Nonsuch: The Palace That Ate a Village
Hello wonderful readers! I know I’ve been quiet on the blog the last couple of weeks. Between Camp Underfoot and putting the last details together for the production of The Wrath of Atticus, I disappeared. Oh – and there was that short family trip to Kennywood in Pittsburgh, PA where my son when on his FIRST “hyper coaster”!!!!!
If you know anything about my family’s personal journey (namely as it relates to raising a boy with enhanced needs), you’ll understand why this is a huuuuge deal for all 3 of us. Needless to say, he has earned all his summer Brownie Points and I feel like letting him play Minecraft until his eyes go square as a reward.
Today I’d like to tell you about Nonsuch Palace, one of the “missing” Tudor Palaces that I used as the setting for a scene in The Queen’s Viper.
Nonsuch Palace – The Palace that Ate a Village
King Henry VIII was a prolific builder and collector, fueled by both his egotism and his rivalry with like-minded “friend,” King Francis I of France. When he ascended to the Throne, Henry VIII had inherited 7 “greater” houses, 17 “lesser” houses, and 14 castles, including Windsor Castle where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married. Although he inherited these lands and more, plus took control of the Roman Catholic monasteries during the Dissolution / Suppression of the Monasteries when he declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England it wasn’t enough for him.
As King, Henry VIII took what he wanted. And that included an entire village.
In order to build Nonsuch Palace, the King’s grand hunting retreat, King Henry VIII demolished the village of Cuddington, Surrey. The earliest mention of this village (as Cotinton) is from the year 675. But what’s a little bit of Anglo-Saxon history when you want to build a shrine to yourself, right? At Nonsuch, he created over 1500 acres of park for hunting. Apparently there was nowhere else in his Kingdom or his existing properties except this village to build a hunting park.
Despite the narcissistic enormity of this decision, King Henry VIII’s Nonsuch Palace was, quite possibly, the jewel in his architectural crown. He was older, was on his sixth wife, and finally had a son to take the mantle of his Kingdom. The “lodge” would house a smaller retinue for a more intimate Court.
No Place Like It
Nonsuch Palace lacked the playboy tennis courts and cock-fighting pit of Whitehall. This hunting “lodge” was a place for him to relax with his family and adore his son.
But, this is King Henry VIII we’re talking about, whose over-inflated opinion of himself could give some current world leaders a run for their money. Nonsuch was far from subtle. Even it’s name is boastful. Henry named the palace Nonsuch because there was “none-such” a place like it
Viper’s first impression of Nonsuch Palace:
As Viper approached the palace, she was amazed at the gall of the man who broke with Rome, only to re-create its ambiance in his proverbial back garden, with himself as the king of gods. Two five-story turrets flanked the front face of Nonsuch, with spires that pierced the clouds. The white exterior of the building cut through the night’s drizzle like a beacon of hope. Viper, dressed in a loose, crimson wool dress, her hair plaited down her back, hearkened to its signal.
Nonsuch displayed mythological allegories of strength and wisdom unlike that of any of Henry’s other palaces. Six-hundred and ninety-five stucco panels in the Italian Renaissance style adorned the exterior walls of the double quadrangle building, and both of its interior courtyards. Gold painted slabs of slate, six inches across and etched with intricate, repeating guilloche patterns, filled in the gaps between each tableau.
Viper ascended the steps through the rectangular gate house between the courtyards, surprised to find Elizabeth in the inner yard, a pale statue in the bleak night. There was no need for Elizabeth to be outdoors. King Henry had in-stalled fireplaces in each of the five magnificent palaces he created in order to keep his guests comfortable in the renowned damp English weather. Three ladies-in-waiting watched Elizabeth from the arch of an entryway through fatigued eyes.
The immortal kept her body invisible to Elizabeth’s audience, and her emotions sheltered from the woman who might deny her. Hanging around Elizabeth’s neck, the Parhelion glimmered a brilliant white. Its luminescence gave her simple nightgown an angelic shimmer.
“I am surprised at your presence, though not by your presence am I surprised,” Elizabeth said under her breath. She didn’t relocate her focus from the statue of her father and Edward, her half-brother, which dominated the royal entrance to the palace. Statues of Roman emperors lined the inside walls of the courtyard on the same side as the Henry’s effigy, equating him with the Holy Rulers. The opposite walls, on the royal consort’s side of the building, hosted the goddesses of antiquity.
They cried for the queen below who could not confess her tears.
– excerpt from The Queen’s Viper
Castle in the Wind
Ironically, King Henry VIII died before the shrine to his legacy was finished and his son never lived long enough to enjoy it. Like many of Henry’s grand homes and castles, Nonsuch fell victim to the frailties of human life. King Charles II gave it to his mistress, Barbara Castlemaine in 1670. However, she had a number of gambling debts. In order to pay off these debts, she demolished the palace and sold off everything. Within 20 years, nothing remained of the original grand palace. Some of the frescoed panelling is in Great Hall of Loseley House. The original palace was located at the ends of the grounds of the late 18th century Nonsuch Mansion.
Looking for more? Check out what happened to Chelsea Place, the Manor House where Viper first meets the Tudor Princess Elizabeth in The Queen’s Viper. Or read about last year’s trip to Blenheim Palace, the grounds of which were where Queen Elizabeth I was held prisoner by her sister Queen Mary I of England.