Tudor palace used by Henry VIII is FOUND after 500 years: Amateur historians discover remains of royal residence in Northamptonshire

It once hosted royalty, as the home of Henry VIII's grandmother, Margaret Beaufort.

Now a long-lost royal Tudor palace has been discovered by a group of amateur historians in the village of Colewiston, Northamptonshire.

The palace hosted a major Tudor event in 1503 when Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, visited the palace for a party before heading north to join her future husband, James IV of Scotland.

However, in the 17th century, the palace began to deteriorate, was lost and became something of a local legend.

Now, a group of brave locals has found the royal palace once again.

The Colewiston Historical and Preservation Society (CHAPS) has long sought to locate the mansion, relying on publicly available sources and local hearsay for its research.

Despite starting with an initial budget of less than £1,000, the CHAPS team narrowed down the search and finalized a plan to search for the palace in 2018.

Chris Close, head of the group, said: “Local rumors always said there was an area here called the Palace Gardens, and everyone had their own independent views on where we found this palace, but no one had any idea.” How big was it?

What they found surprised amateur historians, as they uncovered a huge complex that could have been one of the huge palaces of the time.

“You think this is just a little stately home,” Close added, “and it turns out to be a complex of buildings extending over a thousand paces along the road from the outside.”

Excavations began in 2018, but were temporarily halted due to the Covid pandemic, with the association using the forced closure to use ground-penetrating radar and lidar to provide a more comprehensive picture of potential excavation sites.

Inspired by their meager budget, the CHAPS team tried to make the most of its resources and local enthusiasm to gradually build a picture of the prospective palace site.

“Being so naive about the whole project, it was a blessing – as if someone had told us we needed to raise £30,000 to £40,000 we might never have started,” Close explained.

The big breakthrough came earlier this year when the CHAPS team found walls that were sure to form part of the palace.

Their findings were later confirmed by experts from the University of York.

Having hosted at least three Tudor kings, the palace boasts a past that rivals many Tudor historic sites.

“When Henry VII won the Battle of Bosworth, the site was given to Lady Margaret Beaufort,” Close revealed.

“In 1503, there was a big ball at Colewiston. So all good and good came, because Henry VII's daughter, Margaret, was sent to Scotland to marry James IV and they held a ball for two weeks at Colewiston.

“It was on the basis that she had done a lot of new construction to try to show off.” And this is where Henry bid her farewell at Colewiston.

The site also has associations with two of the most famous Tudor monarchs – Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

Close added: “Henry VIII came here in 1541 with Catherine Howard and Elizabeth I, and they held private councils here during their time and added further buildings – including a banquet hall.”

“We still haven't found that by the way.” We have a ballroom to find. So there's a lot going on here.

The amateur team hopes to continue excavations next year when the Elizabethan ballroom and any artefacts it left behind are searched for.

As for why the Tudors chose to spend time there, Close said it had all the natural attributes needed for a Tudor retreat.

“The area has all the really basic building blocks,” he said.

“It has natural spring water flowing in several places across the valley. The palace site is one of them.

“He got the natural stone from Keaton.” You've got the Colewiston slate. It has lots of woodland, a 180-acre deer park, the Welland River and fish ponds. It has all the pieces you could need.

The mansion's glory days ended in the 17th century, as fashions changed and the estate was purchased in the mid-18th century by the Tryon family, who built their own residences rather than remain in the now deteriorating mansion.

The Tryon family included William Tryon, the British governor of North Carolina and New York, who attempted to kidnap George Washington during the American War of Independence.