History
By the 13th century, the Palace of Westminster had become the centre of government in England, and had been the main London residence of the King since 1049. The surrounding area became a very popular, and expensive, location. Walter de Grey, the Archbishop of York bought a property in the area soon after 1240, calling it York Place.
Edward I of England stayed at the property on several occasions while work was carried out at Westminster, and enlarged the building to accommodate his entourage. York Place was rebuilt during the 15th century and expanded so much by Cardinal Wolsey that it was rivalled by only Lambeth Palace as the greatest house in London, the King's London palaces included. Consequently when King Henry VIII removed the cardinal from power in 1530, he acquired York Place to replace Westminster as his main London residence. He inspected its treasures in the company of Lady Anne Boleyn. The term Whitehall or White Hall is first recorded in 1532, it had its origins in the white ashlar stone used for the buildings.
Henry VIII subsequently redesigned York Place, and further extended and rebuilt the palace during his lifetime. Inspired by Richmond Palace, he also included a recreation centre with a bowling green, indoor tennis court, a pit for cock fighting (now the site of the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall) and a tiltyard for jousting (now the site of Horse Guards Parade). It is estimated that over £30,000 (approaching £11m in 2007 values) were spent during the 1540s, 50% more than the construction of the entire Bridewell Palace. Henry VIII married two of his wives at the palace—Anne Boleyn in 1533 and Jane Seymour in 1536. It was also at the palace that the King died in January 1547. In 1611 the palace hosted the first known performance of William Shakespeare's play The Tempest.
James I made a few 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 Sir Peter Paul Rubens, commissioned by Charles I (who was to be executed in front of the building in 1649). By 1650, the Palace was the largest complex of secular buildings in England, with over 1,500 rooms. The layout was extremely irregular, and the constituent parts were of many different sizes and in several different architectural styles. The palace looked more like a small town than a single building.
Charles II commissioned minor works. Like his father, he died at the Palace—though from a stroke, not execution. James II ordered various changes by Sir Christopher Wren, including a new chapel finished in 1687, rebuilding of the queen's apartments (c. 1688), and the queen's private lodgings (1689).
Read more about this topic: Palace Of Whitehall
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