Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Lanfranc's Archbishop's Palace was called the 'nova hospitatio archiepiscopi' in the Domesday Book. It is located immediately west of the north-west tower of the cathedral.

Monument Types

• PALACE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1135 AD? to 1830 AD)

Full description

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Lanfranc's Archbishop's Palace was called the 'nova hospitatio archiepiscopi' in the Domesday Book. It is located immediately west of the north-west tower of the cathedral. Described in many account of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170, the buildings consisted of a great hall with a northern porch and archbishop's chambers on the east end of the hall, and kitchen adjacent to the north of the great hall. A private chapel may have also existed south of the Archbishop's chambers.

Excavations by Canterbury Archaeological Trust in 1985-86 and subsequent watching briefs revealed preserved masonry walls for the undercroft of a north-south range of Lanfranc's Palace. Only the south end of the range was revealed but an associated study of the existing Palace indicated that the lower portions of the surviving north-south range (north of the excavation) were also of Lanfranc build., the combined ecidence indicating a range 10m wide and 32m long. The walls, which were 1.20m wide, were built almost entirely of flint with occasional reused Roman bricks bonded in stiff yellow-brown mortar and still retained original plaster rendering. Original doors, subsequently blocked, were located in the south-west corner of the range, and in the east wall. Blocked windows which originally lit the undercroft (with jambs of quarr stone) were located in the east and west walls. Plaster rendering on the east face of the excavated east wall, together with external floor levels (see in a service trench) indicated the presence of a contemporary parallel range to the east. The main east-west walls of the range continued southwards probably to meet the north wall of the east range, creating a 'T'-shaped plan for the building complex. The southern east-west range with chapel to the east and detached kitchen to the north contained the Archbishop's hall at its centre with the Archbishop's private apartments at its east end, adjoining the chapel. The north-south range may well have contained apartments for the Archbishop's retinue.

Modifications to the excavated building probably took place in the early thirteenth century when a magnificent new 'Great Hall' was built at the north end of the north-south range. An east-west through-passage located south of the Lanfranc range may have been established at this time cutting through at the junction between the north-south range and the early hall. A pair of wide doorways, opening east and west with caenstone quoins and stone thresholds, was revealed. Laminated floors of beaten earth, clay and mortar existed in the through passage, which probably now divided the two ranges at ground floor level and may have connected minor courts flanking either side of the north-south range.

Extensive alterations to the range were carried out during the 15th century. The 11th century fabric was reduced to first floor level and new work was built off the old with a number of 11th century architectutral features blocked and fossilised in the new work. The new range, incorporating the foundations of the old, was subdivided into seven equal bays, each bay defined by centrally located octangonal caenstone bases for sampson posts supporting the new first floor. New windows were inserted at ground and first floor level. The whole of the northern part of the range, including the roof, still survives as part of the present Archbishop's palace. Most of the southern part of the range was demolished in the mid 17th century and further demolition took place in the 1830's when the north-west tower of the cathedral was pulled down.

Willis, R., 1868, 'The Architectural History of the Conventual Buildings of the Monastery of Christchurch in Canterbury' (Article in serial). SKE30206.

Tatton-Brown, T., 1981, Archbishop's Palace (Article in serial). SKE30230.

Bennett, P., 1986, The Archbishop's Palace, Canterbury 1986 (Article in serial). SKE29309.

Sources and further reading

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