Placement Spotlight: Historic Royal Palaces

My placement with Historic Royal Palaces, facilitated by Oxford University’s Heritage Partnerships and the OOC DTP, was a wonderful experience which enabled me to dive into the archives on behalf of one of the country’s foremost public-facing heritage organisations. Sifting through Tudor manuscripts was an immensely enjoyable task made even more rewarding by the knowledge that my research may contribute towards the dissemination of the nation’s history.

 

My task was to record and produce a calendar, essentially a summary transcription, of the Needham volumes. These are accounts for building works undertaken at royal properties between 1532-1544 assembled by James Needham, the Surveyor of the King’s Works at the time. They chart a period when vast sums of money were being spent on royal residences to cater for the needs and desires of Henry VIII and his court. Embarking on this project I was looking forward to learning more about the construction of the magnificent buildings documented, which I did, but I also found that these volumes are so much richer than I imagined. They contain a plethora of insights into the private lives of Henry and his innermost circle, shedding light on not just the buildings they occupied but how they were used day-to-day and how historic events found a built expression.

 

The volumes are dominated by descriptions of piecemeal alterations, some large others small, and maintenance across a wide selection of royal residences. With work ranging from elaborate decorative timber fretwork ceilings for the King to the construction of common jakes for servants. Details of building work undertaken across the royal built estate help us understand what these buildings looked like. Those featured within the Needham volumes include Richmond Palace, Greenwich Palace, the Tower of London, Windsor Castle, Bridewell, Woking, Hunsdon, the Manor of the More among many others. With many of these properties long since vanished and with little in the way of visual evidence such as drawings or plans remaining, the volumes contain valuable information to aid us in reimagining these buildings. Knowledge of the materials employed in works adds to the picture and can play an important role in helping to conserve buildings still being cared for. The volumes are also a remarkably overlooked and rich resource for historians working more broadly on the Tudor period. Far from being a dry record of expenditure, they offer unique insights into the private lives of the royals, their courtiers and ordinary Tudors alike.

Alongside my transcriptions I produced glossaries to aid future researchers examining the volumes. I also produced a substantial spreadsheet detailing information of particular interest from within the volumes to assist HRP curators in their work, for which I was elated to receive a highly complimentary email from Tracy Borman, HRP’s Chief Historian.

 

I would urge other AHRC-funded students to pursue a placement during their studies to supplement their experience and open up other avenues of opportunity.