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The comprehensive gazetteer and bibliography of the medieval castles, fortifications and palaces of England, Wales, the Islands.
 
 
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Somersham Palace

In the civil parish of Somersham.
In the historic county of Huntingdonshire.
Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire.
1974 county of Cambridgeshire.
Medieval County of Huntingdonshire.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL36007758
Latitude 52.37916° Longitude -0.00408°

Somersham Palace has been described as a probable Palace.

There are earthwork remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*.

Description

The site of Somersham Palace is now occupied by a modern house surrounded by an oval shaped moat. All that remains are the abutments of a bridge over the N arm of the moat and the C16 wall on the N and E sides of the garden. It was probably used as a residence by the Bishops of Ely before 1109, falling into a state of decay and finally pulled down c 1762. Associated with the site are the remains of two fish ponds. (VCH 1932)

It was clearly a substantial moated property with two courtyards, surveyed in some detail in 1588 to determine whether it could be used as a prison for recusants. (Emery - ref. VCH)

The extensive earthworks relate to the palace's moats, fishponds, deer park and gardens, a landscape which had utilitarian uses, but was also clearly used for pleasure and as a status symbol. For example, Taylor concluded that the main moat around the manor house was not a defensive feature but served as a backdrop for the formal gardens within. (Payne)
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Sources of information, references and further reading
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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.
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*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 15/08/2017 15:56:53

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