Old Royal Residences Near London

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVII, Issue 17, 27 October 1906, Page 53

Old Royal Residences Near London

'Y * MERE did our Kings and ■ A / Queens live in the olden time ? 1/B/ If the question were put to V f the average Englishman, he would probably reply, “At the Tower and Windsor.” This would be only in a very restricted sense correct. For the favourite residences of most of our sovereigns were a good deal further out than the one and a great deal nearer town than the other. Scattered in the outskirts of London still exist a few poor remains of what were once the homes of kings—their names and sites unknown for the most part, even to the inhabitants of their own vicinities. The oldest of these royal residences is strangely enough, one of the best preserved. "To Eltham will I,” in the words of Shakespeare, to gaze upon the fine old hall, with its carving and ham-mer-beamed roof, built by King Edward IV. To approach it, you cross the moat, excavated by the same monarch—a charming sheet of water, on which a swan may occasionally be seen sailing, bordered by trim lawns, and shaded by a waving mass of foliage. The hall is well worth seeing with its graceful windows and elegant stone traceries. Unfortunately, no good full view of it is obtainable the lodge, which is an outwork of the adjoining private residence, cutting the prospect sheer in half. Eltham has had an interesting history. Its annals for close on 200 years are the annals of England. In 1270, we learn. Henry 111. kept Christmas here; in 1311 the property was bequeathed to Edward 11. bv Anthony Beck, Bishop of Durham. whose family seem to have acquired it in the previous reign; in 1315 Prince John of Eltham was born here. Edward 111. held high revel and entertained

King John of France here in 1364, and there also Richard 11. kept his Christmases with great splendour and joviality in 1384, 1385, and 1386. While his successor was keeping the same feast at Eltham in 1405, the Duke of York is said to have hatched a plot to scale the walls and murder the King. It was in Edward IV’s reign, however, that the place saw its palmiest days. Here, one Christmas, 2,000 people were feasted at the King’s expense —probably in the hall we now see. Henry VIII. disliked the place and moved to Greenwich. James I. was the last royal occupant of Eltham.

Of Nonsuch, “the stately pleasure dome decreed” and executed by Bluff King Hal between Ewell and. Suit >n. not one stone remains upon another. Indeed. "O’er that spot you oft might pass, nor dream that e’er that palace was.” Yet it was an abode of surpassing magnificence, if we may credit contemporary writers, and well deserved its name as excelling all royal residences on this side of the Alps "You would say it is the sky spangled with stars,” says old Leland, obscurely but enthusiastically’. Henry’s great daughter was very fond of Nonsuch. Here it was that Essex, returning booted, spurred, and travel-

stained from Ireland in 1559. hastened to throw himself at the feet of “Gloriana.” Nonsuch ultimately passed into the hands of Charles Il’s favourite, the Duchess of Cleveland, who pulled most of it down. It is said that Lord Rosebery’s seat, the Durdans, is built in great part of the stones of Nonsuch. Queen Elizabeth’s favourite residence, however, was at Richmond. Here, most people will learn with surprise, substantial remains exist of the palace built by Henry VII. Crossing the green in a diagonal line from the theatre and public library, you come upon an arch, surmounted by a long-windowed room, and leading into a charming little courtyard. Immediately’ above the arch the Tudor arms may still be deciphered. Local by Henry ITT. Edward 111. died here in the room with the bay-window. This seems very unlikely, for old engravings show that this arch was one of the outbuildings of the palace, the main buildings—a Circe-like structure of pinnacles, turrets, cupolas, and spires—facing immediately on the river. The earliest palace at Richmond, or Shone as it was then called, seems to have been built by Henry 111. Edward 111. died here in 1377. and his grandson. Richard 11. pulled it down in grief at the death of his wife. Anno of Bohemia, which also took place here. The palace was rebuilt by Henry V.. and was often dwelt in by Edward TV. Lytton places here the scene of an interview between that King and Warwick, the King Maker. Henry VIII. reconstructed the pile and re-nam-ed it after his Yorkshire earldom. Here he entertained Philip T. of Spain, and here he died. Richmond has been fatal to those of his name. Henry VIII.’s eldest son. another Henry, died here, and the Bluebeard King’s unlucky marriage with Anne of Cleves was contracted within its walls. Philip and Mary and Elizabeth both made Richniond their permanent residence. Hither the Countess of Nottingham sent her dying appeal to Elizabeth to visit her and hear the true story of Essex’s death. After the death of the Queen in 1603. and of James I.’s son —yet another Henry—the palace was shunned by royalty, and practically dismantled in 1649. Not far away—in Kew Gardens—is the most modern of these palaces. Kew Palace is an ugly red brick building on which all dolls’ houses seem to have been modelled. It is open to the publie, who can gaze upon the hideous tapestry and pictures of parrots and ducks that seem to have constituted the former occupant’s idea of art. This palace first came into note (though it dates from 1631) as the residence of Frederick. Prince of Wales, son of George IT. It was a favourite residence of George 111. whose wife, snuffy Queen Charlotte, died bore in a room pointed out to visitors. Here, also, William IV. was married to Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen. It must !«■ confessed that the associations of Kew s"oni fame after those of Richmond and Eltham. Tn the north of London, not far apart, are the sites of two kings’ homes, almost totallv forgotten. When you rush into Enfield Post-office in the centre of the town to buy a post card or send a “wire.”

you may be astonished to learn that you have entered a palace, acquired by Henry VIII., and in which Elizabeth and Edward VI. spent a good deal of time. Half concealed by a partition is a fine old fire-place, dating from that time, supported by lonic and Corinthian columns, and decorated with the arms of England and France, with the Garter and royal supporters—a lion and a griffin. Lastly, of Theobalds, James I.’s favourite seat, no trace at all remains. The site is occupied by the collection of houses known as Theobald’s Square. The palace, which seems to have been a structure of extraordinary splendour, was exchanged hv the Cecils of Hatfield in 1606. Elizabeth and her successor were very fond of the place, which was the scene of the sumptuous entertainments given to the former by Burleigh in 1571 (each visit is said to have cost the Lord Treasurer £3.000). and to the Kng of Denmark by James in 1606. The ungainly Stuart King lived here in 1625. The palace was finally demolished in 1650. Tn the days of its splendour its upkeep is said to have cost £BO a week. The revolution of 1642 was responsible it will bo soon, in the first instance, for the fnllin" into ruin of these old abodes of English rovaltv. But it is the expansion of London and the all-devouring builder of the suburbs which has finally and thoroughly completed the work of destruction.