Eltham Museums, Landmarks and Local History: Eltham Palace and Well Hall Pleasaunce

Eltham's best-known history is concentrated in two places: Eltham Palace and Gardens and Well Hall Pleasaunce. The history below comes from English Heritage, Historic England and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Prices and opening times change, so we link them rather than quote them.

Eltham Palace and Gardens

English Heritage describes Eltham as a combination of architecture and history: the palace and gardens were transformed by Stephen and Virginia Courtauld in the 1930s, who restored the medieval and Tudor remains and added an art deco mansion with lavish interiors. It says the site was later used as a base for the Royal Army Educational Corps until 1992.

Its things to see and do page adds that:

• the Eltham estate, first recorded in the Domesday book, was presented to King Edward II in 1305 and became one of the most favoured royal palaces, helped by 1,000 acres of deer park
• a young Henry VIII lived there during his childhood
• the 1930s house includes a map room, a wartime basement bunker and spaces for the Courtaulds' pet lemur
• the medieval great hall has a hammer-beam roof, built for Edward IV more than 500 years ago, which visitors can see from a minstrels' gallery
• there is a kid-friendly audio guide, a playground, a cafe and a secondhand bookshop

Historic England's list entry for the Great Hall, at Court Yard, SE9, records it as Grade I, first listed on 8 June 1973, and describes a stone-faced building of six bays dated to circa 1479, with a hammer-beam roof and a wooden gallery at the west end that is a restoration of the screens passage.

On tickets, English Heritage's prices and opening times page says you get a discount by booking online until midnight the day before, you can still buy on the day at full price, tickets are valid all day, and tickets are free for members. Check that page for the current prices and dates, and for any events.

Well Hall Pleasaunce and the Tudor Barn

The council's page on Well Hall Pleasaunce, on Well Hall Road, SE9, describes a Green Flag Award-winning park with themed gardens including Italian, rose, heather and floral shield gardens, a bowling green, a play area and water features. It says the Tudor Barn, in the north of the park, dates back to the 16th century and is now a restaurant for park users that can be hired for private functions.

Historic England's entry for the park, a Grade II registered landscape first listed on 1 October 1987, says that:

• the grounds are those of a 16th-century moated manor house, with occupation of the site traceable to 1253
• in the mid 16th century it was the seat of William Roper, son-in-law and biographer of Sir Thomas More
• the property was sold in 1733 to Sir Gregory Page, who replaced the Tudor hall with a new residence also called Well Hall
• tenants from 1899 to 1922 included Hubert Bland, founder of the Fabian Society, and his wife, the author Edith Nesbit
• the grounds first opened as a public park in 1933, and the house, rebuilt in the 18th century, was demolished in the 1930s

Other places to find out about Eltham

Eltham Library, in the same building as The Eltham Centre, coordinates the town's Elthamread reading festival, according to Better's page; see our libraries guide. For green spaces and family days out including Avery Hill and Eltham Common, see our parks and kids guide, and for what is on this month see our events guide.