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16
From the beginning of the 15th century when Westminster had
again become the centre of government, the Palace of Placentia,
the favourite royal resort up to the time of James 11 (1685), became
the scene of countless tournaments, pageants and lavish spectacles.
Greenwich in its hey-day and during one of the most colourful
periods in English history, was the haunt of most eminent people
of the time and the great Elizabethan admirals, statesmen,
philosophers, writers, musicians and courtiers thronged the river—
side and splendid palace nestling at the foot of Greenwich Hill in
some 200 acres of beautiful sward and delightful woodland.
Among these could be numbered the painters Holbein, Rubens and
Vandyke—men of letters such as Shakespeare, Bacon, More,
Jonson, Sidney and Spencer—seamen and explorers such as Raleigh,
Blake, Cabot, Lord Howard, Davis, Frobisher, etc.,—Tallis and
Bull the composers—Newton the celebrated philosopher and friend
of Flamsteed, the Astronomer Royal—Harvey, the physiologist—
Gresham, the astute merchant and financier and "money-finder"
for the Royal Households—the list seems endless but, with such
habitues, it was no wonder that the Court at Greenwich was the
most popular in Europe. It was towards the end of this "golden
age" in 1675, on a Warrant of Charles II, that the Royal Obser—
vatory was founded and, to the design of Christopher Wren,
Flamsteed House was built on the site of Duke Humphrey's tower.
Almost as if to create a surfeit of grand edifices, an exquisite
building designed by Inigo Jones with ceilings by Gentileschi and
originally intended by James I as a palace for his Queen, Anne of
Denmark, was commenced in 1616 and marked the introduction
for the first time in England of the Palladian style of domestic
architecture. The Queen's House, as it is now called, was finally
completed for Charles I and occupied by Queen Henrietta Maria
in 1635. This beautiful house set the fashion for the big country
seats which subsequently sprang up all over England.
Following the execution of Charles I, the Palace of Placentia
fell into disrepair and, during the Cromwellian period, valuable
furnishings and pictures were sold. However, on the restoration
of Charles II in 1660, the older buildings were demolished for an
intended new palace but only one of the four blocks forming the
present Royal Naval College was begun. The remaining three
blocks were completed by Queen Ann and William and Mary,
respectively, with the laudable aim of providing a Royal Hospital
for Naval Seamen. For this purpose, a commission had been set
up with John Evelyn, the diarist, as its treasurer but it was some
years before the Hospital was eventually completed by Vanbrugh,
Hawksmoor and later architects in accordance with the overall
plans of Christopher Wren. This group of imposing and stately