ROYAL PALACES OF
QUEEN ELIZABETH I

While not as famous as some of the other royal residences, Oatlands Palace, on the bank of the River Thames in Surrey, was an important place in the Tudor period. The palace was built by King Henry VIII for his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, and it stood on the site of an old medieval manor. A lot of the stone came from Chertsey Abbey, which was destroyed during the dissolution of the monasteries. After Henry's divorce from Anne, he married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, at the palace on 28 July 1540.

Queen Elizabeth stayed from time to time at the palace and made further additions and alterations. Like all Tudor palaces, Oatlands was an impressive building, having towers and fanciful chimneys, and from the palace was a glorious view across the Thames. The palace also had a number of gardens.

Sadly, most of the palace was demolished in the 17th century and nothing remains today except a gateway.

PALACES