Live a life of Tudor fancy in this five-bedroom London home with links to Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII
Fans of Wolf Hall rejoice, as a rare chance to own a Tudor home inside the M25 comes to market.
As someone who lives in the area, there is much to be found in SE9. Not all of it necessarily pleasant. What I was not expecting, however, was this glorious Tudor home, named Court Yard, which was once part of the Royal Court at Eltham Palace and built in the 16th century. It’s quite rare to find something like this for sale, but for sale it is, for £2 million with Hamptons.
It gets better. It is one of only three remaining Tudor homes in the area, constructed as part of the estate to house the Chancellor of the Exchequer Cardinal Wolsey; Eltham Palace was a former childhood home of Henry VIII. Court Yard is now a five-bedroom home, ideal for a family or a couple ‘seeking country living within a London suburb’.





Is there a moat bridge involved in reaching this property? There is. Does it have a ‘discreet postcard perfect Tudor façade, framed by cherry blossom’? It does. There is so much to love here, from both a history perspective and ‘gosh isn’t this just a nice and comfortable five-bedroom house’ perspective.
There are, of course, plenty of period features throughout. Exposed beams galore. Very small windows in place (as well as plenty of big ones). But overall, the property is modern in all the right places. A large functioning kitchen. Lots of light.
There are red rooms, and then there's this.
Nice oak beams though. And who doesn't love a four-poster bed.
There is one bedroom that I feel I must draw your attention to, where the Tudor/Elizabethan theme could be described as a little ‘overwhelming’. But people are allowed to have fun, are they not?
Court Yard is complemented by a spacious garden to the rear, with a patio area directly adjoining the house and steps that lead down past box hedges to a manicured lawn. There is plenty of green space to be found in Eltham itself, with the Royal Blackheath Golf Course, England’s oldest, a short walk away.



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James Fisher is the Digital Commissioning Editor of Country Life. He writes about motoring, travel and things that upset him. He lives in London. He wants to publish good stories, so you should email him.
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