Bishops
Waltham, Hampshire - Bishop's Palace
12th century
Click photos to enlarge.
Notes in italics from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by Nikolaus Pevsner
and David Lloyd (1967)
Yale University Press, New Haven and London. |
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First
built c.1135 by Bishop Henry of Blois on the site of a cemetery.
Reconstruction on an ambitious scale seems to have taken place c.1160-80.
There were various alterations in the next two centuries, and extensive
rebuilding in the C15, especially during the episcopate of Bishop Langton
(1493-1501). The palace was still occupied by bishops in the early C17,
but it was damaged in the Civil War and subsequently allowed to fall into
complete ruin. ... The palace was contained in a rectangular site
surrounded by a moat, stretches of which are still visible, partly filled
with water, especially on the W side. ... The principal palace buildings
were along the W and S sides of the rectangle, and much remains of the W
range, facing, over the moat, the present main road to Winchester. |
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The
Great Hall occupies the centre part of the range; the hall of c.1160-80
was built at first floor level on an undercroft, but in the late C15 the
undercroft was removed, the space it had occupied partly filled with
earth, and a new hall floor constructed on a level between that of the
previous floor and the original ground level. Remains of a C12 arcade in
the S wall indicate the level of the previous floor. The W wall of the
hall substantially remains, with the openings and part of the stonework of
tall transomed two-light Perp windows. |
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N of the
hall are the very ruinous kitchen and service rooms
(rebuilt 1387-90 by Wykeham); |
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Immediately to the S (of
the hall) is a room retaining a C12 window in its W wall. This
connect with the tower in the SW corner of the palace, essentially of
c.1160-80 and remaining to its full height of three storeys on its S and W
sides. It contains the remains of C12 and C15 windows as well as of
fireplaces. ... These were the bishop's private
apartments. |
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At the S end of the S range
are the foundations and crypt of the apsidal chapel, a survival of the
first palace of Bishop de Blois ... |
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Detached from the ruins of the
main building, to the NE, is a complete shell of the East Range, an
austere early C14 two-storey building, altered in the late C16, with small
square-headed window openings and plain doorways. This was the bakehouse and
brewhouse, built
1378-81 by Wykeham and heightened 1439-41 by
Beaufort. |
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This brick and stone building was
built by Beaufort 1438-43 and was part of a
long range along the north side built to house guests. Original diapered
brickwork can be seen on the end in the second picture; it is some of the
earliest in the county. The building was adapted as a farmhouse in the
late 17th century. It has now been restored inside and includes a display
of carved stones from the palace site. The last picture shows a corbel
bust of Cardinal Beaufort. It is believed that it supported the main arch
over the entrance gate to the inner court. |
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The Church at Bishops Waltham
The Town of Bishops
Waltham
Map
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