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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 (some say his murder), he bequeathed to
Oxford University his extensive collection of hand written books
where they formed the nucleus of the now world famous Bodleian
Library. Later, Bella Court was re-named the 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. Confirming the
Borough's long stand-ng affinity with the sea and shipbuilding, he
established the Deotford and Woolwich Dockyards and at the
latter, in 1515, built the "Henri Grace a Dieu", the greatest warship
of her day. He christened the ship and appointed her captain
as the first Master of Trinity House, the corporation which still
controls the lighthouses and pilotage of the coasts of England.
At that time, Trinity House was located beside St. Nicholas, the
" seafarers'" church, in an area famous for its association with