Elsyng Palace (variously also Elsynge, Elsing, Elsings) was a Tudor palace on the site of what are now the grounds of Forty Hall in Enfield, north London. Its exact location was lost for many years until excavations were carried out in the 1960s.
Elsyng, also known as Enfield House, should not be confused with Enfield Manor House, known after the end of the eighteenth century as Enfield Palace. This was located near the market place in Enfield Town, with parts surviving until 1928. [1] Elsyng was in the separate manor called Wroth's, Tiptofts and later Worcesters. The house lay within the present estate of the later Forty Hall, to the north-east of the hall and to the south of Turkey Brook. [2] The site is now a scheduled ancient monument. [3]
The manor originally known as Wroth's Place was inherited in 1413 by John Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tiptoft (whose mother was Agnes Wroth) [4] from his cousin Elizabeth Wroth. [1] John was succeeded by his son John Tiptoft, 1st Earl of Worcester (1427–70) [5] who is said to have built the house. [1] After Worcester's execution in 1470 the manor (now called Tiptofts) passed to his sister Phillipa. From here it passed to Phillipa's son Edmund de Ros, 10th Baron de Ros and in 1492 to Edmund's sister Isabel and her husband Sir Thomas Lovell, Speaker of the House of Commons. On Lovell's death in 1524, it passed to his great-nephew, Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland. In 1539 he exchanged the manor, by now called Worcesters, with property in Leicestershire, and the manor therefore came into the ownership of Henry VIII. [1]
Henry VIII visited Elsings, "the palatial Middlesex home of Sir Thomas Lovell, more frequently than any other residence belonging to a lay subject. Foreign visitors were invariably housed at Sir Thomas Lovell's mansion...As treasurer of the household, Lovell played an important role in Wolsey's administration but perhaps it was the splendour of Elsings coupled with its convenient location which most attracted the king." [6]
The original building date of the house is not known. Earliest traced records show it belonged to Thomas Elsyng, a Citizen and Mercer of London.[ citation needed ] Under the ownership of Sir Thomas Lovell it was extended to become a brick palace sufficient to receive the court on progress; Lovell also contributed to the clerestory and glazing of Enfield parish church. [7] Henry VIII's sister Queen Margaret of Scotland stayed at Lovell's house in 1516. [1]
After 1539, the estate which was called Little Park was used by Henry VIII as a base for hunting. His children spent part of their childhood here. There were extensive repairs by James Needham, Clerk of the King's Works in 1542 in preparation for a Christmas visit by Prince Edward and his sisters Mary and Elizabeth. Scottish prisoners and hostages taken at the battle of Solway Moss visited Prince Edward at Enfield on New Year's Day 1543. [8] It is where Elizabeth and Edward heard of their father's death.
As Queen, Elizabeth is believed to have stayed at Elsyng on at least four occasions. [1] In January 1560, Elizabeth I appointed John Astley and Kat Astley keepers of the palace, with the adjacent manor of Worcesters, the New Park, and its game. [9]
The palace fell out of use in the Stuart period in favour of nearby Theobalds. In 1608 James I had it partly demolished and the materials used for extensions there. The remaining part, including the gatehouse and hall, was occupied from 1616 to 1623 by Philip Herbert, Earl of Montgomery. By 1630, however, he had succeeded his brother as Earl of Pembroke and was busy remodelling Wilton House. Elsyng probably began to fall into disrepair. In 1641 Charles I sold the house and the adjoining Little Park to Pembroke for £5,300. [10]
In 1646, Nicholas Raynton, owner of the neighbouring Forty Hall, died and his estate passed to his son, also Nicholas. Following the death of Pembroke in 1650, Raynton acquired the remains of Elsyng to extend the Forty Hall estate. Initially the ruins of the palace may have been retained as a folly; however, it was eventually demolished sometime in the 1650s with some reuse of bricks in other houses around Enfield. By 1823, only the traces of fish ponds and crop-marks at the site of the house were visible. [11]
The rediscovery of the palace site began in the 1960s with the local Enfield Archaeological Society finding traces of Tudor vaulted brick drains, and traces of the royal apartments. Subsequent digs in 2004, 2005 and later have revealed further traces of the palace and its associated outbuildings. [12]
Elizabeth Cavendish, later Elizabeth Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury, known as Bess of Hardwick, of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire, was a notable figure of Elizabethan English society. By a series of well-made marriages, she rose to the highest levels of English nobility and became enormously wealthy. Bess was reportedly a shrewd businesswoman, increasing her assets with business interests including mines and glass-making workshops.
