"A medieval moated enclosure around the remains of a Royal palace, developed with new buildings and gardens in 1933-5 by the architects Seely and Paget.
Eltham became a Royal palace in 1305, when it was granted to Edward, Prince of Wales by Anthony Bek, Bishop of Durham. The estate included the moated manor house, a dovecote, a deer park, and a windmill. As King, Edward embarked on a large-scale programme of building and improvement, which his successors continued.
Edward III built part of the great wall around the moat and continued work on the grounds, adding the Middle (or Little Park) to the west of the Palace between 1367 and 1368. Richard II enclosed another park, the Great Park, to the south and east of Eltham Palace. He also laid out a new garden to the south, beyond the moat. Between 1475 and 1480 Edward IV constructed the Great Hall and laid out a third park, Home or Lee Park (to the west of Middle Park and Eltham Palace). Together the three parks contained almost 1300 acres (c 540ha). Henry VIII laid out new gardens to the south and east of the moat, with a Privy or Arbour Garden and alleys providing a private walk. He also put in a new chapel, lodgings, and in 1532, a bowling green (site not known).
Henry VIII was the last monarch to spend substantial amounts of money or time on Eltham. After over 300 years as an eminent Royal palace, favoured by Kings and courtiers as a hunting park, it was eclipsed by Greenwich Palace. Eltham Palace then declined rapidly: after the Civil War it was described as untenantable and out of repair, and most of the buildings were demolished by Colonel Nathaniel Rich, who purchased the main portion of the estate after a sale in 1649. The Great Hall and Chapel were retained but left as ruins, the deer were slaughtered and the parks stripped of their trees.
In the mid C17 the owner, Sir John Shaw, built Eltham Lodge in the Great Park and lived there. For the next 200 years Eltham Palace was used as a farm and the buildings were tenanted. Middle and Home Parks do not appear to have been re-enclosed. The Palace declined into a picturesque ruin, much frequented by artists and sightseers. In the early C19 a villa was built within the moat walls and gardens and kitchen gardens laid out in the west and south moats. A campaign to save the Great Hall from demolition resulted in its restoration in 1828 but it was still used as a barn. Later in the C19 Eltham Palace became a gentleman's residence, and glasshouses and gardens were laid out in the west moat. By the early C19 the parkland had been reduced to two small areas of 50 acres (c 21ha) and 70 acres (c 29ha); the rest had reverted to arable or pastureland. The larger park was cleared of its parkland trees between 1808 and 1828.
The late C19 and early C20 saw continuous development around Eltham and by the 1930s the Palace site was almost completely surrounded by houses. The Great Hall was repaired by Charles Peers, Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments, in 1911-14, and more garden areas were planted.
In 1933 the Courtauld family obtained a lease of the Eltham Palace site from the Crown and initiated repairs to the buildings. The Courtauld Wing and a squash court were built, incorporating the Great Hall and a three-gabled building. Plans for the gardens were initially prepared by Andrew Mawson & Partners and exhibited at Chelsea Flower Show in 1935. These plans were adapted by the site architects, Seely and Paget, and then further adapted before and during implementation by the Courtaulds, in consultation with John Gilmour (the Assistant Director of Kew). Ornamental plantations, shrubberies, and specimen trees were added to the areas within, and to the south and east of the moat, and seven new garden areas were laid out.
In 1944 the Courtaulds surrendered the Crown lease and the site was taken over by the Royal Army Education Corps. The Corps remained until 1992, the grounds being used between 1975 and 1993 as the Royal Parks training facility. The site is now open to the public."