Eltham Palace

Yesterday, Jeff and I casting about for something to do on a Sunday visited an English Heritage property in Eltham, southeast of London. The place is called Eltham Palace (naturally!). The visit was inspired by a tv show. I have been watching the UKTV History production of Britain’s Best. In case you have missed it, Alan Titchmarsh is presenting to the nation a series about the UK’s best-loved sites. On each show we get to see 5 recommended gardens, historic houses, religious building, castles or palaces. The public then gets to vote on the ones they like the best and recommend others. I love it! I am curious to see what the country has to say about itself and have been keeping an eye on the website (see links). Eltham Palace was featured on a show about historic houses. The reason? The partially Art Deco house is a "masterpiece of modern design"

The original Eltham palace was given to Edward II in 1305 and used as a royal residence from the 14th to the 16th century. Edward IV built a Great Hall in the 1470s. By the 1630s the palace was no longer used by the royal family and the palace never recovered from its neglect during the English Civil War.

In 1933 Sir Stephen and Lady Virginia Courtauld acquired the lease of Eltham and restored the Great Hall while building an Art Deco home. Stephen was the younger brother of industrialist and art collector Samuel Courtauld, founder of the Courtauld Institute of Art. The Courtaulds remained at Eltham until 1944 when they moved to Scotland, giving the palace to the Royal Army Education Corps in 1945 where they remained until 1992. In 1995 English Heritage assumed management of the palace, and in 1999 completed major repairs and restorations of the interiors and gardens. All in all it was a nice thing to do on a Sunday. It has not made it on to my top five list of Britain's Best though.