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Secret London: Why you should visit Eltham Palace this weekend

Grand digs: Eltham's Grand Entrance Hall featured in season two of Netflix's The Crown: English Heritage
Grand digs: Eltham's Grand Entrance Hall featured in season two of Netflix's The Crown: English Heritage

In an attempt to take you all out of your comfort zones, our Secret London series uncovers little-known locations in the city and beyond.

This week we explore Eltham Palace, a stunning masterpiece of art deco design hidden within the leafy reaches of the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

What's this about a palace that's actually a house then?

Like most buildings in London, Eltham Palace has quite the complex history. How so? Well it's one of the very few places in the capital, indeed the world, where the mediaeval gothic meets the glittering grandeur of the art deco aesthetic. Mind boggling, we know.

Originally built as a palace that was gifted to Edward II in 1305 by the then Bishop of Durham, Anthony Bek, the sturdy fortress was used as one of the official residences of the Monarch for over 200 years. A favourite of King Henry IV, the palace is famous for hosting the only Byzantine Emperor to ever visit our shores, Manuel II Palaiologos, an event so big King Henry held a joust in his honour.

Years later, Edward IV built the Great Hall (which dons the third largest hammerbeam roof in England) in the 1470s and a young Henry VIII grew up inside the palace walls before he became king in 1509. Hec, if that's not impressive enough, they even say the the Order of the Garter was founded here, too.

Sounds fascinating. Tell us more.

What's most intriguing about the place is its modern interiors. In 1933 a young Stephen Courtauld (the younger brother of Samuel Courtauld who founded the Courtauld Institute of Art) and his wife Virginia acquired the lease of the palace site and transformed the tired and old mass of brick and stone into an elaborate art deco mansion. Month by month, year by year, socialites, politicians, artists, novelists, royals and the odd journalist partied and drank into the early hours inside what's now thought of as one of the finest examples of Art Deco design and architecture surviving in Britain today.

Throughout, the furniture and fittings look like a film set, which is probably why several blockbusters and television shows (including the second season of The Crown) have been shot here. Quirky, dandy and decadent, admire the pink leather chairs, ornate black and silver doors and the incredibly ornate maple veneer in the lavish dining room. Or, just beg to try out the onyx and gold-plated taps in Virginia's Hollywood-style bathroom. They are seriously groovy.

What's seemingly evident to all who visit though, is that the house was way ahead of its time - a sort of precursor to the shockingly millennial pink and hygge nightmare we've all come to adore and secretly hate. Think mod cons like underfloor heating, ensuite bathrooms, weird, but wonderful vaccum cleaning systems, domed entrance chambers, a luxury wartime bunker (which might soon prove useful), a basement billiards room, a mammoth walk-in wardrobe etc etc. All things we now take for granted, but back then all of it really was the real deal.

End your Gatsby-esque pilgrimage upstairs to watch a home movie featuring Stephen and Virginia plodding about with their pet lemur Mahjong. Sweet and a little cringe, you'll slowly understand why they fell in love with the beast. In fact, their love was so great, they built specially designed quarters for him.

In a nutshell, Eltham was Scandi cool before Scandi cool was even a thing.

OK. Anything else I should know about?

The glorious 19 acres of beautiful gardens. The best time to visit them is mid spring and the early summer when everything from pink, ivory and ruby hellebores to daffodils, primroses, cyclamen, primulas, pansies, tulips, peonies and Oriental poppies bloom. The highlights include the fragrant herbaceous border designed by award-winning garden designer Isabelle Van Groeningen, the rock garden with all its cascades and pools running down to the moat, and the sunken rose garden where you have to cross London's oldest working bridge to get into. Oh, and there's a cute little tea shop to have a brew in, too. Divine.

Eltham Palace is at Court Yard, London SE9 5QE. For more information on opening times and to book tickets, visit their website.

Want more London secrets? Here's why you should visit Strawberry Hill House next weekend!