Palate of Whitehall

The palate of Whitehall was the principal residence of the sovereign English with London of 1530 until in 1698. It had also become more the large palace of Europe while extending gradually until more 1 500 parts. It was almost completely destroyed in 1698 by a fire, except for the Maison of the banquets of Inigo Jones.

The palate gave its name (Whitehall) to the current administrative center of the government of the United Kingdom.

Site

In its greater extent, the palate covered the zone bordered in north by the Northumberland avenue, in the south by the street Downing and almost to the Derby door, in the west the buildings facing the road of Horse Guards, and in the east the edges of the the Thames (the construction of the Quais Victoria since encroached on the river) is a total of 93 000 m ².

Origin

At the 13th century, the Palais of Westminster had become the center of the government in England, and the main home of the sovereign since 1049. The price of the real estate of the district had followed its strong demand. Walter de Grey, the Archbishop of York, bought a field shortly after 1240 and named it York Place .

Edouard I {{er}} there remained on several occasions while work was made in Westminster, and increases the building to place its entourage there. York Place was rebuilt during the 15th century, and was so much increased by the cardinal Thomas Wolsey that in London, only the Lambeth Palace was comparable surfaces some for him, exceeding even the palates of the king. Also when Henri VIII dislocated the cardinal in 1530, it acquired York Place to replace Westminster like his principal London residence.

Disappearance

In 1691, whereas the palate had become largest like the continent (and a true patchwork of disparate constructions), a fire destroyed most of the old structure. That made it possible to obtain a better coherence of the unit. However, another fire, the January 4th 1698, destroyed it almost completely. In spite of a very partial rebuilding, the financial constraints empéchèrent a repairing. In second half of the 18th century, most of the site was rented for housing construction.

Nowadays

Time there remains only the house of the banquets of 1622, although it was modified a little. One can also see a tennis court of the time of Henry VIII, covered, with the n°70, Whitehall.

Starting from 1938, the part was redéveloppée by it, with a building which currently lodges the Ministère of the Defense of the United Kingdom. An underground vault of the large room of Wolsey, known then like the cellar with wine of Henri VIII, still exists but was moved of 3 m in the west and 6 m low when the building was completed, after 1944.

Several marble sculptures of the old vault can be seen in the church of Burnham-one-Sea, in the Somerset, where they were moved in 1820 after being sent to the abbey of Westminster in 1706.

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