Paul Hentzer, who described the early London theatres, also took notice of this handsome building and lovely grounds. On the death of the King, Queen Mary sold it to the Earl of Arundel, and in the next reign the noble earl entertained the Queen in right royal state. Balls, masques, and plays were given in alternate evenings, the children of St. Paul’s acting in a play especially composed for the occasion. After this visit the Queen much favoured this beautiful summer retreat, and a few years later she purchased the entire estate from Lord Lumley, the Earl of Arundel’s son-in-law. Elizabeth kept open house here, daily hunting over the neighbouring downs, and in the evenings masques and plays were held; sometimes for divertissement she would dance a galliard with her courtiers. Nonsuch was pulled down in 1671, and the surrounding lands were converted into farms. Even in the present day a residence named Nonsuch House will be found in the neighbourhood.
“1559. A play was performed here before the Queen by the Children of St. Paul’s, under their Master, Sebastian Westcott.”
No other play is mentioned as performed in this Palace.
ELTHAM PALACE
This royal residence dates from quite ancient times, being erected during the thirteenth century. It was occupied by royalty for many centuries, until the reign of James I, when it ceased to be a royal palace. Originally a moated manor house, like all such buildings, the house was nearly square in form, and embraced four courts, surrounded by a high wall. The moat, which surrounded the structure, was of great width; the principal entrance was over a stone bridge and through a gateway in the north wall. There was also another gateway and bridge at the opposite side of the enclosure. The most important part of the building consisted of a high range, which crossed the Court from east to west, and included the Great Hall, the Chapel and the State Apartments. The principal courts were spacious, lodging rooms and state offices were numerous. Of all these large buildings, the Banqueting Hall and an ivy covered bridge now remain, which still forms an entrance to the ruins. The Banqueting Hall is a most interesting relic of this once magnificent Palace.
The high pitched roof is in a fair state of preservation, with hammer beams, carved pendants, and braces, supported on corbels of hewn stone. The dimensions of the Hall are 100 feet in length, 55 in height, and 36 in breadth. This Hall, with a suite of rooms at either end, was the main feature of the Palace; it rose in the centre of surrounding buildings as superior in the grandeur of its architecture, the magnificence of its properties and the amplitude of its dimensions. This fair edifice has survived the vicissitudes which, at different periods, has destroyed the old palace. Desolation has reached its very walls, but still the Hall of Eltham Palace has not, with the exception of the Louvre, been deprived of any of its salient features. The proportions of Eltham Hall and the harmony of the design attest the care and skill which were exerted in the production of this beautiful edifice. Other halls may surpass this building in extent, but this is perfect in every useful and elegant decoration belonging to a banqueting chamber. It was splendidly lighted, and perhaps required painted glass to subdue the glare admitted through two and twenty windows.
The Palace during the early part of the nineteenth century was used as a barn, when most of the windows were bricked up and three pairs on the north side remain in that position at the present time. The holes for the timber supports of the elevated platform are still visible on the western wall and above the same spot at a considerable elevation was a window, where the King might look from his own private apartment on the revellers in the Hall, an arrangement commonly in use in the old mansions of this description.
“1559. August 7th. A play was performed at this date before the Queen.” Collier gives the acting place at Eltham, other authorities state the performance took place at Nonsuch. The Children who presented the play were acting under their Master, Sebastian Westcott. This is the only reference I can find pertaining to Eltham, and unfortunately, a doubtful one.
THE MIDDLE TEMPLE HALL
In Elizabethan times plays and masques were often presented in the Halls of the buildings belonging to the Inns of Court. The Hall of the Middle Temple has the distinction of being one of the grandest Tudor buildings remaining in the United Kingdom.