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No.47 - April 2001 | Contex HOME The AGM LECTURE.
By Dr Simon Thurley, Report by Rose Baillie ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ROYAL PALACES. The study of royal palaces had made significant advances in the last decade, Simon Thurley told COLAS members at the AGM. Once of minor concern to historians, it was increasingly being appreciated that royal and ducal courts throughout Europe had a major impact on contemporary politics and culture, and that their architecture and landscape setting give important clues to the concerns and mechanisms of the ruling elite. Our knowledge of the major palaces of the Thames Valley is underpinned by the ‘History of the King’s Works’, published between the 1960s and early 80s, for which a number of research excavations were undertaken by the Ministry of Works. Attention today focuses on two main issues; establishing the building sequence and layout of the palaces and studying their place in the urban or rural landscape. Another topic of great interest was the impact these establishments had on the social, economic and physical nature of their locality. Surprisingly only Whitehall Palace has a definitively phased building history, although progress was being made elsewhere. Reports on Bridewell, Whitehall and the medieval residences of Kennington and the Tower have been published, but others, including work on Baynards Castle, Nonesuch and Oatlands were awaited - as was Simon’s own opus on Hampton Court. As yet there were no detailed building histories of Westminster, Greenwich, Richmond, St James’ or Somerset House, to say nothing of lesser residences. However the picture was not too bleak, as much recent work had gone on at many of these places. Simon Thurley had made his own contribution to the study of Whitehall Palace by publishing the results of excavations undertaken by the Office of Works between 1938 and 1968 beneath the Ministry of Defence, the Cabinet Office and the Banqueting House. Recent excavations by Liz Howe of MoLAS had also taken place on Treasury Green, where Tudor tennis courts had given way to family accommodation for James I in the area called the ‘Cockpit’ on the west of Whitehall. After much of the Palace was destroyed in 1698 many Offices of State moved into this area, where they still remain. Whitehall was the principal royal residence from the time of Henry VIII until William III. It was also the seat of Government and the Executive, so understanding Whitehall Palace, Simon believed, was crucial to understanding the governance of England. It was also important in the history of London, especially the West End. Much of the surrounding land around Whitehall was bought by Henry VIII for development or recreational space, as the Royal Parks still bear witness. Westminster and Whitehall Palaces dominated the economic life and residential development of the surrounding area, with the West End growing up as a virtual court suburb for whose wishing to be near the seat of power. Before Whitehall the main royal residence was the near-by ancient Palace of Westminster with its associated buildings. It also has been the subject of various MoLAS excavations and watching briefs in connection with the Jubilee Line extension, developed and placed in a wider context by Chris Thomas, well-known to COLAS through his excavations at Spitalfields. It is not only important as a residence of medieval kings, but also as the continuing location of Parliament and certain law courts after other Offices of State moved to Whitehall. Another, often forgotten, royal residence in London was the original Somerset House. It was stylistically important as the first fully renaissance buildings in England and was home of the Monarch’s Consort throughout the 17th Century. Some ‘key-hole’ archaeology for heating ducts has revealed substantial walls from the royal apartments and Inigo Jones’ Private Chapel of 1623, which were buried in levelling for the present courtyard. As the Queens of this period were Catholics married to Protestants, their court life and religious practices have particular historic interest. As we all know ‘Time Team’ found the remains of the Privy Lodgings of Richmond Palace under the immaculate lawns of Trumpeter’s House. These, together with a recently discovered survey have enabled an accurate plan of these buildings to be made for the first time. Meanwhile more ‘key-hole’ surgery at the Queen’s House in Greenwich is shedding new light on the development of that and other buildings of Stuart Greenwich, which will be published in a forthcoming RCHM survey. When not running the Museum of London, all Simon’s spare time, he told us, was taken up by an architectural history of Hampton Court Palace. This will incorporate the findings of an extensive survey of the standing fabric and together with the results of excavations, many of which he supervised during the restorations of 1986-92. Very much more is now known about the early history of the site, which had two important owners before it was acquired by Cardinal Wolsey as an already prestigious property. Henry VIII added greatly to the land-holdings associated with the Palace, which were known as the ‘Honour of Hampton Court’, from 1538 until his death: indeed this aggrandisement may have been his last great project. The Palace was thus set in the midst of a vast royal estate, which had obvious symbolic significance as well as a major impact on the local economy. Henry further increased the royal property portfolio by adding private hunting parks to many of his west London residences e.g. Nonesuch, Esher, Oaklands and Hamworth. The last decade, members were told, had added greatly to our knowledge of the royal palaces and forthcoming publications promise more. There was still much to do however and Simon hoped that the development of the ‘Research Agenda’ for London would help identify priority areas for further work. There was still much that the archaeology of the royal palaces could tell us about the history and workings of the British Court. |
