Nonsuch Palace

Nonsuch Palace was a palace of the English king Henry VIII in today's Borough Epsom and Ewell in Surrey. Although it was by far the most expensive and most complex object of prestige Henry is get it above ground to small traces of foundation remains nothing. Today there are only three contemporary representations of Nonsuch Palace. Only parts of the former interior can be seen in other buildings and known the appearance of other objects through drawings.

History

Architectural History

Henry's rival, King Francis I of France had in 1519 started the construction of Chambord Castle on the Loire and then greatly expanded Fontainebleau Castle. Henry VIII wanted to show with the most costly construction of Nonsuch Palace, that he was also technically and financially able to build magnificent buildings. Nonsuch can be seen as a direct competitor to the French buildings. Construction began on 22 April 1538 before the church located here Cuddington church had been laid down. For the construction stones and tracery which also demolished Merton Priory were used. Although the building was not completed for Heinrichs alive, it devoured to 1545 the sum of 23,000 pounds, to 1547 there were 24,500 pounds, equivalent to a present-day purchasing power of more than 100 million pounds. The buildings and towers were built mainly to 1544, were missing only in the northern section of the palace to the Outer Court building parts. The building was not completed until 1556.

The antiquary John Leland reported the mid-16th century through the extraordinary palace:

The name was so familiar from the construction of.

Of the participating artists and architects of some of the names have survived. Worked fewer local architects and builders, but mostly Italians and Dutch. One of the participants was from Modena derived Nicholas Bellin. He had experience in the palace, he had previously worked with Francesco Primaticcio at Fontainebleau. Another was the William fetched from specially from Amsterdam Cure. Also called a Giles Low or Low, certainly not arise in England, with its exact origin is not known. Nonsuch was during its construction, the focus of highly qualified and therefore more expensive practitioners from a number of different trades.

After Henry VIII

After the death of Henry VIII, the building became the inheritance to his daughter and successor Queen Mary I, but had no use for it, so they sold the palace in 1556 to Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel, who let him finish. Again, by heritage, the building passed to his son, Lord Lumley. Lumley had debts to the royal treasury, in the course of these negotiations, the palace in 1592 was returned to the Crown of Queen Elizabeth I. The Queen liked the very palace, the time they spent here is, as the Golden Age of the palace referred to. Her successor, King James I, left the building in 1603 of his wife, Anne of Denmark, and King Charles I left it to his wife Henrietta Maria of France for their use. Fateful for the palace was that King Charles II in 1669, the building of his former mistress Barbara Villiers left. This had gambling debts and had therefore demolish the palace from 1682 and sell the items recovered. Until 1687 the entire building was demolished despite its size down to the ground.

Excavations

The foundations were first fully investigated archaeologically in 1959, further excavations were followed in the early 1960s. So far, however have still not been any findings of these studies published in scientific, a picture book to the excavation in 1959 has been released.

Design and features

The palace was, like others of his time, a structure about two square courtyards, once the northern, called the exterior courtyard, the Outer Court and the southern inner courtyard, the Inner Court Overall, he was 114, 9 meters long and 61.6 meters wide. The main entrance was through a gatehouse equipped with four corner towers, which resulted in the Outer court. Both farms had the same footprint, approximately 40.2 x 35 meters, but were designed completely different. The Outer Court enclosing parts of the building were facing the courtyard like to outsides rather plain and followed the Gothic -inspired models, they were built on two levels. In the east, joined, separated by a kitchen garden, which is not built-in fire protection reasons in the palace kitchen wing on. It is believed that the servants and guards of the king were housed in the buildings to the Outer Court. The two courtyards separating blocks of buildings is expected in the middle, next to the towers, have been the highest component. He also included a flanked by four corner towers gatehouse, just the middle part, and in the basement wine cellar of the palace.

The architecture of the southern part of the palace to the Inner Court followed French models. The buildings were three -, four storeys in the octagonal towers. From the usual principles of the use and layout English palaces in the 16th century, starting it can be assumed that the reception and ceremonial rooms of the king in the west wing of the Inner Court, which were the queen in the east wing and both were connected by a gallery in the south wing. The bedroom of the king was on the first floor at the outer side of the south wing overlooking the private garden, the courtyard, the gallery, this can be the queen on the first floor of the crossbar to the Outer Court nevertheless did not go today to say exactly which room was precisely what purposes.

The most remarkable was the design of both the internal facades to the Inner Court and the exterior facades of the southern building block. They were with Renaissance motifs according to some " überreichst " decorated, both with images of humans or animals, as well as floral motifs, as well as with the grotesque. It was this lavish sculptural decoration which led to the name Nonsuch, so nothing like it. It has been calculated that the total work a wall surface with a length of over 274 meters at 3-7 meters varying building heights, ie several hundred square meters covered. The motives of the illustrations came from a wide variety of models from Italy and France. This precious stone cutting and sculpture as well as the interiors were sold individually by Barbara Villiers.

Received or familiar objects

In addition to drawings of individual objects in the courtyards and gardens in the Red Velvet Book of 1590 certainly come the panels in the gallery of Losley Park in Guildford Nonsuch. It is uncertain whether the paneling of the Great Hall in that very building also originate from there, which is quite possible, because in addition to beautiful illusionistic intarsia time also the initials of Henry VIII and Katherine Parr are on, so would fit in the time.

Current situation

From the aerial parts is down to fragments of the foundations of nothing more to see, only a stone with a note and the plan of the palace are on site information about the place, stood at the Nonsuch Palace. The modern street The Ave between the northern to the southern London Road Ewell Road runs on the western stretch almost centrally through the remains. Of the former palace gardens surrounding the Nonsuch Park takes its name, in the north-east corner there is Nonsuch Manor, a country house dating from the 18th century.