The Lord Steward or Lord Steward of the Household is an official of the Royal Household in England. Holders of the office are always peers, until 1924, were always members of the Government, and until 1782, the office was one of considerable political importance and carried Cabinet rank.
Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley,KG was an English nobleman created a Knight of the Garter (KG) in the beginning of King Henry VIII's reign. He was chamberlain to Princess Mary from 1525 to 1528.
Edmund Ros or Roos, 10th Baron Ros of Helmsley was a follower of the House of Lancaster during the Wars of the Roses. He regained his family title after the accession of King Henry VII of England.
George Manners, 11th Baron de Ros of Helmsley was an English peer.
Thomas Manners, 1st Earl of Rutland, 12th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, of Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, was created Earl of Rutland by King Henry VIII in 1525.
William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, of Wilton House in Wiltshire, was an English nobleman, politician and courtier. He served as Chancellor of the University of Oxford and together with King James I founded Pembroke College, Oxford. In 1608 he was appointed Warden of the Forest of Dean, Constable of St Briavels Castle, Gloucestershire, and in 1609 Governor of Portsmouth, all of which offices he retained until his death. He served as Lord Chamberlain from 1615 to 1625. In 1623 the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays was dedicated to him and his brother and successor Philip Herbert, 1st Earl of Montgomery.
The Chief Butler of England is an office of Grand Sergeanty associated with the feudal Manor of Kenninghall in Norfolk. The office requires service to be provided to the Monarch at the Coronation, in this case the service of Pincera Regis, or Chief Butler at the Coronation banquet.
William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, 1st Baron Herbert of CardiffKG PC was a Tudor period nobleman, politician, and courtier.
John Tiptoft, 1st Baron Tiptoft was a Knight of the Shire for Huntingdonshire and Somerset, Speaker of the House of Commons, Treasurer of the Household, Chief Butler of England, Treasurer of the Exchequer and Seneschal of Landes and Aquitaine.
The title Baron Grey of Powis (1482–1552) was created for the great-grandson of Joan Charleton, co-heiress and 6th Lady of Powis (Powys) and her husband, Sir John Grey, 1st Earl of Tankerville (1384–1421) after the death of Joan's father, Edward Charleton, 5th Baron Cherleton (1370–1421) left the title in abeyance.
Sir Anthony Browne, KG of Battle Abbey and Cowdray Park, both in Sussex, England, was a Member of Parliament and a courtier who served as Master of the Horse to King Henry VIII.
Sir Thomas Lovell, KG was an English soldier and administrator, Speaker of the House of Commons, Secretary to the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Sir Thomas Parr of Kendal in Westmorland, England, was a courtier and is best known as the father of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII.
Events from the 1540s in England.
Forty Hall is a manor house of the 1620s in Forty Hill in Enfield, north London. The house, a Grade I listed building, is today used as a museum by the London Borough of Enfield. Within the grounds is the site of the former Tudor Elsyng Palace.
Sir Thomas Wroth was an English courtier, landowner and politician, a supporter of the Protestant Reformation and a prominent figure among the Marian exiles.
Edward Lewknor was the representative of a branch of a prominent Sussex family, in an armigerous line descending in the distaff side from the Camoys barony. Having attained standing as a member of parliament and by a position of service in the royal household, his career was ended abruptly by his involvement in Henry Dudley's conspiracy against Queen Mary I, and his consequent attainder. His children were restored in blood by Queen Elizabeth I.
Ipswich Greyfriars was a mediaeval monastic house of Friars Minor (Franciscans) founded during the 13th century in Ipswich, Suffolk. It was said conventionally to have been founded by Sir Robert Tibetot of Nettlestead, Suffolk, but the foundation is accepted to be set back before 1236. This makes it the earliest house of mendicant friars in Suffolk, and established no more than ten years after the death of St Francis himself. It was within the Cambridge Custody. It remained active until dissolved in the late 1530s.
Robert Wroth was an English courtier and Member of Parliament for Newtown.