Image: artist’s reconstruction of Enfield palace, as seen on information plaque displayed at Forty Hall (photo: C.A. Stanford).
Acquired: 1539
Sir Thomas Lovell built a fashionable red brick house at Enfield in the late fifteenth century, large enough to support visits by the court. After his death, Henry VIII forced an exchange of properties with his heir in 1539 and acquired the house, putting his own Surveyor of Works, James Nedeham, in charge of additional building on the site. Repairs and furnishing allowed for royal visits at Christmas 1541 and 1542.
Though the house was later demolished and a new structure (Forty Hall) built at the estate, excavations starting in the 1960s relocated the former palace site. The Enfield Archaeological Society has continued to sponsor further digs in the 2000s, with additional work planned.