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The Palace of Placentia
The area south of the River Thames at Greenwich has a long history. Throughout time different buildings have been constructed on the same site. The Palace of Placentia no longer exists apart from a few remains underneath the present buildings. Read the text below to find out more about the history of the Palace of Placentia, then try the vocabulary exercise which follows.
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The grand buildings
on the South Bank of the Thames at Greenwich were designed by Sir Christopher
Wren, most famous for St. Paul's Cathedral. The buildings were finally
completed in 1745, although some parts started to be used as early as
1705. They are now part of a university - having formerly served
as a naval hospital and a naval college - and been the setting
for several cinema and television films.
But the buildings
stand on a site which has a much longer history, of which now only a
fragment remains and that is below the ground.
For nearly two hundred years, from around 1450 to 1650, Greenwich was one of the
main royal palaces of England. Some of the most famous English monarchs,
such as Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, not only lived there surrounded by their courts,
but also had been born there.
Henry VIII put an
armoury there, and there was a special area for jousting - mounted
knights separated by a barrier who rode at each other with lances. There
were also gardens and orchards, a great fountain and a sprawling mass
of buildings.
The Palace was also in a strategic location, because at
the time either side of Greenwich on the Thames were important Royal Dockyards.
Eventually, though, the Palace fell into disrepair. In 1664, the
King at the time, Charles II, decided to demolish it and replace it with
completely new buildings in a modern style. Only a cellar from the former
Royal Palace now remains, underneath one of the new buildings. Its red
brick, typical of the sixteenth century, contrasts sharply with the white
stone and columns that are above it.
Exercise - Vocabulary
Look at the definitions below. Each one is for a word in bold
in the text. Choose the word or expression from the list on the right
which matches the definition.
 Check
your answers
Links for more information
Greenwich
and the Tudors - Article from the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich
Thanks to GoldenBks for the image
of the Palace of Placentia from a print published by the Society of Antiquaries
in 1767, after an early drawing.
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