Eltham Palace

Eltham Palace is a large house in Eltham, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, South East London, England. It is an unoccupied royal residence and owned by the Crown Estate. In 1995 its management was handed over to English Heritage which restored the building in 1999 and opened it to the public. It has been said the internally Art Deco house is a "masterpiece of modern design".

History (1300-1900)

The original palace was given to Edward II in 1305 by the Bishop of Durham, Anthony Bek, and used as a royal residence from the 14th to the 16th century. According to one account the incident which inspired Edward III's foundation of the Order of the Garter took place here. As the favourite palace of Henry IV it played host to Manuel II Palaiologos, the only Byzantine emperor ever to visit England, from December 1400 to January 1401, with a joust being given in his honour. There is still a jousting tilt yard. Edward IV built the Great Hall in the 1470s, a young Henry VIII back when he was known as Prince Henry also grew up here; it was here in 1499 that he met and impressed the scholar Erasmus, introduced by Thomas More. Erasmus described the occasion:

Eltham

Coordinates: 51°27′05″N 0°03′06″E / 51.451476°N 0.051773°E / 51.451476; 0.051773

Eltham (/ˈɛltəm/) is a suburban district of south east London, England, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is centred 8.7 miles (14.0 km) east south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.

History

Origins

Eltham developed along part of the road from London to Maidstone and lies 3 miles (4.8 km) almost due south of Woolwich. Mottingham, to the south, became part of the parish on the abolition of all extra-parochial areas, which were rare anomalies in the parish system. Eltham College and other parts of Mottingham were even before the 1860s therefore not considered within Eltham's boundaries.

From the 6th century Eltham was in the ancient Lathe of Sutton at Hone. In the 1086 Domesday Book its hundred was named Gren[u/v]iz (Greenwich), which by the 1166 was renamed Blachehedfeld (Blackheath) because it had become the location of the annual or more frequent hundred gathering.

Eltham (disambiguation)

Eltham is a suburban town and district in the Royal Borough of Greenwich, southeast London, England.

Eltham may also refer to:

See also

Eltham, London

Eltham (UK Parliament constituency)

Eltham /ɛltəm/ is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

It is a marginal Labour-held seat covering roughly the southern half of the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London.

Boundaries

1983-1997: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Avery Hill, Coldharbour, Deansfield, Eltham Park, Herbert, Middle Park, New Eltham, Nightingale, Palace, Sherard, Sutcliffe, Tarn, and Well Hall.

1997-2010: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Avery Hill, Coldharbour, Deansfield, Eltham Park, Herbert, Middle Park, New Eltham, Palace, Plumstead Common, Sherard, Shrewsbury, Slade, Sutcliffe, Tarn, and Well Hall.

2010-present: The London Borough of Greenwich wards of Coldharbour and New Eltham, Eltham North, Eltham South, Eltham West, Kidbrooke with Hornfair, Middle Park and Sutcliffe, and Shooters Hill.

The constituency is in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in south-east London. Before 1983, a constituency with similar boundaries was called Woolwich West.