Unspecified/General

A remarkable marriage of medieval grandeur and twentieth-century glamour, Eltham Palace in southeast London combines the surviving great hall of a royal residence with one of the finest Art Deco interiors in Britain. The site began as a medieval manor that became a favoured royal palace, where kings held court and the young Henry the Eighth spent part of his childhood, and its magnificent great hall, built in the fifteenth century with a splendid hammerbeam roof, ranks among the largest of its kind in the country. After centuries of decline, during which the palace fell out of royal use and the surrounding buildings were lost, the site was transformed in the 1930s when the wealthy socialites Stephen and Virginia Courtauld leased it and built a strikingly modern house alongside the restored hall. Their home is a showcase of fashionable inter-war design, from the domed, panelled entrance hall flooded with light to the lavish bedrooms and bathrooms, the centrally heated quarters built for their pet lemur and the gardens laid out around the medieval moat. The result is an unusual and captivating contrast, allowing visitors to move from a hall that once hosted medieval kings into rooms that epitomise the elegance and innovation of the 1930s. Now cared for as a public attraction, the palace also offers extensive gardens to explore. Tickets can be booked online or at the door, an audio guide brings both eras to life, and the combination of medieval history and Art Deco style makes for a distinctive visit throughout the year across every season of the calendar. The story of how a wealthy couple chose to build a thoroughly modern home beside a crumbling medieval hall, restoring the ancient great hall as a grand reception space while indulging every contemporary luxury in their own quarters, captures the optimism and style of the inter-war years. The gardens, with their moat, rock garden and seasonal planting, extend the appeal beyond the house itself and offer a pleasant setting for a walk. By preserving two such different eras side by side, the palace offers an unusually rich visit, satisfying those drawn to medieval history and those fascinated by twentieth-century design alike, and its location on the edge of the capital makes it an easy escape from the busier central attractions.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: Court Yard, London, United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 20 8294 2548

Website: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/eltham-palace-and-gardens/

Opening Date: 01/01/1936