Greenwich Palace
What is today a calm, picturesque site has witnessed centuries of turmoil, births, deaths, marriages and much physical change. There are many fascinating stories to tell.
Royal origins
In the 1430s, Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, built a residence at Greenwich called Bella Court. It was designed as a retreat for pleasure and entertainment and became a miniature royal court, hosting poets, musicians and men of letters.
It typified Humphrey’s ambitions to dominate the government of England as regent during the minority of his nephew, King Henry VI.
Palace of Placentia
In 1447, Humphrey fell out of favour with Henry VI and was arrested for treason. His death in custody sparked rumours of murder, a theory dramatised in Shakespeare’s Henry VI plays.
Margaret of Anjou, wife of Henry VI, took over Bella Court, renaming it the ‘Palace of Placentia’ (or Palace of Pleasaunce). She embarked on a five-year programme of improvements to turn it into a palace fit for a queen.
The Tudors at Greenwich Palace
Greenwich Palace, as it became known, was the birthplace of the infamous Tudor monarch King Henry VIII and his daughters Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I.
From around 1500, King Henry VII demolished the old Palace of Placentia and built a magnificent new riverside palace. Removed from the hustle and bustle of the city, Greenwich was an ideal location for Henry, as it was close to the docks at Woolwich and Deptford, where his favourite warships the Great Harry and the Mary Rose were moored.
The Palace remained a major site of the court until the English Civil War of the 1640s.
Learn more about the Tudors
Versailles that never was
Despite being one of the most important Tudor residences, the palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War.
Following the war, King Charles II drew up ambitious plans for a new palace to rival Louis XIV’s Palace of Versailles, but as finances and enthusiasm waned only one new wing, King’s House (now King Charles building) was built on the foundations of Greenwich Palace.
In 1694 King William III granted it by Royal Warrant as the site for a charitable institution for naval veterans, in accordance with the wishes of his late wife, Queen Mary II. Esteemed architect Sir Christopher Wren was commissioned to build the Royal Hospital for Seamen.
See remains of the Palace today
Excavations in 2017 uncovered the remains of two service rooms from the Palace’s Friary buildings and can be viewed beneath the Painted Hall. The lower room features unusual niches thought to be where bee hives were kept during winter.
Why did Henry VIII become a tyrant?
On 24 January 1536, during a jousting tournament, the 44-year-old Henry was thrown from his horse and lay unconscious for two hours.
Find out moreQueen Mary I – Reign of Fire and Faith
Queen Mary I, also known as Mary Tudor, was a significant figure in English history, ruling as the first female monarch of England from 1553 to 1558.
Find out moreShakespeare, Elizabeth I and a real Comedy of Errors
Over the Christmas of 1594, William Shakespeare and his newly-formed theatrical company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, played twice at Elizabeth I’s court at Greenwich Palace.
Find out more