Amateur archaeologists from the Collyweston Historical and Preservation Society (CHAPS) made an exciting discovery in the village of Collyweston, Northamptonshire. After a five-year search the CHAPS members discovered a long-lost Tudor palace that first began to fall into disrepair in the 17th century.
“Many of us were brought up in the village, and you hear about this lost palace, and wonder whether it’s a myth or real. So we just wanted to find it,” said Chris Close, the chair of CHAPS. “But we’re a bunch of amateurs. We had no money, no expertise, no plans, no artist impressions to go off, and nothing remaining of the palace. It’s naivety and just hard work that has led us to it.”
What used to be the home of Lady Margaret Beaufort are now buried ruins. Beaufort was the mother of King Henry VII who ruled England from 1485 until 1509, and was the first monarch of the Tudor dynasty.
The palace also hosted pre-wedding festivities for Margaret Tudor (Henry VII’s daughter) and James IV of Scotland in 1503. In October of 1541 the palace was also where Henry VIII—who is best known for having six marriages—held his court.
"When Henry VII won the Battle of Bosworth, Lady Margaret Beaufort was gifted the site," Close explained. "In 1503 there was a big shindig at Collyweston. So all the great and the good came, because Henry VII's daughter, Margaret was being sent off to Scotland to marry James IV and they had a two week party at Collyweston."
"It was on the basis of that she got lots of new building work done to try and show off. That's where Henry said goodbye to her at Collyweston."
The palace, adds Close, is much larger in size than previously assumed. The crew is also searching for an “Elizabethan banqueting hall” that was added by Elizabeth I who hosted Privy Councils at the palace.
“You think this is just a mini-stately home and it turns out to be a complex of buildings which is over a thousand paces all the way around the outside,” Close explained.
Attempts to find the palace were first made in the 1980s and 90s, but failed.
The CHAPS team, however, was well equipped with modern technology, and after using ground-penetrating radar and carrying out geophysical surveys, they were able to locate the palace walls in the back garden of homeowners. Historians from the University of York, who have verified the discovery, have agreed to assist the small society as they continue their excavations.