THE TOWER OF LONDON.

The Bloody Tower and the Wakefield Tower, in which the Crown Jewels are kept.

[pg 1]

PEEPS AT

ROYAL PALACES

OF

GREAT BRITAIN

BY

BEATRICE HOME

CONTAINING 8 FULL PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
IN COLOUR AND 21 LINE DRAWINGS
IN THE TEXT


LONDON
ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK
1913

[pg 2]

If a palace be a royal residence, as the dictionary definesit, then nearly all the famous castles of England wouldcome under that title, for the Norman and PlantagenetKings were constantly moving from one stronghold toanother during the unsettled period of the Middle Ages.Until the fifteenth century, both the English and ScottishKings resided in impregnable castles or fortified houses,but their sojourn was never long in one place. After theWars of the Roses had crushed the power of the greatnobles, it was no longer necessary for the monarch todwell within a fortress, and it was then that the graciousand commodious palaces of Whitehall, Hampton Court,and Greenwich, arose in England. The Scottish Kings,having at the same time reached a greater control overtheir headstrong nobles, also began transforming theircastles into palaces, and to erect Holyrood and Falklandto gratify their desire for more luxurious residences.

Within the compass of this small book, it would havebeen impossible to detail every castle in which a monarchever resided, so that it has been thought better to confineattention to those palaces which were owned, and mostconstantly used by the Kings and Queens of England andScotland.

[pg 3]