View report page

22
were routed by Henry VII on this very Heath. In 1540, Anne of
Cleves was met here by her 'unwieldy lover', Henry VIII, and
escorted to Greenwich Palace.
However, not until Henry IV, the first of the Lancastrians,
was Greenwich regarded as one of the seats of government at
which time he was building himself a house in the south-east
corner of Blackheath, probably on the site of the present Morden
College. His will dated "Greenwich, 22nd January, 1408" bears
testimony to his residence here. Meanwhile, royalty continued to
utilise Eltham Palace to which was added a magnificent banqueting
hall with hammer-beam roof by Edward IV who was also responsible
for enlarging the Palace at Greenwich and stocking its park
with deer.
On the death of Henry V, 'Good Duke Humphrey' became
Regent during the minority of his nephew Henry VI who granted
to his uncle the right to enclose 200 acres of Blackheath to make a
park and to build a castle, on the site of which now stands the Royal
Observatory, and a palace, a fine red-bricked building which he
named Bella Court. Humphrey, at heart a studious man, settled
down in his palace to enjoy the life he loved surrounded by scholars
and artists. At his death, he bequeathed to Oxford University his
library, where it formed the nucleus of the now world famous
Bodleian. Later, Bella Court was re-named Palace of Placentia
by Margaret of Anjou, the wife of Henry VI, who spent large sums
of money on beautifying it, tiling the floors and filling the windows
with glass.
At this splendid palace lived Henry Tudor (Henry VII) the
victor of the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485) who began the Tudors'
long association with Greenwich. He was the true founder of
English maritime power and he it was who linked the history of
Greenwich indissolubly with that of England's sea services. It was
here that Henry VIII, his daughter Mary and her half sister
Elizabeth were born and spent much of their time and where
Edward VI, son of Henry VIII, died at the early age of 16 years.
At this palace, the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry
VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, was arrested and taken by
barge to the Tower of London to be beheaded and, within the
precincts of this noble residence, the marriage of Henry VIII to
Anne of Cleves was celebrated. It was during this period that the
connection of Eltham Palace with royalty began to wane and the
Palace of Placentia became more important in royal and state
affairs.
Henry VIII, who was the first king to put the Royal Navy on
a national basis, founded the Navy Office. He established the
Deptford and Woolwich Dockyards and at the latter, in 1515,