ROYAL PALACES OF
QUEEN ELIZABETH I

Richmond Palace was a Tudor Palace, built by King Henry VII, on the banks of the River Thames in Surrey. It stood on the site of an old royal palace called Sheen, which was virtually destroyed by fire in 1497, and it was named after the King (who was known as The Earl of Richmond before he won the throne from King Richard III in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485). The surrounding town of Sheen was also renamed Richmond. Henry died at the palace in 1509.

Richmond Palace was one of Queen Elizabeth's favourite palaces. She often held court there and loved to hunt stags in the nearby park. Richmond Palace was also considered the warmest of the royal palaces and the Queen liked to spend winter there. As she got older, the Queen spent more time than ever at Richmond, and died there on 24 March 1603. It was thus from Richmond Palace that the Queen made her last journey, as her body was taken with all due ceremony from Richmond to Whitehall Palace, where she lay in state for a month before being buried in Westminster Abbey.

Remains of Richmond Palace
Wiki Commons

Very little of the great palace survives today. Most of it was demolished in the mid 17th Century. A few fragments survive, however, like the Gatehouse, Trumpeters� House, and the Wardrobe.

PALACES