The Tudor Barn is a large brick barn in

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It was built in 1525 by

William Roper William Roper ( – 4 January 1578) was an English lawyer and member of Parliament. The son of a Kentish gentleman, he married Margaret, daughter of Sir Thomas More. He wrote a highly regarded biography of his father-in-law. Life William Roper ...

. The Ropers lived next door in a manor house in the centre of a moat for several years. William married

Margaret More Margaret More or Moore may refer to: *Margaret Roper (1505–1544), née More, English writer and translator, daughter of Sir Thomas More *Margaret Clement (1508–1570), née Giggs, English noblewoman, adopted daughter of Sir Thomas More *Kate Bar ...

, the daughter of Thomas More, and one of the most learned women of sixteenth-century England. It is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building (as Well Hall Art Gallery). The west end of the Tudor Barn was mostly occupied by servants, as can be seen by the two huge chimneys there. However, the barn was also used for storage. It can be seen on old maps that the moat was directly connected to the Tudor Barn by a bridge. Edith Nesbit, author of '' The Railway Children'' and co-founder of the Fabian Society, lived in a house in the grounds of the Tudor Barn from 1899 to 1921. The Tudor Barn was refurbished in the 1930s. The Woolwich Borough Council then decided that they would use the newly renovated barn as the centrepiece of a new park, which is known as Well Hall Pleasaunce. The park opened in 1933, and three years later an art gallery was opened on the ground floor of the barn. This was not the council's original intention, however; they wanted a library and museum in the Tudor Barn, but these never materialised. For years after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the barn contained the art gallery, a restaurant and a room for weddings and events in the upstairs space.

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* {{coord, 51.45703, 0.04920, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Buildings and structures in Eltham Barns in England Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Greenwich