Hello People,
Today I have come to Eltham Palace SE9. Regular readers may
have noticed this is my second palace in as many weeks, but I can’t help it, I
just love palaces. In fact I recently dug a small moat and painted the fence
outside the front of my flat royal blue, in homage to the palaces of south east
London, but that’s enough about ‘The–Grand-Blue-Palace-in-the-Red-Valley’ Flat at
number 26B’, back to Eltham.
For such a seemly ordinary town, Eltham has had some real
stars; Boy George, Bob Hope, Frankie Howerd, Christian from EastEnders - all the greats grew up in Eltham. Kate Bush even
lived here for a while too. Legend has it that Kate’s classic song, ‘Running up
that Hill’ was written about a Friday night in Eltham. One night she was so
hungry, she ran from the Tudor Barn Pub all the way up to the McDonalds on the corner
of the hill for a Fillet O’ Fish and a Fanta. The rest was music history.
Eltham Palace was given to King Edward II by the Bishop of
Durham in 1305 and it remained a royal residence for the next two centuries. One
of its most famous royal residents was Henry VIII who grew up in the palace. I
can just imagine a young Henry queuing up to buy his pick ‘n’ mix in the Woolworths
halfway up the high street on a Saturday afternoon before heading to the old Well
Hall Coronet. It must have been an idyllic childhood.
By all accounts Henry was a dashing young prince in his day,
but as we all know, he died a hairy fat bloke with syphilis. Sadly Eltham
Palace didn’t age much better. After the
16th century it slowly fell into decline and then ruin. It remained
that way until the 1930s when the new building was constructed on the existing
site, incorporating the Great Hall. It was then that the Courtauld family moved
in, and everything changed, for the better,
Stephen Courtauld had cleverly made his fortune at a young
age by being born into a wealthy family. After serving in WWI and winning a
Military Cross, Stephen – an
enthusiastic mountaineer – decided to climb Mont Blanc in the French Alps. It
was there that he met Virginia Nee Peirano, the woman he was to marry.
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| The Courtaulds |
On their return from their honeymoon Clubbing in Faliraki, Stephen
and Virginia leased Eltham Palace from the crown commissioners in 1936. They
gutted it and filled it with the kind of 1930’s glamour that would have made
the Great Gatsby’s house look like a Butlin’s chalet.
The happy couple shared their new home with Jongy – their
pet Lemur. Jongy was loved by Stephen and Virginia so much they installed a
pole from his Madagascar-themed bedroom down into the kitchen, and they allowed
him to roam the house as he pleased. However, Jongy didn’t get on with everyone
that visited the palace. In fact he took such a dislike to one guest he caused
the delay of the 1930s British Arctic Expedition (which the Courtaulds had
sponsored) by severing the wireless operator’s artery. When he wasn’t trying to kill arctic explorers
he was a good pet, and the three of them seemed to have been a very happy
family.
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| Jongy |
The 1930s décor and Jongy’s bedroom are still there for you
see, as is the beautiful garden and moat. It’s a great way to spend an
afternoon and I recommend you go see it while the sun is still shinning.
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