Lambeth Palace in London

Sunday, 1 October 2023 - 12:00 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination:
Category/Kategorie: General, House of the Month, London
Reading Time:  8 minutes

Lambeth Palace from the herb garden © geograph.org.uk - Marathon/cc-by-sa-2.0

Lambeth Palace from the herb garden © geograph.org.uk – Marathon/cc-by-sa-2.0

Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, 400 yards (370 metres) south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite bank.

While the original residence of the archbishop of Canterbury was in his episcopal see, Canterbury, Kent, a site originally called the Manor of Lambeth or Lambeth House was acquired by the diocese around AD 1200 and has since served as the archbishop’s London residence. The site is bounded by Lambeth Palace Road to the west and Lambeth Road to the south, but unlike all surrounding land is excluded from the parish of North Lambeth. The garden park is listed and resembles Archbishop’s Park, a neighbouring public park; however, it was a larger area with a notable orchard until the early 19th century. The former church in front of its entrance has been converted to the Garden Museum. The south bank of the Thames along this reach, not part of historic London, developed slowly because the land was low and sodden: it was called Lambeth Marsh, as far downriver as the present Blackfriars Road. The name “Lambeth” embodies “hithe”, a landing on the river: archbishops came and went by water, as did John Wycliff, who was tried here for heresy. In the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, the palace was attacked.

The oldest remaining part of the palace is the chapel which was built in the Early English Gothic architectural style. Lollards‘ Tower, which retains evidence of its use as a prison in the 17th century, dates from 1435 to 1440. The front is an early Tudor brick gatehouse built by Cardinal John Morton and completed in 1495. Cardinal Pole lay in state in the palace for 40 days after he died there in 1558. The fig tree in the palace courtyard is possibly grown from a slip taken from one of the White Marseille fig trees here for centuries (reputedly planted by Cardinal Pole). In 1786, there were three ancient figs, two “nailed against the wall” and still noted in 1826 as “two uncommonly fine… traditionally reported to have been planted by Cardinal Pole, and fixed against that part of the palace believed to have been founded by him. They are of the white Marseilles sort, and still bear delicious fruit. …On the south side of the building, in a small private garden, is another tree of the same kind and age.” By 1882, their place had been taken by several massive offshoots. The notable orchard of the medieval period has somewhat given way to a mirroring public park adjoining and built-up roads of housing and offices. The palace gardens were listed grade II in October 1987.

Lambeth Palace Gardens from the terrace of the rose garden © geograph.org.uk - Marathon/cc-by-sa-2.0 Lambeth Garden Museum © geograph.org.uk - Paul Gillett/cc-by-sa-2.0 Lambeth Palace from the herb garden © geograph.org.uk - Marathon/cc-by-sa-2.0 Lambeth Palace Library © GrindtXX/cc-by-sa-4.0 Great Hall with Cardinal Pole's fig tree © Secretlondon/cc-by-sa-3.0 Lambeth Palace © Tagishsimon/cc-by-sa-3.0
<
>
Lambeth Palace Gardens from the terrace of the rose garden © geograph.org.uk - Marathon/cc-by-sa-2.0
The great hall was completely ransacked, including the building material, by Cromwellian troops during the English Civil War. After the Restoration, it was completely rebuilt by Archbishop William Juxon in 1663 (dated) with a late Gothic hammerbeam roof. The choice of a hammerbeam roof was evocative, as it reflected the High-Church Anglican continuity with the Old Faith (the King’s (Charles II) brother was an avowed Catholic) and served as a visual statement that the Interregnum was over. As with some Gothic details on University buildings of the same date, it is debated among architectural historians whether this is “Gothic survival” or an early work of the “Gothic Revival”. The diarist Samuel Pepys recognised it as “a new old-fashioned hall”.

The building is listed in the highest category, Grade I, for its architecture – its front gatehouse with its tall, crenellated gatehouse resembles Hampton Court Palace‘s gatehouse which is also of the Tudor period, however Morton’s Gatehouse was at its very start, in the 1490s, rather than in the same generation as Cardinal Wolsey‘s wider, similarly partially stone-dressed deep red brick façade. While this is the most public-facing bit, it is not the oldest at north-west corner, the Water Tower or Lollards’ Tower mentioned above is made of Kentish Ragstone with ashlar quoins and a brick turret is much older.

Among the portraits of the archbishops in the palace are works by Hans Holbein, Anthony van Dyck, William Hogarth and Sir Joshua Reynolds.

New construction was added to the building in 1834 by Edward Blore (1787–1879), who rebuilt much of Buckingham Palace later, in neo-Gothic style and it fronts a spacious quadrangle. The buildings form the home of the archbishop, who is regarded as the first among equals in the Anglican Communion, and is ex officio a member of the House of Lords.

