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Court Road
An attractive, winding road with many fine trees, and a number large late 19th century detached houses, interspersed with modern houses and blocks of flats. The road was constructed after the opening of Mottingham Station in 1866; followed the line of an old track, which led to Chapel Farm in Mottingham. The west side was developed in the 1870s, the east side mainly in the 1890s. Many houses are of yellow brick, others of red brick. There is little uniformity design, though prominent gabled bays and a varied roof outline are common feature
62 the most impressive house very tall with chequer-board stone entrance stairway leading up to an imposing porch;
Old coach house adjacent.
50 with tower-like bay.
21 built c1905, with its conical over a projecting corner bay
87 with its distinctive woodwork and window patterns
105 with decorative stonework.
Eltham Lodge. One of the finest classical mansions in London built 1664. The palace lands were leased by Charles II to Sir John Shaw, who built Eltham Lodge for himself in the middle of the former Great Park. Sir John Shaw, a wealthy vintner and banker. Evelyn visited him at the Lodge, though his opinion of the house was not high. Pepys called him 'a miracle of a man' and 'a very grave and fine gentleman'. Shaw leased the Eltham estate from the Crown in 1663, left the palace site to be used as farm buildings, and built himself this new house. It is an outstanding example of early Restoration domestic design. May belonged, with Roger North, Sir Roger Pratt, and William Samwell, to the group of gentlemen architects patronized by the court and its circle after the Restoration. Later he was one of the surveyors responsible for the government's negotiations with the City of London after the Fire. Eltham Lodge is one of his first known works, which displays a restrained elegance achieved through a mature acceptance of classical forms, which owes much to Dutch precedent. The interior was extensively refurbished in the mid 18th century. From 1840 to 1889, the tenant was Anne Wood, aunt of Charles Stewart Pamell's mistress Kitty O'Shea. It was due to Mrs. Wood's objections that the first railway line to Eltham was in 1866 routed to the south of Great Park. Since 1923, it has been the clubhouse of the Royal Blackheath Golf Club, though it remains on Crown land. The Club (which claims to be the world's oldest golf club) moved here from Blackheath in 1923 to merge with the Eltham Golf Club, which had occupied the grounds since 1892. The building is harmonious and extremely graceful. The symmetrical layout shows the enormous influence of the Queen's House. The north face has the giant pilasters and crowning pediment while the south side is more demure. Originally, the windows were mullioned; the complete confidence expressed in the design is quite remarkable considering its period. It is a compact rectangular block, two storeys with basement and dormers, red brick with stone dressings. The front is seven bays wide, the three-bay centre on the entrance side distinguished by slim giant pilasters and a pediment with garlands and coat of arms, very Dutch. The unexpected depth of the house is explained by the plan, a roughly symmetrically disposed triple pile, with a central entrance hall leading to the staircases which occupy nearly the whole of the middle section. The main entrance front facing north is particularly elegant, with its classical door case, giant Ionic pilasters and fine pediment containing garlands and coat of arms. The garden front facing south is also highly attractive; the porch was probably added later. The interior includes the Main Staircase, the Secretary's Office, and the O'Shea Room. There are a number of rooms with fine fireplaces, mainly mid 18th century, and plaster ceilings, some quite extravagantly decorated. The front entrance leads straight into the Hall, which has a screen of two pairs of Ionic columns, added later, separating it from the Inner Hall and the two staircases. Beyond the Inner Hall is the Anteroom, which leads to the garden porch. The rooms of principal interest on the ground floor are on either side of the Hall, and on cither side of the Anteroom. To the left of the Hall is the Secretary's Office. This is sumptuously decorated, with very lovely and quite elaborate rococo plasterwork on the walls and ceiling. There is a fine wooden chimneypiece, the upper part with a framed painting of a classical scene. To the right of the Hall is the Nineteenth Hole, a small bar, with a pleasing wooden chimneypiece. To the left of the Anteroom is the Ladies Lounge, with an elegant chimneypiece and intricate plasterwork on the ceiling. To the right of the Ante-Room is the Bar, with an