The remains of Greenwich Palace have been discovered under the Old Royal Naval College
The team working on a major development at the Old Royal Naval College has uncovered the ruins of Greenwich Palace, the birthplace of Henry VIII and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth.
Greenwich Palace, also known as the Palace of Placentia, was originally built in 1443 on the banks of the River Thames. Henry VII rebuilt it between 1498 and 1504, and in 1491 his son, the future Henry VIII, was born. Under the latter, the palace featured heavily in royal life, witnessing not only the births of his daughters but also his wedding to Anne of Cleves in 1540.
During the English Civil War, the palace was neglected, at one stage becoming a prisoner-of-war camp. Charles II decided to rebuild it and had it demolished in 1660, although the new palace was never realised. The site remained empty for almost four decades until the construction of Greenwich Hospital in 1694, which eventually became the Greenwich Royal Naval College in 1873.
The discovery of two rooms of the Tudor palace, including a floor featuring lead-glazed tiles, was uncovered during preparations for the new visitor centre below the Painted Hall at the college. One of the rooms in particular was found to contain “a series of unusual ni
