Visit to Eltham Palace
On a sunny Wednesday in March 2019 I went to the Eltham Palace and Garden visit along with some lovely KIC ladies. We arrived in time to have a coffee in the bright greenhouse café and once everyone had arrived, we started the tour.
At the entrance we had the option to collect digital handsets, giving lots of information about the palace and gardens.
Eltham Palace was a medieval palace, a Tudor royal residence (Henry VIII’s boyhood family home) and was transformed into an Art Deco styled home by eccentric millionaires Stephen and Virginia Courtauld.
The social couple often threw extravagant parties for friends and even kept a pet lemur, his heated cage can still be seen built into one of the corridor walls.
It was an absolute joy to walk around freely and admire the beautiful rooms, clever state of the art installations, Swedish designed furniture, wooden panelled walls with stunning marquetry.
The Great Hall is worth a visit for its hammer beam roof, the 3rd largest in England, originally built for Edward IV as a dining room for the court.
We followed the house tour with a stroll around the gardens, 19 acres in total, which although not in full bloom as yet, were stunning with sunken ponds, ancient walls, a moat and a 15th century bridge.
Lastly, we headed back to the café for a yummy lunch and more chat. As a new member I really enjoyed the tour and the company and came away feeling like I had made some lovely new friends.
Sarah Akram