extraordinary chimneypiece of white and pink Carrara marble - note the carved rams on either side of a carved panel showing cherubs shearing a sheep. The Main Staircase is to the right of the Inner Hall and retains the original woodwork; it has fantastic and intricate carving, with pine panels of foliage and Cherubs, and posts topped by floral urns. The ceiling has, amongst ample plasterwork, very densely carved oval garland, which formerly framed a painting. On the walls are portraits of Sir John Shaw and family. To the left of the upstairs landing is the Billiard Room, with a marble chimneypiece and intricate plasterwork on the ceiling with great fluted Corinthian pilasters at the pest end, remaining from a screen of columns. To the right is the Captain's Room, with an elegant Wedgwood style plasterwork ceiling, and finely carved door case, chimneypiece and the Dining Room, with densely carved plasterwork the ceiling. Opposite the head of the Main Staircase is a door leading to a corridor, off which the left is the O'Shea Room. This small room, beautiful and refined, was probably decorated c1750. It is divided by a finely carved round-arched part-screen resting on Corinthian columns. There is a chimneypiece, surmounted by a handsomely framed painting of St.Jerome. A staircase leads to a museum in the attic, containing 18th and 19th century golf clubs, golfing trophies etc, as well as the original lease of the house.
The golf course and the grounds. There are belts of woodland with a large pond. In the north-east of the grounds is a smaller pond, surrounded by willow trees-, which has a large population of great crested newts, a rare and nationally protected species.
There are sections of brick wall, largely 17th century, both to the east and to the west of the house. Nearer to the Tarn is a selection of wet land plants.
Cottage, of 17th century structure but substantially altered and extended in the early 19th century;
Wooden garden pavilion, early 19th century.
St.John's Path
202-208 Victorian housing. Follow a similar pattern to West Park
501-503 Victorian housing
185 Royal Tavern. Pleasant pub with unusual plastered walls and ceiling in Saloon bar. Live music
Court Yard
The section of this street from Tilt Yard Approach south to the moat formed the Green Court of Eltham Palace, and retains something of its atmosphere. The only remains of the Court now are the Lord Chancellor's Lodgings. Where medieval markets held
18-24
26
32/32a behind the early 18th century frontage is the Tudor timber structure of the buttery, a service building to the Lodgings.
32-38 Lord Chancellors Lodgings. Tudor, 34 the parlour, 36 the hall and 38. The great chamber. Framed in dark irregular Tudor beams, the last 16th century buildings of the Chancellor's lodgings present an elegant reminder of Wolsey's age. They formed part of the Green Courtyard, which overlooked the palace itself. Much restored and converted to three houses. It preserves early 16th century timber framing with a continuous overhang on the exterior; there are later brick extensions at the rear.
34 was the parlour,
36 with the oriel window the Hall
38, the impressive projecting house, the Great Chamber.
Bramber House. Post war is built on the sites of other Tudor service buildings.
Chaundrye Close a group cl960 further north in Court Yard going towards Wythfield Road was built on the site of the Outer Courtyard. Tudor walls Chancery Close where candles were made
Crown
Old walling on both sides of the road, contributing to the atmosphere, in lengthy stretches. The date of these walls is uncertain; they may have been erected here in the 18th century, though parts of the brickwork may be older.
Orchard House. Post war is built on the sites of other Tudor service buildings.
The Gatehouse the large house with half-timbered gables at the junction with Tilt Yard Approach is located alongside the site of the original gatehouse to the Green Court. It was built in 1914; note the Tudor rose and portcullis designs on the porch.
United Reform Church 1936. Walls round the Gate House
Eltham Palace,
Old palace at the end of an unobtrusive little lane. The medieval remains of the great palace buildings.
Still straddling the moat is the ancient 15th century bridge, beneath which swans continue to paddle in the quiet water. Four Gothic arches, dates from c14th when the previous bridge was improved. From here there is an excellent view of moat, and of the north range of the moat wall, which is stone of c 1315 in the low parts and brick of the late 15th century above; note the large irregular bastion at north-west corner, and the smaller projecting bastion at the north-east corner of the bridge. A lion and unicorn from the Houses of Parliament were incorporated into the wall in the 1930s.
