Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade I listed building. Main construction periods 1200 to 1799. The Manor of Charing is mentioned as early as the 8th century but no record remains as to the date of the first building. The hall was probably erected during the primacy of Robert Winchelsea (1294-1313). Additions including the gatehouse range (see TQ 94 NE 17) were built in the early 14th century and were the private work of John Morton (1446-1500) the last Archbishop to be associated with Charing Palace. The palace and manor were conveyed to the Crown in 1545. The main gateway is in the south wall. In addition much of the stone precinct wall is still extant. Palace Farmhouse, Market Place, Charing. Grade I. C13 altered C16 and C18. The present farmhouse forms part of the N range of the former manor house of the Archbishops of Canterbury and includes part of the former chapel. The building is L-shaped and of three storeys, ground and 1st floors of stone rubble and flints, 2nd floor of red brick, all 3 with long and short ashlar quoins. Hipped tiled roof. One early C16 window of 2 lights, with 4 centred heads and dripstone over. The other windows areC18 sash or casement windows of many panes. To the E is a further recessed wing of 2 storeys and one window wholly faced with brick withone window with 4-centred head. At the SW angle is a portion of ruinedwall containing a pointed doorway. Date tablet of 1586 above window bySE angle. (For full description see list). (5) Barn to SE of Palace Farmhouse (formerly listed as Barn of Palace Farm). Grade I. See (TQ 94 NE 31). (6) Charing Palace remains of, scheduled. (7) Additional bibliography. (8,9) The first house to be built on the manor, is thought to be built by the Archbishop Lanranc (1070 - 1093). The great hall, built during the time of Archbishop Winchelsea (1293 - 1313). It was one of the largest unaisled halls of its time. In C18 the hall was converted into a barn. In C19 the MD chapel was converted to an out house and an oast house was incorporated into S.E. corner of the hall. For more details of palace and survey of remains and earthworks, see RCHME 1997/54. (10) In 1998 samples of timbers from the East Block and Great Hall were sent to the University of Nottingham for dendrochronological analysis. From 18 samples 3 dated site chronologies and 1 undated sequence were identified. Timbers from the East Block dated to AD 1280-1481 and AD 1442-1559. Timbers from the great hall date to AD 1239-1311. It was concluded that many of the timbers were reused from much earlier structures. (11)

Monument Types

• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1200 AD to 1799 AD)
• FARMHOUSE (FARMHOUSE, Post Medieval to Modern - 1540 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Formerly TQ 94 NE 240