Within the palace precincts is Lambeth Palace Library, the official library of the archbishop of Canterbury, and the principal repository of records of the Church of England. It describes itself as “the largest religious collection outside of the Vatican“. The library was founded as a public library by Archbishop Richard Bancroft in 1610, and was historically located within the main Palace complex. A new purpose-built library and repository opened in 2021. This is located at the far end of the Palace gardens, with its entrance on Lambeth Palace Road, and was designed by Wright & Wright. In addition to the existing library collections, it houses the archival collections of various Church of England institutions formerly held at the Church of England Record Centre (opened 1989) in Bermondsey. The library contains an extensive collection of material relating to ecclesiastical history, including the archives of the archbishops dating back to the 12th century, and those of other church bodies and of various Anglican missionary and charitable societies. Manuscripts include items dating back to the 9th century. The library also holds over 120,000 printed books. In 1996, when Sion College Library closed, Lambeth Palace Library acquired its important holdings of manuscripts, pamphlets, and pre-1850 printed books. Topics covered by the collections range from the history of art and architecture to colonial and Commonwealth history, and numerous aspects of English social, political and economic history. The library is also an important resource for local history and genealogy.

Read more on – Visit Lambeth Palace, Garden Museum and Wikipedia Lambeth Palace (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). Photos by Wikimedia Commons. If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.




Recommended posts:

Share this post: (Please note data protection regulations before using buttons)

Carlyle Hotel in the Upper East Side

Carlyle Hotel in the Upper East Side

[caption id="attachment_192888" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Carlyle Hotel © Jim.henderson[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Carlyle Hotel, known formally as The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, is a combination luxury and residential hote...

[ read more ]

Philadelphia Main Line

Philadelphia Main Line

[caption id="attachment_240044" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Ashbridge House in Ashbridge Memorial Park in Bryn Mawr © MainlyTwelve/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Philadelphia Main Line, known simply as the Main Line,...

[ read more ]

Estoril, retreat of the elite of Lisbon

Estoril, retreat of the elite of Lisbon

[caption id="attachment_151320" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Hotel Palacio © Carcharoth[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Estoril is a seaside resort and civil parish of the Portuguese municipality of Cascais, Lisboa District. The Estori...

[ read more ]

Frank Gehry buildings in the Media Harbour in Düsseldorf

Frank Gehry buildings in the Media Harbour in Düsseldorf

[caption id="attachment_146308" align="alignleft" width="200"] © knut-wiarda.de[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The "Art and Media Center Rhine Harbor" by Frank O. Gehry (California) is divided into three contrasting parts of buildings, de...

[ read more ]

Theme Week Puerto Rico - Vieques Island

Theme Week Puerto Rico - Vieques Island

[caption id="attachment_237561" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Shoreline at Esperanza © Rar285/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Vieques, officially Isla de Vieques, is an island and municipality of Puerto Rico, in the northea...

[ read more ]

Outletcity Metzingen

Outletcity Metzingen

[caption id="attachment_223018" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Stefan Fussan/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]More than 500 premium and luxury brands in Metzingen and in the online shop have come together under the term Out...

[ read more ]

Marquesas Islands

Marquesas Islands

[caption id="attachment_246590" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Nuku Hiva © Moerani Manate/cc-by-sa-4.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Marquesas Islands (French: Îles Marquises or Archipel des Marquises or Marquises; Marquesan: Te H...

[ read more ]

Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations in the Old Port of Marseille

Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations in the Old Port of Marseille

[caption id="attachment_24712" align="aligncenter" width="590"] MuCEM © SiefkinDR/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MuCEM) (French: Musée des Civilisations de l'Europe et ...

[ read more ]

Hotel Sacher in Vienna

Hotel Sacher in Vienna

[caption id="attachment_206600" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Thomas Ledl/cc-by-sa-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Hotel Sacher is a five-star hotel located in the Innere Stadt first district of Vienna, Austria, facing the Vie...

[ read more ]

Residence at Cape Idokopas

Residence at Cape Idokopas

[caption id="attachment_203340" align="aligncenter" width="590"] © Russian Wikileaks/cc-by-3.0[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]The Residence at Cape Idokopas also known as the "Palace on the Idokopas Cape", often called "Putin's Palace", "...

[ read more ]

Oberstaufen in Oberallgäu

Oberstaufen in Oberallgäu

[caption id="attachment_154238" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Invitation from Oberstaufen to Google Street View. As a result Oberstaufen is the first German village featured on Google Street View © Oberstaufen.de[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to th...

[ read more ]

The Art Nouveau town of Ålesund

The Art Nouveau town of Ålesund

[caption id="attachment_152216" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Ålesund from Fjellstua © sgm[/caption][responsivevoice_button voice="UK English Female" buttontext="Listen to this Post"]Ålesund is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district o...

[ read more ]

Return to TopReturn to Top