Fragment of the Tudor gatehouse.
The Great Hall like the bridge, was built by Edward IV cl480. The stone-faced exterior of the north wall with its high-placed windows may be considered somewhat featureless, though note the grotesque heads, and the fine bay at the end with double rows of windows. Note also Edward IV's emblem 'rose en soleil' the spandrels above the entrance archway. The original brick construction of the Great Hall can be seen on the west above the single storey extension, which is of 1936. At the west end of the extensions a modem bronze statue of Jason by Alfred Hardiman. The interior is outstanding; it is one of the finest medieval hall interiors in the country, and has a magnificent hammer beam roof. The entrance door leads straight into the screens passage, with its two adjacent doorways, which used to lead into the old kitchen, and the hall itself is to the right. The hall is an intriguing, and generally successful, mixture of features remaining from the original building (though mainly restored, or rebuilt as virtually identical reproductions), and embellishments added by Courtauld during the 1930s. Original features include: the long hammer beam roof made of chestnut wood, with elaborate pendants; the screen at the east end; the central louvre, now closed up (originally for a fire below); and at the west end, the fine stone fan vaulting over the bay windows, and the doorways in the bays which used to lead into the Royal Apartments. The minstrels gallery above the screen, the canopied reredos at the west end, the curtains and the stained glass were all added as part of the 1930s restoration, and the ornately carved 18th century furniture was imported at that time. Stark stone image of Edward IV's celebrated Great Hall, standing virtually unaltered. Hammer beam roof the third largest in the country after Westminster and Christchurch, oxford. With its high windows and central louver (originally open to allow a fire below) it represents the epitome of the late medieval hall.
Excavations area. The stone remains of the excavations are 14th century and the brick remains late 15th or early 16th century.
A Tudor vaulted passage leading down to the moat can be seen.
Long stretch of the foundations of the Royal Apartments, which may have been built by Henry Vlll in the mid 1520s; they were originally as high as the Great Hall. Footings of bay windows are clearly visible, also the corridor between the windows and the moat wall.
Lower part of a stonewall with buttresses c1300, and beyond a later flight of steps. In this section, which is quite extensive, remains of some underground passages and chambers can also be seen. At this point, there is a good view of the moat, and of part of the west moat wall with its series of late 15th century brick buttress-like bays.
Marble wellhead on the lawn to the east is 18th century Italian, imported in the 1930s. The well itself is much older, as are the underground passages leading from the well to the moat wall.
Fragmentary section of the cloister of the Great Court, the inner wall of stone and the outer wall of brick.
Octagonal corner turret - remains of three sides of part of Bishop Bek's house c1300
Upper part of the Tudor north moat wall, stretching as far as the bridge; brick, with tiny round-headed openings. Note the large projecting bastion at the northwest comer. In 1976/8 an undercroft and a section of tiled pavement from the original manor 'house cl300, and the foundations of Henry VIII's chapel were excavated, but these are now hidden beneath the lawn. The excavations also found traces of 11th century buildings, as well as Roman roof tiles and Saxon pottery.
Foundations of the Royal Palace. Almost the complete moat walls remain, dating back to the early 14th century;
Remains of three sides of an octagonal corner turret of Bishop Bek's house cl300.
Upper part of the Tudor north moat wall, stretching as far as the bridge; it is of brick, with tiny round-headed openings. Note the large projecting bastion at the north-west comer. In 1976/8 an undercroft and a section of tiled pavement from the original manor ', house c1300, and the foundations of Henry VIII's chapel were excavated, but these are now hidden beneath the lawn. The excavations also found traces of 11th century buildings, as well as Roman roof tiles and Saxon pottery.)
The west side of the Great Court the basements of the King's apartments, the ancient brickwork receding into the ground
Situated on a high hill in northern Kent, it was an ideal residence for monarchs constantly making their way to defend and extend their continental lands, near enough to London to carry out important business, but sufficiently distant to maintain freedom and independence from the pressures of the city.
