By the 13th century, the
Palace of Westminster had become the centre of government in England, and had been the main metropolitan residence of the king since 1049. The surrounding area became a popular and expensive location.
Walter de Grey,
Archbishop of York, bought a nearby property as his Westminster residence soon after 1240, calling it York Place. . King
Edward I stayed at York Place on several occasions while work was carried out at Westminster, and enlarged it to accommodate his entourage. York Place was rebuilt during the 15th century and was expanded so much by
Cardinal Wolsey that it was rivalled by only
Lambeth Palace as the greatest house in the capital city, the King's palaces included. Consequently, when King
Henry VIII removed the
cardinal from power in 1530, he acquired York Place to replace Westminster (the royal residential, or 'privy', area of which had been gutted by fire in 1512) as his main residence, inspecting its possessions in the company of
Anne Boleyn. King Henry VIII hired the Flemish artist
Anton van den Wyngaerde to redesign York Place, and he extended it during his lifetime. Inspired by
Richmond Palace, he included sporting facilities, with a
bowling green,
indoor real tennis court, a pit for
cock fighting (on the site of
the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall) and a
tiltyard for
jousting (now the site of
Horse Guards Parade). It is estimated that more than
£30,000 (several million at present-day value) were spent during the 1540s, half as much again as the construction of the entire
Bridewell Palace. Henry VIII decorated his gardens with
carved heraldic beasts, including unicorns, set on wooden posts. The posts were painted by the
Serjeant Painters Nicholas Lafore and
Anthony Toto. Henry VIII married two of his wives at the palace—Anne Boleyn in 1533 and
Jane Seymour in 1536—and died there in January 1547. The body of
Elizabeth I was brought by barge from
Richmond Palace in March 1603 to lie in state at Whitehall Palace.
Anne of Denmark's secretary
William Fowler wrote Latin verses and anagrams for a sundial in the garden, restored by the orders of
James VI and I. In 1611, the palace hosted the first known performance of
William Shakespeare's play
The Tempest. In February 1613 it was the venue for the
wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Frederick V of the Palatinate. Anne of Denmark's apartments were painted in "antique work" by
John de Critz and the fireplaces carved by
Maximilian Colt. A withdrawing chamber for
James VI and I featured a wind dial or compass connected to a
weather vane on the roof, and the room was painted by John de Critz with a scheme of the four winds, the four corners of the earth, and the four elements. A courtier, Gerrard Herbert, described entertainments for a French ambassador at Whitehall Palace on 20 May 1619, after Anne of Denmark's death. The Duke of Lennox hosted a feast in King's Great Chamber. A supper of sweetmeats was served in glass bowls brought in on Chinese porcelain platters. The guests moved from the Great Hall to the Queen's Privy Chamber, where they heard the late Queen's French musicians sing, and in the Queen's bedchamber the Irish harp (played by
Donell Dubh Ó Cathail), a viol, and
Mr Lanier singing and playing on the lute. They returned to the Great Chamber for a performance of Shakespeare's
Pericles. The forty rooms of the lodgings provided for King James's favourite
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, included a picture gallery in a converted bowling alley. James VI and I made significant changes to the buildings, notably the construction in 1622 of a new
Banqueting House built to a design by
Inigo Jones to replace a series of previous banqueting houses dating from the time of
Elizabeth I. Its decoration was finished in 1634 with the completion of a ceiling by
Peter Paul Rubens, commissioned by
Charles I (who was to be
executed in front of the building in 1649). By 1650 Whitehall Palace was the largest complex of secular buildings in England, with more than 1,500 rooms. Its layout was irregular, and its constituent parts were of many different sizes and in several different architectural styles, making it look more like a small town than a single building. The irregularity of the buildings was increased by the penchant of courtiers to build onto their assigned lodgings, either at their own expense or that of the king's.
Stephen Fox, Charles II's
Clerk of the Green Cloth, obtained permission from the
Office of Works in the 1660s to build additions to the three rooms he was assigned. By the time he was finished he had constructed a grand mansion with coach house, stables, and a view over the Thames, all within the palace network. in 1698. The palace was never rebuilt.
Charles II commissioned minor works, but made extensive renovations. Like his father, he died at the palace, but from a stroke.
James II ordered various changes by
Christopher Wren, including a chapel finished in 1687, rebuilding of the queen's apartments (), and the queen's private lodgings (1689). The Roman Catholic chapel of James II, constructed during a period of fierce anti-Catholicism in England, attracted much criticism and also awe when it was completed in December 1686. The ceiling was adorned with 8,132 pieces of gold leaf, and at the east end of the nave an enormous marble
altarpiece ( high by wide) designed by Wren and carved by
Grinling Gibbons dominated the room.
Etymology The name 'Whitehall' was first recorded in 1532; it had its origins in the white stone used for the buildings. This stone had been originally brought to England by Wolsey with the hope of establishing a college in
Ipswich that would feed
Cardinal College, Oxford. However, as part of Wolsey's fall, Henry VIII stole the white stone and other materials intended for the college and co-opted them for the extension of York Place. == Destruction ==