Nonsuch - Henry VIII's greatest palace

Nonsuch Palace, near Ewell, Surrey, was the grandest of Henry VIII's building projects. So unbelievably elaborate were the plans that people said that "non such" had ever been seen, and the name stuck.

Nonsuch was commissioned in 1538 by Henry VIII to celebrate the birth of his son, the future Edward VI, and outshine his rival, King Francois I of France. Henry had a manor house and an entire village removed to make way for the building.

The basic floor plan was an outer and inner courtyard, each with a fortified gatehouse. The northern side was a more medieval-style fortification, similar to the look of Hampton Court, while the southern facade held ornate Renaissance decoration, with octagonal towers at the corners.

It had a King's side and a Queen's side, each with fountains, statues and carvings. In an inner courtyard was a statue of Henry and his longed-for son, Edward VI.

The palace was not finished by Henry’s death in early 1547, and he had only visited it three times. His children showed little interest in the building, though the Earl of Arundel took over and had the building finished in 1559.

In later years the palace fell into disrepair. Charles II gave Nonsuch to one of his mistresses, Barbara Villiers, in 1670. Deciding that her grand residence cost too much to run (and with a stack of gambling debts) Villiers demolished the building in 1682, and it joined those other lost Tudor palaces Greenwich and Richmond as places we can only visit in our imaginations.

Extensive excavations began in 1959 to better understand this impressive structure, and a perfect miniature model was made a few years ago.