The Tudor monarchs are renowned for their fabulous displays of power, wealth and status and nowhere was this more evident than in their magnificent palaces. Heavily decorated with heraldic devices and dynastic symbols, they were the setting for royal births, weddings and deaths, and the stage on which the dramatic events of the Tudor reigns were played out.

Overview

This special issue of Tudor Places magazine features in-depth articles on ten of the palaces which Henry VIII built or acquired. The great halls of Eltham and Hatfield remain, providing a taste of the former size and splendour of those palaces, but of the others there are only tantalising hints; in gatehouses, sections of walls, remnants of cellars and street names, in foundations and traces of masonry, and in paintings, sketches, letters, accounts and ambassadors’ reports.

Each article includes information on the site, layout and decoration of the palace, and the momentous events that occurred there. We explore what of the palace can still be seen on site, or elsewhere, and how to visit, along with a list of books and articles for further reading.

The ten palaces featured in this special issue are: Eltham Palace, Richmond Palace, Greenwich Palace, Bridewell Palace, Hatfield Old Palaces, Suffolk Place, Whitehall Palace, Chelsea Manor, Oatlands Palace and Nonsuch Palace.

Note: The Lost Palaces of Henry VIII is available in both print and digital formats.  Please ensure you choose the correct one when ordering.