Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Although known as 'The Gate House' it is not a gate house properly so-called but an outbuilding of the Archbishop's Palace. It is a small 13th and 14th century medieval stone building of 2 storeys. It is built of stone rubble, with a tiled roof, 3 trefoil-headed lancets, and some modern windows. There is a gable with timbering on the east side, and a garderobe projection on the north side.

Summary from record TQ 75 NE 798:

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1200 to 1399

Monument Types

• GATEHOUSE (Medieval to Modern - 1200 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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TQ 761554. Gate House, Mill Street. Listed under Secular Sites and Buildings. Scheduled 168. (1) Although known as 'The Gate House' it is not a gate house properly so-called but an outbuilding of the Archbishop's Palace (located from OS 1:1250 1967 at TQ 75965548, see also TQ 75 NE 35 and 48). (2) The Gate House at the Archbishop's Palace. A small medieval stone building of 2 storeys, 13th c and 14th c. Built of stone rubble. Tiled roof. 3 trefoil-headed lancets and some modern windows. Gable with timbering on the east side. Garderobe projection on the north side. Scheduled as an AM. (3) TQ 75965548. This well preserved medieval building is used as the tourist information centre. Published 1:2500 survey correct. (4) Additional bibliography. (5-6, 8)


The following text is from the original listed building designation:

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 28/02/2017

TQ 7555 SE 6/68B

MILL STREET (West Side) Old Place Gardens The Gate House at the Archbishop's Palace

(Formerly listed as The Gate House at the Archbishop's Palace, Mill Street)

30.7.51

GV II A small Medieval stone building of two storeys, C13 and C14. Built of stone rubble. Tiled roof. Three trefoil-headed lancets and some modern windows. Gable with timbering on the east side. Garderobe projection on the north side. Scheduled as an AM.

Gateway and Wall to Palace Gardens, Wall to north-west of Archbishop's Palace, The Archbishop's Palace, Wall to east of Archbishop's Palace, The Dungeons at the Archbishop's Palace, The Gate House at the Archbishop's Palace, The Len Bridge, The Tithe Barn, Parish Church of All Saints, Wall to north and west of All Saints Church, The College Gateway, The College Tower, The Master's House, The Master's Tower, Cutbush Almshouses and the Ruined Gateway form a group.

Listing NGR: TQ7596255488 (10)

Trail trench dug during Japanese knotweed eradication revealed nature of the foundations on the west side. Foundations consisted of ragstone blocks laid with a batter of 1 in 5, extending beyond the 1.1m excavated (preseumed to extend to a depth of 3m as on the north side). (9)

From the Register of Scheduled Monuments:

Not a gatehouse properly so-called, but an outbuilding of an archiepiscopal palace complex. A 14th century rag stone rubble range, rising from the River Lea on a battered glacis. Three trefoil-headed single lights associate it stylistically with the Master's House of the College, i.e. both may be Islip's work in the 1360s. Timbered gable to street perhaps replaces a former hipped roof. Part of a relieving arch to the west, suggests that the range continued, possibly as a real-water-gate (10).

HE Archive material (11)

<1> DOE (IAM) AMs Eng 2 1978 114 (OS Card Reference). SKE40691.

<1> Maidstone Area Archaeological Group, 2009, The Archbishops Palace, Maidstone, Kent. The Gatehouse. An Archaeological Watching Brief on a Trial Pit (Unpublished document). SKE16379.

<2> DOE (IAM) Record Form Plan (OS Card Reference). SKE40760.

<3> DOE (HHR) Dist of Maidstone Kent Aug 1974 74 (OS Card Reference). SKE40302.

<4> F1 MJF 20.03.86 (OS Card Reference). SKE43032.

<5> Bldgs of Eng-West Kent & the Weald 1980 406 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE38157.

<6> Arch J 126 1969 253 (S E Rigold) (OS Card Reference). SKE36557.

<7> Field report for monument TQ 75 NE 80 - March, 1986 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3842.

<8> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1997, Maidstone: The Archiepiscopal Precinct (Heritage aspects of proposed works) (Unpublished document). SKE7372.

<9> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

<10> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

<11> Historic England, Archive material associated with the Gatehouse, at the Archbishop's Palace, Maidstone, Listed Building
Listed Building (Archive). SKE53959.

Sources and further reading