A Palace Sold for Scrap Rycote
Oxfordshire
11 February 2001

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Visiting Rycote
Rycote Chapel
Milton Common
Oxfordshire
Tel: 01345 382000
The Rycote House remains excavated by Time Team are on private land. However, Rycote Chapel, which used to serve the great house, is owned by English Heritage and open to the public. This substantial private chapel was built by Richard Quatremayne, councillor in the service of Richard, Duke of York, and later Edward IV. It was consecrated in 1449. It is situated three miles south-west of Thame, off the A329.

Websites

Tudor History
http://tudorhistory.org/castles
Part of the bigger Tudor History website, these pages include details of various Tudor palaces, including Hampton Court, Hatfield, Hever, Kenilworth, Richmond and the Tower of London. There is also a glossary.

Country houses and stately homes in England and Wales
www.britainexpress.com/Where_to_go_in_Britain/
historic_houses/historic_houses_index.htm
Handy A–Z with details of location, opening arrangements etc.

Historic Royal Palaces
www.hrp.org.uk
The official website for the royal palaces of Hampton Court, Kew, Kensington, the Tower of London and the Banqueting House. Detailed information and guides.

The lost palace of Whitehall
www.britannica.com/bcom/magazine/article/0,5744,40143,00.html
Online copy of a History Today article in which royal palaces expert Simon Thurley describes the significance of the royal palace of Whitehall to the Tudor and Stuart monarchs who lived there.

English Renaissance
www.tulane.edu/lester/text/Renaissance/
English.Renaissance/English.Renaissance.html
A series of images of Tudor palaces from the 'English renaissance'.

Further reading

Some country houses were, of course, constructed expressly for visiting. The 'progresses' of Queen Elizabeth I inspired a flurry of mansion-building by courtiers hoping to curry favor – many of whom bankrupted themselves in the process. The Queen, by all accounts, was the house guest from hell. Sir John Puckering, in an extravagant attempt to impress her, offered Elizabeth a diamond-encrusted fan on her arrival at Kew, a bouquet containing 'a very rich jewel' between the garden gate and the house, a pair of virginals in her privy chamber and a fine gown in her bedchamber. In addition, he was probably obliged to house and feed as many as 150 courtiers and put on wildly elaborate entertainments. Even this did not suffice, however, for the Queen, explaining that she was giving Sir John yet another opportunity to please her, pinched 'a salt, a spoon, and a fork, of fair agate'.

– from The Polite Tourist: Four Centuries of Country House Visiting by Adrian Tinniswood

Royal Palaces of Tudor England by Simon Thurley (Yale University Press, 1993) hardback £45. ISBN: 0300054203.
The royal palaces of the Tudor period – Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, Greenwich Palace, St James' Palace, Nonesuch, Whitehall and Richmond Palace, amongst others – are the subject of this beautifully illustrated exploration of royal architecture and court life in the reign of Henry VIII, reflecting the richness and splendour of the Tudor lifestyle. Every aspect of palace life – from the deliberations of the Star Chamber to the problems of providing sanitation for 800 people – is covered in detail, as well as the architectural history of not only the most important palaces, but also a selection of 'lesser' houses. A beautifully illustrated exploration of royal architecture and court life in the reign of Henry VIII, reflecting the richness and splendour of the Tudor lifestyle. Simon Thurley was used as Time Team's principal expert for the Rycote House excavation.

The Polite Tourist by Adrian Tinniswood (The National Trust, 1998) £24.99 ISBN: 0707802245
The country houses of Tudor and Stuart England were built for display and entertaining as much as for occupation by their owners. Many, indeed, were built with the express intention of attracting the reigning monarch to pay a visit. As well as the royal entourages that would travel around the country, staying at these palaces and great mansions en route, other well-off visitors would also use the properties as the five-star hotels of their day. Adrian Tinniswood's book provides a fascinating insight to this aristocratic tourism. You can read the first chapter online at:
www.nytimes.com/books/first/t/tinniswood-tourist.html

What's Left of Henry VIII? by Deborah Jaffé (Dial House, 1995) paperback £9.99
Combines the story of Henry's life and reign with a discussion of those artefacts and buildings associated with him that still survive, including a number of palaces and country houses.

Brick Building in Britain by R W Brunskill (Orion, 1997) paperback £16.99 ISBN: 0575065354
The Tudors reintroduced the use of bricks in building in Britain for the first time since the Romans. The manufacture of brick, its use in historic buildings and the changing styles of brick-based construction and decoration are all described in this well-illustrated book.

Life in the English Country House: a social and architectural history by Mark Girouard (Yale University Press, 1993, 2nd edition) paperback £16.95 ISBN: 0300058705
Classic introductory book on the architecture, use, and evolution of English country houses from the medieval period to the Second World War. Although not an archaeological text it provides a good background on the way house plans, facades etc reflect the original purpose of the building and social standing and expectations of the builder.

The English House by James Chambers (Thames Methuen, 1985) hardback £14.95 ISBN: 042300400X
Tells the story of the English house in all its richness and diversity, from the earliest medieval dwellings to the 20th century. Includes a good introductory chapter on Tudor country houses.

The Renaissance Garden in England by Roy Strong (Thames and Hudson, 1998) paperback £15.95 ISBN: 050027214X
The great formal gardens of Tudor and Stuart England are a totally lost art form. Swept away by the exponents of the landscape style in the 18th century, they are now seen in the form of Victorian re-creations around the ancient manor houses of England. But before Repton, 'Capability' Brown and Henry Wise, England had been open to all the impulses that made the Renaissance garden. Up to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642, the response had been some of the most legendary garden complexes of Renaissance Europe: Henry VIII's Hampton Court, Burghley's Theobalds, Lord Pembroke's Wilton. Intertwined with this story, which touches on the history of politics, art, architecture, literature and ideas, are some of the great figures of the age: Robert Cecil, Francis Bacon, Inigo Jones, Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford, Charles I and Henrietta Maria, John Evelyn and Andrew Marvell. The study includes some visual material in the form of plans, diagrams, views and engravings of the lost gardens of Tudor and Stuart England.

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