Did Nonesuch Palace ever exist

Q. And suitably palatial

A. Yes - fantastic. This was the 30th year of Henry's reign, and Nonsuch was intended to celebrate the power and the grandeur of Henry VIII and the Tudor dynasty. The palace was arranged around two main courtyards. The outer one was built of brick and stone, with a turreted gatehouse. It was quite ordinary.

Q. But ...

A. The inner building was beautiful: Stucco panels moulded in high relief with timbers covered with carved and gilded slate. Anthony Watson, Rector of Cheam, writing in the late 1500s, said they were: 'Surrounded by huge figures of gods and goddesses gleaming white ... so moulded that they seemed to be leaping off the walls ... Each one stood in a golden frame that shone so brightly in the sun that it looked as though the Palace was on fire...' The royal apartments were divided into the King's side, to the west, and the Queen's side, to the east; each side ending in an octagonal tower, five storeys high. Total cost of the work up to the end of 1545 was 24,536.

Q. And it was finished in Henry's lifetime

A. Just about. He died in January, 1547, and the palace passed to his son Edward VI. After his early death, it passed to his big sister Queen Mary who sold it in 1556 to Henry Fitzalan, 12th Earl of Arundel.

Q. So it passed out of the royal family

A. For a while. Lord Arundel completed work on the palace and garden and left it to his son-in-law, John, Lord Lumley upon his death in 1580. Lumley built a library in the palace and housed his a large collection of paintings there. He also developed the gardens, which became one most important in Elizabethan England. However, he got into debt and had to sell the palace ... to Queen Elizabeth.

Q. Then

A. James I inherited the palace on Elizabeth's death in 1603. He gave it to his queen, Anne of Denmark, and Nonsuch was also used by his son Henry, Prince of Wales. Charles I gave the palace to his wife, Henrietta Maria. After the Civil War, Parliament sold the palace, but when Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660 the palace returned to Henrietta Maria. She died in 1669 and Charles II gave the palace to a mistress, Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine (also Baroness Nonsuch and the Duchess of Cleveland).

Q. In good hands

A. No. Lady Castlemaine was a notorious gambler and got badly into debt. In 1682 Charles II allowed her to demolish the building and sell the materials to raise money. She was also allowed to sell the Great Park (1,000 acres) and Little Park (671 acres). Pieces of the palace were carted away to make new buildings, mainly in nearby Epsom.

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By Steve Cunningham