Abbey Wood Caravan Club Site, London

The day is closing with rain as it started, all as forecasted. For that reason we delayed our departure this morning, not willing to spend the day rain sodden as we waited for public transport. 

Two days ago we had learned from our guide who led us around the Old Royal Naval College that Greenwich Palace had been Henry VIII’s favourite palace together with Eltham (pronounced Eltim) Palace. I had previously noticed this on our road map, but it had not initially featured on our to-do list. Today was the perfect opportunity to explore this royal residence, little known to foreigners from the Antipodes.

The truth is that the palace itself is long gone, but this does not negate the tourist appeal. 

The first mention of any settlement on the site was made in the 1086 Doomsday survey, when it was recorded as belonging to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, half-brother of William the Conqueror. The property changed hands several times through until 1295 when Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham, acquired it. It was he who is said to have rebuilt the manor house and constructed a defensive perimeter wall and brick within the moat, and he who bequeathed it to Edward II in 1305 on his death.   It was then used as a royal residence from the 14^th and 16^th century, the Great Hall built by Edward IV in the 1470s, and it is here that Henry VIII spent much of his childhood.

The Palace then fell into decline and by the 18^th century was a picturesque ruin, narrowly escaping total destruction. During the 1640s, Civil War Parliamentary troops who were quartered here, badly damaged the palace and the deer park, cutting down many trees for firewood.

By the 1820s, under threat of demolition, the importance of the surviving buildings was finally recognised and efforts were made to repair them. In 1859 the farmhouse adjoining the Great Hall was rebuilt as a fine residence, and the Hall was reincarnated as an indoor tennis court.

In 1933 the palace site was leased to Stephan and Virginia Courtauld, a couple who did little but live off the wealth created by Courtauld ancestors, silversmiths and later rayon manufacturers. To their credit, they saved the Palace, building a new, modern house next to the medieval Great Hall and developing a fabulous new garden. They stayed on, even enduring substantial damage during the Blitz, but finally left in 1944 when they headed for Scotland then on to Southern Rhodesia, passing the lease on to the Royal Army Educational Corps in 1945; the corps remaining here until 1992. In 1995 English Heritage took over management of the palace, and in 1999, completed major repairs and restorations of the interior and gardens.

The result and outcome of all this change of ownership and great wealth, is that the public now have the opportunity to see a glamorous 1930s showpiece, an eclectic mix of Art Deco, ultra smart ocean liner style and cutting edge Swedish design. 

We arrived right on opening time, the rain having abated, so we set off around the nineteen acres of beautiful gardens. The Courtaulds had wonderful taste, imagination and most of all, endless funds; perhaps we could all do as well if money were no object. As the rain started again, we headed into the house, and armed with audio guides, spent a couple of hours exploring every nook and cranny. 

Not only were we delighted with the palace and gardens, we were also impressed with the suburb of Eltham, a little oasis in the rather unattractive suburbs south east of the Thames.

We retreated to our camp via the local Lidl superstore, where we managed to buy twenty times the volume of groceries on our list, and then I took the opportunity to cook up a batch of bolognaise sauce to freeze. Hopefully the rain will have passed by tomorrow morning and we can venture out again to make the most of our last three full days in the city.