Nonsuch Palace, London

 

Nonsuch Palace was a magnificent edifice built in 1538 by King Henry VIII as a hunting palace and guest house for foreign visitors. However, there is nothing to see today at the site in south-west London apart from a large area of public open space (Nonsuch Park) and a more recent building. Indeed, the Palace had completely disappeared by the end of the 17^th century.

It was situated on the site of the village and church of Cuddington, which was cleared to make room for it. Merton Priory had been the patron of the church; the priory having been dissolved by King Henry, its stones were used as foundations for the Palace.

The name ‘Nonesuch’, as given in early records, indicates the desire by Henry to have a building without compare and it was, in fact, a Tudor extravaganza. It consisted of two-storey buildings ranged round two interconnecting open courtyards. Although only 150 yards long, it was lavishly decorated in the Renaissance style.

The workmen were mostly Italian and included Nicolas Belin of Modena, who had worked at Fontainebleau. His chief work at Nonsuch was a series of stucco reliefs, framed in elaborately carved slate, which went all round the walls of the inner court and along the south front. The south front had towers at each end topped by onion-shaped cupolas and ornamented with fanciful weather vanes. The gardens were formal and contained many statues.

Henry’s daughter Mary, who became Queen in 1553, was not greatly interested in Nonsuch Palace and exchanged it with Henry Fitzalan, 12^th Earl of Arundel, for estates in Suffolk. Queen Elizabeth I had a higher regard for the Palace and was happy to stay there many times.

By 1603 Nonsuch was back in Royal hands and King James I gave it to his Queen, Anne of Denmark. It was used as a royal hunting lodge both by James and his son King Charles I. King Charles II gave it to his mistress Barbara Villers, who in 1682 sold it to Lord Berkeley, and it was he who ordered its demolition and used some of its stone for his own house at Epsom.

The site was excavated in 1959-60 when the ground plan was revealed including the site of Cuddington church. Fragments of carved and gilded slate and stone were found, and much domestic refuse such as pottery, glass, pewter and bone. The site was filled in and is now under grass.

The main building that can be seen in the park today is the Mansion House, a 17^th-century farmhouse that was rebuilt in the Georgian Gothic style in 1804.

© John Welford