Nonsuch Palace

Nonsuch Palace was a Tudor royal palace, commissioned by Henry VIII in Surrey, England, and on which work began in 1538. Its site lies in what is now Nonsuch Park on the boundary of the borough of Epsom and Ewell (in Surrey) and the London Borough of Sutton. The palace was designed to be a celebration of the power and the grandeur of the House of Tudor, built to rival Francis I's Château de Chambord. Unlike most of Henry's palaces, Nonsuch was not an adaptation of an old building; he chose to build a new palace in this location because it was near to one of his main hunting grounds. However, the choice of location was unwise, for there was no nearby supply of water suitable for domestic use. The palace remained standing until 1682–3, when it was pulled down by Barbara, Countess of Castlemaine, mistress to Charles II, to sell off building materials to pay for her gambling debts.