Nonsuch Palace was built on the site of Cuddington Church near Ewell in Surrey in 1538 by Henry VIII as a hunting lodge.The construction was a timber frame with plaster bas-relief panels created by the sculptor Niccolo di Modena who had worked at Fontainebleau.The wooden frame was covered with slate carved in relief to represent animals and flowers which were then highlighted with gold leaf. The name Nonsuch was a boast that no such palace existed equal to its magnificence. Charle II gave the palace to one of his more notorious mistresses Lady Castlemaine, who sold it for its scrap value to pay off gambling debts.