Whitehall Museum, Cheam
During my research trip to England in May, I took a break from following in the footsteps of Anne Boleyn to visit Whitehall, a sixteenth century timber-framed house in Cheam Village that now operates as a museum and is home to a wonderful model of Nonsuch Palace.
The model, made by Ben Ruthven-Taggart and unveiled in March 2012, is incredibly detailed. Six hundred and ninety five stucco panels adorned the walls of the inner court and exterior of Henry VIII’s Nonsuch, and for the model over 140 of them were made depicting gods and goddesses, the busts of Caesars and battling soldiers.
Model of Nonsuch Palace
Apart from the model, the museum also houses a number of artefacts from Nonsuch discovered during excavations in 1959, these include: pottery, stucco, glassware and decorative slates. Also on display are some architectural reconstruction drawings of the palace made by Sydney R. Turner in the 1940s and a large photograph of a painting showing Nonsuch Palace sometime between 1660-1682, before Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine, sold it off for its building materials to pay for her gambling debts.
Myself at the site of Nonsuch Palace
The magnificent Great Hall of Loseley House in Surrey contains panelling from Henry VIII’s Nonsuch Palace and his banqueting tents, but sadly, no trace of the palace remains on site today.
This did not stop us from making the short trip from the museum to Nonsuch Park, where armed with mental images of the model at Cheam, we stood and imagined Henry’s renaissance palace set amid the magnificent parkland. I was surprised to learn that it was about the size of a modern day football pitch, as for some reason, I had pictured it much larger.
Today three granite pillars mark where the palace once stood. The first marks the site of the outer gatehouse and the north range, the second that of the inner courtyard and the third marks the south front.
If you too plan to visit the site of Nonsuch Palace, I recommend reading The Nonsuch Trail by Ewell and Epsom History Explorer.
Visit the Friends of Whitehall here.
More photos from our day coming soon!
Looking at the model the Palace seems quite fantastical, like something from a fairy story with it being so ornate, it must have been awe inspiring seeing it in the ‘flesh’.
I am suprized too at it being that small when you compare it to other of Henry’s abodes, but what it lacked in size it sure made up for in its ‘over the top’ decoration. A reflection of the man who had it built I think… 🙂
I am certainly glad that someone took the time to create the model of non such .