Bridewell Palace
Categories: British Royal Residences | Defunct prisons | Former buildings and structures of London | Royal buildings in London | Prisons in London
Bridewell Palace was built for Henry VIII between 1515-1523 on the site of the medieval St Bride's Inn, at a cost of £39,000. It stood on the banks of the Fleet River, and was named for a well nearby dedicated to St Bride. The papal delegation had preliminary meetings here in 1528 to discuss the King's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. A pet project of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, it was abandoned by the king after Wolsey's fall in 1530. It was leased to the French ambassador 1531-1539.
In 1553 Edward VI gave over the palace to the City of London for the housing of homeless children and for the punishment of disorderly women. The City took full possession in 1556 and turned the palace into a prison, hospital and workrooms. Similar institutions throughout England borrowed the name bridewell. Eventually, the site of Bridewell Palace became a school known as Bridewell Royal Hospital.
Most of the palace was destroyed in the Great Fire of London, and rebuilt in 1666-1667. In 1700 it became the first prison to appoint medical staff (a doctor). The prison was closed in 1855, and the buildings destroyed 1863-1864. The school moved to a new site in Surrey, and changed its name to King Edward's School Witley. It celebrated its 450th year in 2003.
The main site of the palace is now occupied by the Unilever Building, (built 1931).
External link
| Royal Palaces and residencies in the United Kingdom | Image:Royal Standard.gif |
|---|---|
| Occupied: Bagshot Park | Balmoral Castle | Buckingham Palace | Clarence House | Gatcombe Park | Highgrove | Hillsborough Castle | Holyrood Palace | St. James's Palace | Kensington Palace | Sandringham House | Windsor Castle | |
| Historical: Palace of Beaulieu | Beaumont Palace | Bridewell Palace | Dunfermline Palace | Eltham Palace | Fort Belvedere | Hampton Court Palace | Kew Palace | Linlithgow Palace | Marlborough House | Castle of Mey | Nonsuch Palace | Osborne House | Palace of Placentia | Queen's House | Royal Pavilion | Savoy Palace | Tower of London | Palace of Westminster | Palace of Whitehall | |