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Greenwich

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Greenwich Palace was a popular royal residence among the Tudors, specifically during the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Built in 1447 for Humphrey of Lancaster, Greenwich was the first visible sign as the traveller came from the mouth of the Thames in the east towards London (Bold 38). The land was originally the site of an Abbey until 1414 when it reverted back to the crown. In 1426, it was passed to Humphrey of Lancaster, who built the early palace and enclosed the land as a park. The house passed to Henry VI, whose wife, Margaret of Anjou, renamed it the Palace of Placentia or pleasant place. The name Greenwich Palace dates from Elizabeth’s reign. This location was east of the area depicted on the Agas map.
Greenwich was central to the lives of the Tudors. The palace was a favourite royal home because of its waterside location on the Thames and the hunting and sporting activities it provided in the extensive lands surrounding the palace. Elizabeth especially favoured Greenwich as a retreat for rest and relaxation and spent a great deal on the gardens including the installation of two marble fountains (Bold 15). As queen, Elizabeth and her court were often situated at Greenwich during the summer months when she was not on progress around the kingdom (Dunlop 51).
Most of the improvements to the building occurred in the 1480s by the wives of Henry VI and Edward IV. Henry VII and Henry VIII continued to renovate, the latter for his wife Anne Boleyn, who oversaw some of the renovations herself (Bold 47; Jennings 9). Henry VIII improved the water supply at Greenwich because he desired longer periods of residence for his enlarged court. In 1515, he ordered a new water system to be constructed. Henry also introduced deer into the park for hunting (Jennings 15).
Greenwich Palace was the site of the some of the monumental moments in Tudor history. Henry VIII and his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, were all born at the palace. Greenwich acted as the starting point of Henry and Catherine’s coronation procession, and the title, Defender of the Faith, was conferred upon Henry at Greenwich (L’Estrange 135, 165).
Around the eighteenth century, the Palace of Greenwich began to lose its royal appeal and was demolished by Charles II. The site of the Greenwich Palace, or the Palace of Placentia, is where the Royal Hospital for Seaman and the Queen’s House still remain.
View of Greenwich by Wenceslaus Hollar. Image courtesy of the Folger Digital Image Collection.
View of Greenwich by Wenceslaus Hollar. Image courtesy of the Folger Digital Image Collection.

References

  • Citation

    Bold, John. Greenwich: An Architectural History of the Royal Hospital for Seamen and the Queen’s House. New Haven: Yale UP, 2000. Print.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Dunlop, Ian. Palaces and Progresses of Elizabeth I. London: Jonathan Cape, 1962. Print.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    Jennings, Charles. Greenwich: The Place Where Days Begin and End.London: Little, Brown and Company, 1999. Print.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

  • Citation

    L’Estrange, A.G. The Palace and the Hospital or Chronicles of Greenwich.Vol. 1. London: Hurst and Blackett Publishers, 1886. Print.

    This item is cited in the following documents:

Cite this page

MLA citation

Neighbors, Dustin. Greenwich. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0, edited by Janelle Jenstad, U of Victoria, 05 May 2022, mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/GREE6.htm.

Chicago citation

Neighbors, Dustin. Greenwich. The Map of Early Modern London, Edition 7.0. Ed. Janelle Jenstad. Victoria: University of Victoria. Accessed May 05, 2022. mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/GREE6.htm.

APA citation

Neighbors, D. 2022. Greenwich. In J. Jenstad (Ed), The Map of Early Modern London (Edition 7.0). Victoria: University of Victoria. Retrieved from https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/editions/7.0/GREE6.htm.

RIS file (for RefMan, RefWorks, EndNote etc.)

Provider: University of Victoria
Database: The Map of Early Modern London
Content: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

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T1  - Greenwich
T2  - The Map of Early Modern London
ET  - 7.0
PY  - 2022
DA  - 2022/05/05
CY  - Victoria
PB  - University of Victoria
LA  - English
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/GREE6.htm
UR  - https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/xml/standalone/GREE6.xml
ER  -

TEI citation

<bibl type="mla"><author><name ref="#NEIG1"><surname>Neighbors</surname>, <forename>Dustin</forename></name></author>. <title level="a">Greenwich</title>. <title level="m">The Map of Early Modern London</title>, Edition <edition>7.0</edition>, edited by <editor><name ref="#JENS1"><forename>Janelle</forename> <surname>Jenstad</surname></name></editor>, <publisher>U of Victoria</publisher>, <date when="2022-05-05">05 May 2022</date>, <ref target="https://mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/GREE6.htm">mapoflondon.uvic.ca/edition/7.0/GREE6.htm</ref>.</bibl>

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