Buckingham Palace

===Pre-1624===
In the [[Middle Ages]], the site of the future palace formed part of the Manor of Ebury (also called [[Eia]]). The marshy ground was watered by the river [[Tyburn (stream)|Tyburn]], which still flows below the courtyard and south wing of the palace.<ref>Goring, p. 15.</ref> Where the river was fordable (at Cow Ford), the village of Eye Cross grew. Ownership of the site changed hands many times; owners included [[Edward the Confessor]] and [[Edith of Wessex]] in late Saxon times, and, after the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest]], [[William the Conqueror]]. William gave the site to [[Geoffrey de Mandeville (11th century)|Geoffrey de Mandeville]], who bequeathed it to the monks of [[Westminster Abbey]].{{efn|The topography of the site and its ownership are dealt with in Wright, chapters 1–4.}}

In 1531, [[Henry VIII]] acquired the Hospital of St James, which became [[St James's Palace]],<ref>Goring, p. 28.</ref> from [[Eton College]], and in 1536 he took the Manor of Ebury from Westminster Abbey.<ref>Goring, p. 18.</ref> These transfers brought the site of Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier.<ref>{{Cite book |title=[[Survey of London]]: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair |publisher=London County Council |date=1977 |volume=39 |pages=1–5 |chapter=Chapter 1: The Acquisition of the Estate |access-date=3 February 2009 |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41820 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091213074652/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41820 |archive-date=13 December 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> Various owners leased it from royal landlords, and the [[Freehold (law)|freehold]] was the subject of frenzied speculation during the 17th century. By then, the old village of Eye Cross had long since fallen into decay, and the area was mostly wasteland.<ref>Wright, pp. 76–78.</ref> Needing money, [[James VI and I]] sold off part of the Crown freehold but retained part of the site on which he established a {{convert|4|acre|adj=on|spell=in}} mulberry garden for the production of silk. (This is at the north-west corner of today's palace.)<ref>Goring, pp. 31, 36.</ref> [[Clement Walker]] in ''Anarchia Anglicana'' (1649) refers to "new-erected sodoms and spintries at the Mulberry Garden at S. James's"; this suggests it may have been a place of debauchery. Eventually, in the late 17th century, the freehold was inherited from the property tycoon [[Hugh Audley]] by the great heiress Mary Davies.{{efn|Audley and Davies were key figures in the development of Ebury Manor and also the Grosvenor Estate (see [[dukes of Westminster]]), which still exists today. They are remembered in the street names North Audley Street, [[South Audley Street]], and Davies Street, all in [[Mayfair]].}}