Like Greenwich, the manor of Eltham, or 'Alteham', belonged to the half-brother of William the Conqueror, Bishop Odo. In 1297 Edward, I signed a confirmation of the Magna Carta and Charter of the Forests there. Bishop Bek of Durham rebuilt the manor house into a moated castle, and in 1305, he gave it to the Prince of Wales, later Edward 11. The lower moat walls are Bek's and the remains of an octagonal turret in the south-west corner of the moated area is all that survives of Bek's four-turreted castle. Edward II may have settled it on Prince John. Since Edward II was subsequently deposed and the citizens of London revolted in Prince John's name, a legend grew up about 'King John's Palace', but this is not true - his brother Edward became king as Edward III. Another John appeared at Eltham palace in the mid-14th century - King John of France, or Jean le Bon, who was captured at Poitiers and held to ransom for four years in London. He came to Eltham on parole to hunt and dine with the King, bringing chronicler Froissant with him. Chaucer, the poet, was Clerk of the Works at the Manor of Eltham, and Henry IV, V, and VI, all used Eltham. Henry Vl's wife, Margaret of Anjou wanted the Duke of Gloucester's residence at Greenwich. Edward IV, who succeeded Henry VI, became famous for rebuilt the moat bridge in brick and stone, for him the Great Hall was completed in 1482. Henry VII and Henry VIII both used Eltham frequently for their palace and both made extensive alterations. Cardinal Wolsey was made Lord Chancellor of England in the Royal Chapel, which stood parallel to the north side of the Great Hall. Henry VIII held great Christmas feasts there. Though Henry VIII improved the palace he was drawn to Greenwich and by 1529 he had virtually turned his back on Eltham. one century later Charles I paid his only visit to Eltham. During the Civil War the trees were felled for the shipyards, its buildings ransacked and left to fall apart. The new tenant. Sir John Shaw built himself a mansion nearby known as Eltham Lodge; the old palace and grounds were used as a farm. In the 20th the Great Hall was restored and Sir Stephen Courtauld's residence was built.
Eltham Hall was built adjoining the Great Hall for Sir Stephen Courtauld by Lord Mottistone (then John Sealy) & Paul Paget in 1936. It consists of two wings at a strange butterfly angle (one adjoining the Great Hall), linked by a single storey entrance hall. It was later used as the officers’ mess of the Directorate of Army Education and Training. The exterior is both romantic and classical; its three towers have French chateau style roofs. A Tudor-style section on the right was designed to ease the transition from the main building to the Great Hall. Note the small chess piece figures on the copper roofs of the towers and, visible if one-steps back from the entrance, three half- timbered gables preserved from the Tudor facade overlooking the Great Court. The entrance is in a curved arcade (note the sculpture representing Hospitality), and two Egyptian cannon captured in 1882 flank the doorway. the most impressive room is the Rotunda, or entrance hall, a magnificent room in modernist style lit by an extraordinary lattice-style dome and by a long horizontal window above the door; on either side of the door the panelled wood walls have paintings of, on one side, Swedish buildings and a Viking soldier, and on the other, Italian buildings and a Roman soldier. A smaller room off the corridor towards the Great Hall has a large mural map of South-East London in leather. Overlooking the moat behind the Rotunda is a loggia with a series of carved stone medallions by Gilbert Ledward. Features in films 'Richard III’, ‘High Heels and Low Life’, ‘I Capture the Castle’
In the garden are three pairs of fluted Ionic columns from Sir John Soane's Bank of England c1800, brought here when the Bank was being rebuilt in the 1930s.
Any remains of the network of Tudor courts are covered by the lawn, though some grills set into the lawn give a glimpse of an underground passage (which was a sewer of c1528 leading from the kitchens).
Moat. The moat to the south is now grassed and is crossed by a modern wooden bridge resting on late 15th century brick footings. The part of it still in water has a population of amphibians.