Description from record TQ 94 NE 2:
(TQ 9544 4942) Palace Farm Archiepiscopal Palace [NR] (remains of) [NAT] (1) The Manor of Charing is mentioned as early as the C8th but no record remains as to the date of the first building. The hall was probably erected during the primacy of Robert Winchelsea (1294-1313), additionsincluding the gatehouse range (see TQ 94 NE 17) were built in the early C14 and the private work of John Morton (1446-1500) the last Archbishop to be associated with Charing Palace. The palace and manor were conveyed to the Crown in 1545. See plan (AO:61:329:1). (2) The plan and description of Auth 2 are confirmed, the buildings beingin good condition generally and in use as a farm and its outbuildings.GPs AO/61/185/6: Hall from NW AO/61/185/7: C15/C16 additions to W of Gt Hall from S AO/61/185/8: Main gateway in S wall from S. In addition much of the stone precinct wall is still extant. For details etc see TQ 95 49. Note. The double line survey of the Palace on the 1936 Edn of the 25 inch purporting to portray extant original detail is in error. A comparison with Kipp's plan (Authority 2) shows the extent of this. (3) Checked and correct - survey of 14.12.1961. (4) Palace Farmhouse, Market Place, Charing. Grade I. C13 altered C16 and C18. The present farmhouse forms part of the N range of the former manor house of the Archbishops of Canterbury and includes part of the former chapel. The building is L-shaped. Three storeys, ground and 1stfloors stone rubble and flints, 2nd floor red brick, all 3 with long and short ashlar quoins. Hipped tiled roof. One early C16 window of 2 lights, with 4 centred heads and dripstone over. The other windows areC18 sash or casement windows of many panes. To the E is a further recessed wing of 2 storeys and one window wholly faced with brick withone window with 4-centred head. At the SW angle is a portion of ruinedwall containing a pointed doorway. Date tablet of 1586 above window bySE angle. (For full description see list). (5) Barn to SE of Palace Farmhouse (formerly listed as Barn of Palace Farm). Grade I. See (TQ 94 NE 31). (6) Charing Palace remains of, scheduled. (7) Additional bibliography. (8,9) The first house to be built on the manor, is thought to be built by the Archbishop Lanranc (1070 - 1093). The great hall, built during the time of Archbishop Winchelsea (1293 - 1313). It was one of the largest unaisled halls of its time. In C18 the hall was converted into a barn. In C19 the MD chapel was converted to an out house and an oast house was incorporated into S.E. corner of the hall. For more details of palace and survey of remains and earthworks, see RCHME 1997/54. (10) In 1998 samples of timbers from the East Block and Great Hall were sent to the University of Nottingham for dendrochronological analysis. From 18 samples 3 dated site chronologies and 1 undated sequence were identified. Timbers from the East Block dated to AD 1280-1481 and AD 1442-1559. Timbers from the great hall date to AD 1239-1311. It was concluded that many of the timbers were reused from much earlier structures. (11) Dendrochronology dating gave dates for the Great Hall (1326-1351) and the East Block (?1326-1351?). (13)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 5272 CHARING MARKET PLACE Palace Farmhouse TQ 9549 22/4 14.2.67 I 2. C13 altered C16 and C18. The present farmhouse forms part of the north range of the former manor house of the Archbishops of Canterbury and includes part of the former chapel. The building is L-shaped. Three storeys, ground and 1st floors stone rubble and flints, 2nd floor red brick, all 3 with long and short ashlar quoins. Hipped tiled roof. One early C16 window of 2 lights, with 4 centred heads and dripstone over. The other windows are C18 sash or casement windows of many panes. To the east is a further recessed wing of 2 storeys and one window wholly faced with brick with one window with 4-centred head. At the south-west angle is a portion of a ruined wall containing a pointed doorway. Date tablet of 1586 above window by south-east angle.
Listing NGR: TQ9543549428 (14)

Historic England Archive material (15)

Additional bibliography (16)

<1> OS 6" 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48369.

<2> Arch Journ 90 1933 78-97 illust (P K Kipps) (OS Card Reference). SKE36775.

<3> F1 CFW 14-DEC-61 (OS Card Reference). SKE42568.

<4> F2 CFW 14-DEC-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE43237.

<5> DOE (HHR) Boro of Ashford Kent Oct 1980 63-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE39831.

<6> Buildings of England NE and E Kent 1983 269 (N Pevsner ed) (OS Card Reference). SKE38410.

<7> DOE (IAM) AMs England 2 1978 113 (OS Card Reference). SKE40698.

<8> Arch J 126 1969 267 (S E Rigold) (OS Card Reference). SKE36566.

<9> Hist of the King's Works 4 pt 2 1982 63-4 (OS Card Reference). SKE44044.

<10> Field report for monument TQ 94 NE 2 - December, 1961 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4728.

<10> RCHME, 1997, The Archbishop's Palace, Charing, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE6955.

<11> English Heritage Ancient Monuments Laboratory, 1998, Tree-Ring analysis of timbers from the Archbishop's Palace, Charing, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE6957.

<12> Untitled Source, RCHME 1997/54 (Unpublished document). SKE6451.

<13> Vernacular Architecture Group, ADS Dendrochronology Database, Vol. 30, Pg. 94 (Website). SKE17391.

<14> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<15> Historic England, Archive material associated with Charing Place, Listed Building (Archive). SKE54300.

<16> Simon Thurley, 1993, The royal palaces of Tudor England : architecture and court life (Monograph). SKE53699.

Sources and further reading

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