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Monument details

HER Number:TQ 55 NW 19
Type of record:Monument
Name:Otford Bishop's Palace

Summary

Standing remains consist of NW tower and one side of the gatehouse. Built of brick with stone dressings and dates from the early part of the C16th, Archbishop Warham. The house consisted of two courts, the inner to S and foundations remain of these buildings. The layout of the house could be ascertained by excavation. It was built on the site of a 12th century manor house, which by the 14th century had been fortified and had an adjacent park. In 1601 Queen Elizabeth I sold the palace to Sir Robert Sidney in order to finance her Irish wars. During the 17th century the house was abandoned and the park was split up into farms.


Grid Reference:TQ 5291 5919
Map Sheet:TQ55NW
Parish:OTFORD, SEVENOAKS, KENT

Monument Types

Protected Status:Scheduled Monument 1005197: Otford Palace

Full description

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Standing remains consist of NW tower and one side of the gatehouse. Built of brick with stone dressings and dates from the early part of the C16th, Archbishop Warham. The house consisted of two courts, the inner to S and foundations remain of these buildings. The layout of the house could be ascertained by excavation. There was an earlier Archbishop’s Palace on the same site.
The present scheduled area includes only part of the palace site.
Excavations by Phili[ have demonstrated the SE corner in March ’74- the front garden wall of houses in Bubblestone rd. is S precint wall and the scheduling is extended to include the fardens and walls in fount and backgardens but to exclude the dwellings themselved. Also to include all waterworks in the ground of Castle House.
The scheduled area now contains all the area of the Bishop’s Palace. The outer courtyard (S of the church), the tower and gatehouse (standing), the inner courtyard (now Parish Field) and S of this between stream and Bubblestone rd. The site of principle buildings of palace.
Thw W tower has remains of a stair to the SE, evidence of 3 floor levels with fireplaces, and a ground floor surface of brick. The roof is new. Vegetation is growing against the external walling and within the tower at ground level. The Wside of the gatehouse has traces of the entrance arch at its SE corner. Here also vegetation is growing against the brickwork and against the stone plinth. Traces of the old precinct wall in the front gardens of the houses in Bubblestone Road. Remainder of SA is parish field (site of inner courtyard), and private gardens N of Bubblestone Road (site of former principal palace buildings). (1)

From the National Heritage List for England:

List entry Summary
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Name: Otford Palace

List entry Number: 1005197

Location


The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County District District Type Parish
Kent Sevenoaks District Authority Otford

National Park: Not applicable to this List entry.

Grade: Not applicable to this List entry.

Date first scheduled: 05-Dec-1928

Date of most recent amendment: Not applicable to this List entry.

Legacy System Information
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System: RSM - OCN

UID: KE 9

Asset Groupings
This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description
Summary of Monument
The remains of Otford Palace, 160m SSE of St Bartholemew’s Church.

Reasons for Designation
Bishops' palaces were high status domestic residences providing luxury accommodation for the bishops and lodgings for their large retinues; although some were little more than country houses, others were the setting for great works of architecture and displays of decoration. Bishops' palaces were usually set within an enclosure, sometimes moated, containing a range of buildings, often of stone, including a hall or halls, chapels, lodgings and a gatehouse, often arranged around a courtyard or courtyards. The earliest recorded examples date to the seventh century. Many were occupied throughout the medieval period and some continued in use into the post-medieval period; a few remain occupied today. Only some 150 bishops' palaces have been identified and documentary sources confirm that they were widely dispersed throughout England. All positively identified examples are considered to be nationally important.

Despite later development and disturbance, the remains of Otford Palace survive well. The upstanding remains include some significant architectural details such as Tudor-arched windows, moulded stone arches and fireplaces. Partial excavation has shown that the buried remains, such as the south and east ranges, are well preserved. Much of the original ground plan of the palace is likely to survive, which will provide valuable information regarding the layout and function of bishops’ palaces in the medieval period. The site has not been fully excavated and retains a high degree of potential for further investigation. It will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the construction, use and history of the palace.

History
See Details.

Details
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 15 December 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes the medieval palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury surviving as upstanding remains, earthworks and below ground archaeology. It is situated on a west facing slope to the east of the River Darent at the foot of the Darenth Valley.

The early 16th century palace is thought to have covered an area of approximately 134m by 67m. It was centred on two courtyards; an inner and outer court, divided by a central hall. The upstanding remains include part of the northern range of the outer court, the north-west tower and one side of the gatehouse. The north-west tower and gatehouse are constructed of red brick with blue headers and stone quoins and dressings. They have a rubble plinth with moulded stone coping and windows of one or two Tudor-arched lights, many of which are under hoodmoulds. The polygonal tower survives to three storeys high but the roof is now missing. It originally included a crenellated parapet and leaded roof. Some brick diapering is preserved on the south face of the tower and in the interior are fireplaces on each floor and remains of a stair to the south-east. The gatehouse includes two doorways under three-centred and four-centred moulded stone arches. It has a restored tiled roof hipped over half-octagonal ends. At the south-east corner are traces of an entrance arch. Between the tower and gatehouse are Castle Cottages, which are completely excluded from the scheduling, although their gardens are included. Castle Cottages incorporate remains of the palace on the ground floor but the first floor and roof above are modern additions. South of these buildings are further upstanding remains of the palace. In the back gardens of houses on Bubblestone Road is some early 16th century stone walling of the inner court of the palace. It is up to about 1.2m high and largely orientated east-west with some cross walls. Tudor brickwork is also embedded in the north banks of the small brook or culvert at the ends of the gardens. In the front gardens of houses on Bubblestone road is what is thought to be remains of the south precinct wall of the palace. It is early 16th century in date and built of stone rubble with later repair work.