King John's Walk
King John’s Walk is a pleasant and remarkably rural lane, which was the old path from Eltham to Mottingham. It starts along the north boundary of Eltham Palace, turns left to skirt the west boundary of the Palace, and passes fields on both sides before reaching the Middle Park Estate; it then goes over the railway to Sidcup Road and on to Mottingham Lane. The Walk and the fields to the east provide the only view of the south wall of the Great Hall of Eltham Palace readily available to the public. The short north section provides a view of the moat, the moat wall and the Palace beyond. From here footpaths continue ahead and to the right into Kingsground but the Walk itself turns sharp left. The next section, which is well paved, provides excellent views over South London and towards Central London, and views of the Great Hall of the Palace - a good view of the brick west wall, but a not very satisfactory view of the stone-faced south wall. Beyond this section the Walk can get quite muddy; there is a network of open fields on both sides, some with public access - like the Walk, they can become quite muddy. The whole area is highly attractive (with some fine hedgerows) and very rural in character. The fields to the east provide in places, particularly in winter, the only good views available to the public of the south wall of the Great Hall. After about a third of a mile, going gradually downhill, the Walk reaches Middle Park Avenue; it then continues to a bridge over the railway line. Beyond it goes alongside Harmony Wood and then, on the other side of Sidcup Road, the old Mottingham Farm fields before reaching Mottingham Lane. After leaving the palace, a turn to the right beside the moat takes one. The walk is thought to have been named after the French King; it's a pleasant rustic walk across the fields leading to Middle Park.
Eltham Palace Fields. Horse grazing area south of the Palace. Many wild flowers and grasses. Wet areas with fescue and sedge. Ancient hedgerows surround the site.
12 formerly called The Cottage, a large house c1909 with attractive features - note the dormers and the massive brick chimneystacks
Middle Park
Middle Park was one of three royal deer parks enclosed in the 1300s. There is a farm which was used as a stud in the mid 19th century Blenkiron. In 1862 a horse stabled here, Caractacus, won the Derby. The regular jockey had been replaced by a stable lad. Today the Middle Park Stakes remains the biggest race for two-year olds at Newmarket.
Middle Park Avenue,
Commemorates deer parks. Nature area to the north of the avenue was part of the crown lands around Eltham Palace.
Mottingham Station. 1866. Between New Eltham and Lee on South Eastern Trains on the Dartford Loop. Originally called "Eltham for Mottingham" the weather boarded building on the down side is an original building. Then ‘Eltham and Mottingham’ and then Mottingham in 1927. Its location so far off Eltham was because the tenant of Eltham Lodge at the time, Anne Wood would not agree to the railway crossing the grounds. 1957 main station building. The footbridge is late 19th century.
Goods yard closed October 1968
Holding siding for Hither Green yard opened in the Second World War at the west end of the station. In 1948 became a United Dairies depot.
Middle Park Estate
This estate was developed from 1931 to 1936 by the London County Council. It is well laid out with winding roads and greens. It is located in former royal parkland, with Eltham Palace looming above, and is almost surrounded by fields and open space. Many of the houses have mock Tudor gables, and this gives parts of the estate a picturesque effect
Railline
Mottingham to New Eltham is a green corridor with cuttings and embankments with sycamore and oak woodland. Hawthorn and bramble providing habitat for birds and animals.
Royal Blackheath Golf Course,
Northern part. Woodland and trees. Two ponds own surrounded by trees in eastern woodland, other willow lined. London biggest population of great crested newts. SSSA toads too. Acid grassland
Sidcup Road
501/503 samepattern as West Park
The Tarn
Tarn - "small lake'. Applied to a pond in Mottingham Park, this name must be regarded as a fanciful transfer in modern times of a term historically confined to the north of England
Park with a large lake, a bird sanctuary, and many trees. The lake has islands and is crossed by a modern bridge. It was once part of the grounds of Eltham Lodge but little is known of the early history. The earliest datable objects found are 15th twolead tokens - which could have been brought there accidentally from elsewhere. By 1933, the Tarn residence was unoccupied and boathouse became derelict while the lake was stagnant and overgrown. In 1935 Woolwich Council purchased it for £1,750 and then drained the lake was drained; erected wrought iron fencing, built pathways,rustic bridges, culverts, and planted bulbs. A refreshment kiosk and conveniences' were added – this building was later used as the mess room for thekeepers and gardeners. At the start of the Second World War broke out Mrs. Harrison and her young son were living in the keeper's house. There is a plaque commemorating thecoronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. In 1964, major work wasagain undertaken in an attempt toimprove the lake; another flowerbed was built along with arockery, waterfall and pond. At some time some broken tombstones arrived. An area of woodland is set aside as a bird sanctuary.
