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The Palace of Whitehall – also spelled White Hall – at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, with the notable exception of Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire.
Whitehall Palace, former English royal residence located in Westminster, London, on a site between the Thames River and the present-day St. James’s Park. York Place, the London residence of the archbishops of York since 1245, originally occupied the site.
Whitehall Palace. Principal official residence of Henry VIII designed across a busy road in London, the palace covered much of the area that still bears its name. The origins of Whitehall Palace lie in the London residence of the Archbishops of York – a large complex of buildings erected near Westminster Palace on the banks of the Thames.
At the time of its fiery destruction in 1698, Whitehall Palace was probably the largest palace in Europe; the centre of English royal power for 168 years. The fabulous palace was created by Cardinal Wolsey as his central London residence.
Henry set about enlarging York Place, and transforming it into a magnificent royal palace, fit for himself and his Queen, Anne Boleyn. He called it Whitehall, and it became the principal setting for the passions, intrigues and ceremonies of the Tudor, and afterwards, the Stuart monarchies.
The Palace of Whitehall was the main home of the English kings and queens in London, from 1530 until 1698, when all except Inigo Jones 's 1622 Banqueting House was destroyed by fire. Before the fire, it was the largest palace in Europe, with over 1,500 rooms (at one time it was the largest building in the world).
It therefore became the principal royal palace of English monarchs and home of the royal administrators. But in 1512 the royal residence was largely destroyed by fire and Henry VIII found himself as the first monarch since Saxon times without a palace at Westminster.
