Camden Place

About this place

In Chislehurst, on the southeastern edge of London, Camden Place now serves as the clubhouse of Chislehurst Golf Club.

The building is Grade II* listed, a structure of exceptional historic interest despite its unassuming role today.

Its grounds sit within a golf course, so most visitors encounter the house while playing rather than on a dedicated tour.

The club has occupied the building since the 1890s.

History

The house takes its name from the antiquarian William Camden, who lived on the site in the early 17th century. It was later rebuilt and enlarged, and in the 1870s it became the exiled home of Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie following the fall of the Second French Empire, with the former emperor dying there in 1873. Chislehurst Golf Club took over the building as its clubhouse in the 1890s, a role it has held ever since.

Architecture

The house has been altered and extended over several centuries, reflecting its long succession of owners rather than a single architectural period.

Worth knowing

Napoleon III of France spent his final years in exile at Camden Place and died there in 1873, making it one of the more unlikely resting places of European royal history.