The lake, crossed by a wooden bridge, is thought to have been used to stockfish for the palace. It isa natural feature and acts as a reservoir forstorm water from the adjoining area. It is fed by smallstreams and drained by the Quaggy. Eltham might mean 'home of the swans'– and this might be where they were. The Tarn might have been stocked withfish for the medieval Friday and Lenten diet.Perhaps heron, geese and swans bred there were featured in 15th banquetsat Eltham Palace. John Holmes's plan of 1749 and Rocque's map of the1750's show it as Starbuck's Pond in a rectangle. Old maps also show that was a water-splash or ford in Court Road where the stream from the Tarn ran over the road. It had previously been called 'Starbuck'sPond' but by 1903 it appears as ‘Eltham Tarn’. A prolific but poor family surnamed Starbuck areknown to have lived locally in the late 16th but seem to have left by the late 17th. Sir John Shaw leased it in1660 from the Crown including 'fishingrights'. In 1981, the drainage system was improved with a weir, two outlet sluices, andan electrically operated sluice gate to control the outflow.In 1985, wire mesh 'duck gates' were placed across theopen sluices to try and stop ducklings frombeing swept away and drowned by water on its subterranean route to the Quaggy.
House at the north-west corner of the park, thoughnow outside its fence, used to be part of the property andseems to date from the late 19th century. Directoriesindicate that it was occupied by members of the 'gentry'who also had fashionable residences in central London andwho held the Tarn on short term leases from the Crown. There were Edwardian skating parties on a lake lit by candles hung in colouredlanterns on the trees.
Ice-well, a brick structure of the 1750s sited in a shady spot and formerly used for storing ice (which came from the lake) for Eltham Lodge. The top section has been removed to give a view of the interior. Ice was cut from the lake and stored. The ice was used to help preserve food and cool drinks served at the Lodge during the warm summer months. Ice wells were first mentioned in 1687, but at least oneauthority believes this one to date from approximately1760. The purpose of the ice well was to preserve blocks ofice cut from the lake in winter into the warmer springweather. This one 'worked' in the samemanner as a vacuum flask by insulating-in the cold andexcluding the warmth. Sited in a shaded spot, it is a brick-lined hole in the damp ground. The walls are of cavityconstruction and the well is drained. The top opening wasnorth facing for extra coolness and the well would havebeen very thickly insulated with a conical straw-thatchedroof. The octagonal pointed pantiled roof on the presentshelter seems to echo an antique theme.
Keepers Lodge, sentimental journey to see the grandest of Georgian brick boxes,
Royal Blackheath Golf Club. John Shaw laid out the park in 1663. Oldest Golf club in Britain. Long line of trees is on the Roque map. Baronet, who helped Charles II at restoration, became Surveyor of the Woods. Pepys said he had 'more offices than any man in England'. Buried in the church
Garden Pavilion
185 The Royal Tavern
Tilt Yard Approach
This short road has a gateway and long high walls remaining from the Tudor tiltyard and the royal orchard, which were to the east of the Green Court of the Palace. If the gate is open, a smaller Tudor gateway and a stretch of Tudor wall can be seen on the right.
The Tilt Yard, The house behind the walls is modern.
Brick wall near Court Yard is the boundary of the Tilt Yard Walk. Walling to the east in is 16th century.
Gateway with Tudor coping – another gate and wall all Tudor inside
West Park
A wide road, lined with horse chestnuts with large and distinctive houses built 1887-89. All the houses of that date have prominent gables; either tile hung or patterned brick; plus plasterwork and rustic timber porches.
31 Inset into the boundary wall outside is a late Victorian wall letter-box