The History of Eltham Palace

Eltham Palace had two heydays, one in the 15th century when it was one of the most important royal palaces in the land, and again in the 1930s when the medieval ruins were incorporated into a head-turning, architect-designed house.

Romantic ruins
In 1933, wealthy textile heir Stephen Courtauld and his wife Virginia, a divorced Italian marchioness, were on the lookout for a property when they stumbled upon the dilapidated ruins of Eltham Palace in south east London. This glamorous couple set about creating an up-to-the-minute designer pad, joined on to the existing medieval hall, which they also restored. Money was no object, and although The Times described it as "an unfortunately sited cigarette factory" the Seely and Paget-designed house became the hub of the Courtaulds' lavish social scene.

Like a fine ship
The Art Deco period was the age of decadence and luxury travel and Eltham's interiors bear more than a passing resemblance to the great Cunard liners. The rooms are self-consciously luxurious with pink leather dining chairs, birds-eye maple veneered furniture, intricately lacquered doors and the iconic Marion Dorn circular rug (now in the V&A), a copy of which graces the spectacular entrance hall.

This house had all mod-cons: electric fires and synchronised clocks in every room, a loudspeaker system to broadcast music throughout the house, a private telephone exchange, a centralised vacuuming system that sucked all the dust down to the basement, underfloor heating and warm towel rails. The hot water system was so good that every guest could have a bath at the same time and Virginia's own bathroom had onyx walls and the obligatory gold taps! No wonder Eltham was a favourite weekend haunt of politicians, sportsmen, architects, explorers and racing drivers. Stephen was mad about cars and owned one of only 12 Burney Streamlines which would have cost approximately the same as a four-bedroom detached house in Eltham at the time.

Party house
Eltham Palace has always been a great party house, even before the 20th century. From the 14th century, it was the most frequented royal palace in the land, with regular jousts, tournaments and hunting parties. It was Edward IV who built the splendid Great Hall between 1475 and 1490 with its fantastic false hammerbeam roof. When it was being restored in the 1930s, the eccentric Courtaulds, who kept a pet lemur called Mah-Jongg in his own centrally heated bedroom, had the lemur's image carved onto one of the roof bosses.

Henry VIII spent time at Eltham in his youth, when it was one of only six palaces large enough to cater for the Court of 800 or so people, but he was the last monarch to use it regularly and the palace fell into disrepair until the Courtaulds' time.

Since the 1980s, it has been in the care of English Heritage.

Feature supplied by Heritage magazine. About Heritage Magazine.

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