Partial excavation has revealed the buried footings of the south and east range of the palace. These overlie remains of an earlier fortified manor house. The east range includes the foundations of at least four rooms. A drain leads to a series of garderobe shafts in the south range. Between the ranges is a square tower, approximately 13m wide. To the east of Castle Cottages, earthworks survive relating to medieval water management associated with the palace.

Otford Palace was built in about 1518 by Archbishop William Warham. It replaced an earlier manor house on the same site. Henry VIII was apparently entertained at the palace on several occasions. In about 1538 the palace was exchanged by Archbishop Cranmer with the King. In the later 16th century Elizabeth I granted the palace to Sir Robert Sidney. In the 17th century the land was sold to Sir Thomas Smith and passed to his descendants until it was purchased by Robert Parker in the late 18th century. The site was partially excavated in 1968, 1974, 1983 and 1986, and a geo-physical survey was carried out in 2001. The finds included one lead bull of Pope Lucius III (1181-5) and five lead bulls of Pope Urban III (1185-7), found in a medieval sewer on the site.

The north-west tower, remains of the gatehouse and Castle Cottages are Grade II* listed. The upstanding walls in the front and back gardens of houses on Bubblestone Road are Grade II listed.

Further remains survive in the vicinity of this monument but are not scheduled because they have not been formally accessed.(2)

A desk based assessment of the potential impact on buried remains of a proposed extension of a garage within the confines of the Bishop's Palace's footprint was conducted in November 2011. (3)

Results of a grophysical survey (4)

additional bibliography (5-10)

1970s ecxcavations which revealed part of the building (11-12)


<1> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

<2> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

<3> Archaeology South-East, 2014, Historic Environment Desk-Based Assessment. 7 Bubblestone Road, Otford, Kent. (Unpublished document). SKE31228.

<4> West Kent Archaeological Society, 2017, Geophysical Report: Castle House, Otford, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE32411.

<5> C Hesketh, 1915, Archaeologia Cantiana: Reports. Vol. 60 (Article in serial). SKE53696.

<6> 1975, Post-medieval archaeology: the journal of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology (Article in serial). SKE53697.

<7> 1975, Post-medieval archaeology: the journal of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology (Article in serial). SKE53697.

<8> C Hesketh, 1915, Archaeologia Cantiana: Reports. Vol. 60 (Article in serial). SKE53698.

<9> Simon Thurley, 1993, The royal palaces of Tudor England : architecture and court life (Monograph). SKE53699.

<10> H M Colvin, 1982, The History of the King's Works: 1485-1660 Volume 4 (Monograph). SKE53700.

<11> C. P. Ward, 1974, Archaeologia Cantiana - Emergency excavations at Otford Palace 1974 (Article in serial). SKE53701.

<11> Anthony D Stoyel, 1974, Archaeologia Cantiana - The lost buildings at Otford palace (Article in serial). SKE53702.

<12> Philp, B. J., 2002, Archaeology in the Front Line: 50 Years of Kent Rescue 1952 - 2002 (Monograph). SKE11928.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
<1>XYScheduling record: English Heritage. Register of Scheduled Monuments. [Mapped feature: #665 Palace, ]
<2>Index: Historic England. National Heritage List for England.
<3>Unpublished document: Archaeology South-East. 2014. Historic Environment Desk-Based Assessment. 7 Bubblestone Road, Otford, Kent..
<4>Unpublished document: West Kent Archaeological Society. 2017. Geophysical Report: Castle House, Otford, Kent.
<5>Article in serial: C Hesketh. 1915. Archaeologia Cantiana: Reports. Vol. 60. Vol. 31.
<6>Article in serial: 1975. Post-medieval archaeology: the journal of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology. Vol 9 pp 254.
<7>Article in serial: 1975. Post-medieval archaeology: the journal of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology. Vol 9 pp 254.
<8>Article in serial: C Hesketh. 1915. Archaeologia Cantiana: Reports. Vol. 60. Vol. 31.
<9>Monograph: Simon Thurley. 1993. The royal palaces of Tudor England : architecture and court life.
<10>Monograph: H M Colvin. 1982. The History of the King's Works: 1485-1660 Volume 4.
<11>Article in serial: C. P. Ward. 1974. Archaeologia Cantiana - Emergency excavations at Otford Palace 1974. Vol 89 pp 199-203.
<11>Article in serial: Anthony D Stoyel. 1974. Archaeologia Cantiana - The lost buildings at Otford palace. Vol 100 pp 259-280.
<12>Monograph: Philp, B. J.. 2002. Archaeology in the Front Line: 50 Years of Kent Rescue 1952 - 2002.

Related records

TQ 55 NW 262Parent of: CASTLE COTTAGES AND STORE BUILDING AT EAST END (Listed Building)
TQ 55 NW 155Parent of: REMAINS OF WALLS OF ARCHBISHOP'S PALACE IN BACK GARDENS OF NOS 5-11 (ODD) (Listed Building)
TQ 55 NW 322Parent of: REMAINS OF WALLS OF ARCHBISHOP'S PALACE IN FRONT GARDENS OF NOS 5-11 (ODD) (Listed Building)