Marchese Piero Luigi Carlo Maria Malacrida de Saint-August (1889–22 April 1983) (also known as Pier or Peter Malacrida) was an Italian aristocrat, playboy and London-based interior designer. The Malacrida family were from Lombardy and a Palazz ...

, while Seely and Paget designed many of the bedrooms. Keen gardeners, the Courtaulds also substantially modified and improved the grounds and gardens. Eltham Palace - interior, composite view of entrance hall.jpg, The Art Deco entrance hall Eltham Palace - interior, view of Virginia Courtauld’s bedroom.jpg, Virginia Courtauld's bedroom Eltham Palace - interior, view of library.jpg, The library Eltham Palace - interior, view of dining room.jpg, The dining room Eltham Palace - interior, view of drawing room.jpg, The drawing room Stephen was a younger brother of Samuel Courtauld, an industrialist, art collector and founder of the Courtauld Institute of Art. His study in the new house features a statuette version of ''The Sentry'', copied from a Manchester war memorial, by Charles Sargeant Jagger, who was - like Stephen - a member of the

Artists' Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regimen ...

during the First World War. The Courtaulds' pet lemur,

Mah-Jongg Mahjong or mah-jongg (English pronunciation: ) is a tile-based game that was developed in the 19th century in China and has spread throughout the world since the early 20th century. It is commonly played by four players (with some three-pla ...

, 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 the earlier part of the war, Stephen Courtauld was a member of the local Civil Defence Service. In September 1940 he was on duty on the Great Hall roof as a fire watcher when it was badly damaged by German incendiary bombs. In 1944, the Courtauld family moved to Scotland then to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), giving the palace to the Royal Army Educational Corps in March 1945; the corps then moved all its administration to Eltham Palace in 1948. Following the formation of the Educational and Training Services Branch of the new Adjutant General's Corps, staff moved to Worthy Down Camp in 1992. In 1995, English Heritage assumed management of the palace, and in 1999, completed major repairs and restorations of the interiors and gardens. File:Eltham Palace moat.jpg, Moat File:Eltham Palace garden.jpg, Garden File:South Bridge Eltham Palace 01.JPG, South Bridge

Filming

Many films and television programmes have been filmed at Eltham Palace, including: *'' High Heels and Low Lifes'' (2001) *'' The Gathering Storm'' (2002) *'' Bright Young Things'' (2003) *'' I Capture the Castle'' (2003) *'' Death on the Nile'', (2004), episode of ''Poirot'' TV series *''

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating handgun that has at least one barrel and uses a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold up to six roun ...

'' (2005) *'' Brideshead Revisited'' (2008) *''

Parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

'' (2010), music video *'' Secret Diary of a Call Girl'' (2011) *'' The Crown'' (2017) *'' Stan & Ollie'' (2018) *'' Misbehaviour'' (2020)

Haunting

Eltham Palace is listed on English Heritage's list of "most haunted places." The

ghost A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...

of a former staff member is said to have given tours of the palace when the palace should have been empty.

References

External links

English Heritage - History and visitor information
*
Technology and luxury in an Art Deco masterpiece
on Google Arts & Culture
Flickr images tagged Eltham Palace
{{Authority control Buildings and structures completed in 1305 Houses completed in the 14th century Art Deco architecture in London Country houses in London Courtauld family English Heritage sites in London Former palaces in England Gardens in London History of the Royal Borough of Greenwich Houses completed in 1935 Houses in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Grade I listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Grade I listed houses in London Grade I listed palaces Grade I listed museum buildings Historic house museums in London Museums in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Palaces in London Reportedly haunted locations in London Royal residences in the Royal Borough of Greenwich Tudor architecture Tudor royal palaces in England Buildings and structures in Eltham