GATEHOUSE
The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
Home
The listings
Other Info
Books
Links
Downloads
Contact
 
Print Page 
 
Next Record 
Previous Record 
Back to list 

Charing Palace

In the civil parish of Charing.
In the historic county of Kent.
Modern Authority of Kent.
1974 county of Kent.
Medieval County of Kent.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ95434942
Latitude 51.21054° Longitude 0.79582°

Charing Palace has been described as a certain Palace.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Charing Palace, as an archiepiscopal manor house, is one of a small number of high status residences built in England during the medieval period. The history of the palace and the manor of Charing can be traced back to the eighth century AD, when the land was presented to Christchurch priory at Canterbury, and the records of the convent and cathedral then document the series of building works carried out by subsequent archbishops. The palace is known to have been the favourite residence of several of these archbishops. The buildings which survive are mostly well preserved, and many are still private dwellings or in use by members of the public. They give a good indication of the layout of the original complex, and historic records provide further details of the original function of each structure. The precinct boundary wall survives, indicating the full extent of the palace precinct, while the lack of disturbance to the interior has meant the survival of upstanding and buried archaeological remains relating to the occupation and use of the site. The monument, which is set back from Charing High Street to the north of the parish church, includes the remains of the archiepiscopal manor house, associated buildings and precinct where this has been unaffected by recent development. The buildings, which date principally from the 14th century, include the Great Hall, part of the chapel, the gatehouse and the precinct boundary wall, part of the west range and the present farmhouse. Land on which to build a house or palace in Charing was given to Christchurch priory at Canterbury in AD 788 by Kenulph. This land remained under the control of the priory until 1545. The buildings forming the palace complex surround a quadrangle which is entered from the south through the original gateway. The barn to the east of the courtyard dates from the 14th century, and was originally the Great Hall, thought to have been built by John Stratford (1333-1348). The farmhouse was begun in the 13th century, but underwent alterations in the 16th and 18th centuries. It was originally part of the north range of the quadrangle, and includes part of the chapel in its north west corner. All that remains of the western side of the courtyard is an outhouse dating from the 14th century. Numbers 1 and 2, Palace Cottages form the south side of the quadrangle, along with the gatehouse. They all date from the 14th century and comprise the gatehouse and porter's lodge, also thought to have been built by John Stratford. Much of the precinct boundary wall is also still standing around the palace enclosure on the north, east and south sides, while on the west the original wall has been rebuilt more recently. The medieval wall stands to a height of between 1.5m and 2m in some places, and was built in flint and mortar. Within the paddocks inside the precinct boundary wall are a number of low earthworks which are associated with the palace buildings. Henry VIII acquired the palace through exchange with Cranmer in 1545. There is no evidence that he made any alterations to the buildings, and no subsequent monarch made any use of the manor house, but let it out to farm. In 1559 Archbishop Parker made an attempt to become the tenant and farmer of the estate, but he was outbid by Sir Richard Sackville, and the estate passed into private ownership. Palace Farmhouse, the barn, Palace Cottages and the outhouse to the west are all Listed Grade I, while the boundary wall to the complex is Listed Grade II. (Scheduling Report)

Palace Cottages (Nos 1 and 2) and the remains of the gatehouse adjoining (formerly listed as Palace Farm Cottages and remains of Gatehouse adjoining) TQ 9549 22/6 14.2.67 I 2. C14. This was the south side of the courtyard of the former manor house of the Archbishops of Canterbury and comprised the gatehouse and the porter's lodge. Probably built by John Stratford, who was Archbishop from 1333-1348 and whose favourite residence is said to have been Charing. Faced with flints. The south-east portion consists of the roofless remains of the gatehouse, comprising stone carriage and pedestrian archways with obtusely pointed heads. Gable end facing east with flint and brick buttresses at its angles. To the north-east of the gatehouse is a cottage of 2 storeys and 3 windows with a half-hipped tiled roof. The ground floor windows of the cottage are set in the stone surrounds to mediaeval windows. Then comes another ruined portion with a pointed stone archway flanked by buttresses and then another inhabited cottage of 2 storeys and attic, steeply-pitched tiled roof with one modern hipped dormer and 2 casement windows. (Listed Building Report)
Links to archaeological and architectural databases, mapping and other online resources

Data >
PastScape   County HER   Scheduling   Listing   I. O. E.
Maps >
Streetmap   NLS maps   Where's the path   Old-Maps      
Data/Maps > 
Magic   V. O. B.   Geology   LiDAR   Open Domesday  
Air Photos > 
Bing Maps   Google Maps   Getmapping   ZoomEarth      
Photos >
CastleFacts   Geograph   Flickr   Panoramio      

Sources of information, references and further reading
Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant.
It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from ANY site without proper recording and reporting.
Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.
The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.
The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.
Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.
*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.
This record last updated 26/07/2017 09:19:30

Home | Books | Links | Fortifications and Castles | Other Information | Help | Downloads | Author Information | Contact
¤¤¤¤¤