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Nonsuch Palace is a sixteenth-century royal residence built by Henry VIII from 1538 onwards in Surrey, designed as a magnificent hunting lodge and display of royal power. The palace was constructed on the site of the medieval settlement of Cuddington, which was depopulated to make way for the royal project, and featured innovative Italian-influenced architecture with distinctive twin turrets and ornamental tilework that made it one of the most celebrated palaces of Tudor England. The formal gardens surrounding the palace were extensive and elaborate, reflecting contemporary Renaissance design principles with geometric layouts and water features appropriate to a royal showpiece. Though the palace was largely demolished in the late seventeenth century after the Restoration, significant archaeological remains and earthworks survive, including traces of the formal garden layouts and fragments of the medieval settlement that once occupied the location, providing evidence of both the grandeur of Henry's construction and the displaced medieval community whose lands were requisitioned for royal use.
Nonsuch Palace, its formal gardens and associated remains, and Cuddington medieval settlement is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1017998. View the official record →
Nonsuch Palace is a sixteenth-century royal residence built by Henry VIII from 1538 onwards in Surrey, designed as a magnificent hunting lodge and display of royal power. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1017998.
Nonsuch Palace, its formal gardens and associated remains, and Cuddington medieval settlement is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1017998.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bowl barrow and later beacon at Tumble Beacon (4.3 km), Camp in Ashtead Forest (5.8 km), Earthworks near St Giles' Church (5.9 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Nonsuch Palace, its formal gardens and associated remains, and Cuddington medieval settlement's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Nonsuch Palace, its formal gardens and associated remains, and Cuddington medieval settlement stands on Lambeth Group, bedrock that formed in the Paleocene. The rock here is clay, silt, sand and gravel.