Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
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Wikipedia
The Palace of Placentia was an English Royal Palace built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1447,[1] in Greenwich, on the banks of the River Thames, downstream from London. The Palace was demolished in the seventeenth century and replaced with the Greenwich Hospital (now The Old Royal Naval College) in the late seventeenth century.
[edit] History
Humphrey was regent during the rule of Henry VI, and built the palace under the name Bella Court. In 1447, Humphrey fell out of favour with the new queen, Margaret of Anjou, and was arrested for high treason. He died in prison - Shakespeare says he was murdered - and Margaret took over Bella Court, renaming it the Palace of Placentia, sometimes written as the Palace of Pleasaunce.
The Palace remained the principal royal palace for the next two centuries. It was the birth-place of King Henry VIII in 1491, and figured heavily in his life. Following his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Placentia was the birth-place of Mary Tudor (later Queen Mary I) in February 1516. After his marriage to Anne Boleyn, his daughter, later Queen Elizabeth I, was born at Placentia in 1533, and he married Anne of Cleves there in 1540. A tree in Greenwich Park is known as Queen Elizabeth's Oak, in which she is reputed to have played as a child.
Both Mary and Elizabeth lived at Placentia for some years during the sixteenth century, but during the reigns of James I and Charles I, the Queen's House was erected to the south of the Palace. Placentia fell into disrepair during the English Civil War, serving time as a biscuit factory and a prisoner-of-war camp. In 1660, Charles II decided to rebuild the Palace, engaging John Webb as the architect for a new King's House. The only section of the Palace to be completed was the east range of the present King Charles Court, but this was never occupied as a royal residence. Most of the rest of the palace was demolished, and the site remained empty until construction of the Greenwich Hospital began in 1694.
The Greenwich Hospital complex became the Greenwich Royal Naval College in 1873, when the naval college was moved from Portsmouth. The buildings are today occupied by the University of Greenwich and The Music Faculty of Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.
Construction work for drains in late 2005 identified previously unknown Tudor remains. A full archaeological excavation completed in January 2006 found the Tudor Chapel and Vestry with its tiled floor in situ. The Vestry survived the demolition of the rest of the Palace and was later converted into a house for the Treasurer of Greenwich Hospital.
[edit] Citations
- ^ Bold, p.7
[edit] References
- Bold, John (2000) Greenwich: An Architectural History of the Royal Hospital for Seamen and the Queen's House (Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in association with English Heritage), ISBN 978-0300083972
[edit] Further reading
- Charles Jennings, Greenwich: The Place Where Days Begin and End, London: Abacus, 2001. ISBN 0 349 11230 4.
[edit] External links
- BBC London 'Inside Out' feature on Tudor chapel
- A Short History of the Old Royal Naval College - Greenwich Palace
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Coordinates: 51°28′56″N 0°00′24″W / 51.48222°N 0.00667°W / 51.48222; -0.00667 |
Annotations
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Map of area : http://www.motco.com/map/81001/SeriesSearchPlatesFulla.asp?mode=query&artist=383&other=231&x=11&y=11
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From Michael Robinson at http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive/1662/04/11/index.php#c29876
“…The Queen’s House, by Inigo Jones, was built 1661-2…The network of avenues was planted in 1661 by Charles II. Le Notre did not visit England but his design for the grass parterre was implemented in 1662. …”
Greenwich Park from http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/green2.htm
also see
http://www.greenwich-guide.org.uk/queens.htmalso see Greenwich at :http://www.pepysdiary.com/p/2673.php
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The Castle referred to here is the tower originally built by Humphrey Duke of Gloucester, who enclosed Greenwich Park in the 15th Century. On a spur of high ground, it formed a rather romantic vantage point overlooking the Thames and the Park. Both Park and Duke Humphrey’s residence Bellacourt reverted to royal hands after his untimely and suspicious demise. The house much enlarged over the years became Placentia (Greenwich Palace) birthplace of Henry VIII and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. Both Henry and Elizabeth added extensively to the features in the park and used the Castle for hunting parties and as a grace and favour residence. Henry was known to have at least one mistress ensconced there. During the Civil War, much of Placentia was pulled down. Charles II began rebuilding in the 1660s with Wren as his architect - eventually resulting in the buildings dedicated as the Royal Hospital, now known as the Royal Naval College. The Castle still existed until 1675, when it was dismantled and its foundations used by Wren for another well known edifice - Flamsteed House, the first building of Greenwich Observatory.