OTFORD PALACE

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A Tudor archbishop's palace and later Tudor royal residence, built on the site of a 12th century manor house, which by the 14th century had been fortified and had an adjacent park. The Tudor palace was built by Archbishop Warham circa 1518. The archbishop's palace consisted of a large galleried building with gate houses at the north and south ends, it was divided into two courts by a central hall. The estate included a park (noted already in 1385). After the death of Warham, in 1537 King Henry VIII persuaded Archbishop Cranmer to give him this and other houses in Kent. Henry's officials carried out some building work between 1541and 1543 but its exact nature is not clear. In 1601 Queen Elizabeth I sold the palace to Sir Robert Sidney in order to finance her Irish wars. During the 17th century the house was abandoned and the park was split up into farms. Remains at the site include water conduits, the north-west tower a hall and part of the outer wall of Warham's palace.

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[TQ 5281 5920] Tower [NR].
[TQ 5284 5920] Chapel [NR].
The Palace [NR] (remains of) (1)

[TQ 5282 5919] Bishop's Palace [NR] (remains of) (2)

The manor house of Otford was built by Archbishop Warham (1503-33) near the site of one traditionally built by Becket, of which the only remains exist in the Castle Farm [TQ 5285 5923]. Warham's palace, which probably covered an area about 440ft. by 220ft. consisted of a galleried building with gate houses at the north and south ends, and was divided into two courts by a central hall [see plan AO/LP/63/298].Two stone conduits, one in each court, conveyed water from east to west through the hall and these still exist, otherwise, of Warham's house, only the north-west tower, the lower floor of the north-west gallery, a small hall, and a portion of the outer wall of the south end are now in position. [Shown by O.S. in gardens on north side of Bubblestone Road.] A park is noted as early as 1385. Scheduled. (3-4)

Otford Palace is as described and in good condition. The footings and lower courses of substantial stone walling exposed in the gardens and stream bank in the area centred TQ 528 590 are probably the remains ofthe precursor of Warham's house; nothing very intelligible can be made of them yet except to show that Hesketh's conjectural plan is wanting.There are no remains of the park (GP AO/64/116/6 and 7).
Published 25" survey revised. (5)

Building work due to be carried out in 1974 threatened the site of the Archbishop's Palace. Excavations were carried out by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit over a period of five weeks. The earliest finds were of the Romano British period, but no structures were found. (6)

The site was purchased by Sevenoakes District Council aided by a substantial grant from the Department of the Environment. (7)

Of the Palace, excavations revealed parts of both the south and east ranges of the great palace built by Archbishop Warham about 1518 and later taken by Henry VIII. The ranges overlay structures and defensive ditches of the 14th century manor house known to have been fortified, and material of Norman date was recovered from different parts of the site. The east range contained at least four rooms and a passage on the west was crossed by a substantial sewer leading to a series of garderobes shafts in the south range. The junction of the ranges was marked by a massive tower more than 13 metres square and the whole was flanked by a broad moat. The site was abandoned at the end of the 16th century. (8)

Numbers 1 and 3 (Castle Cottages) and Store Building at east end (formerly listed as Palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury), Grade II*, The Green, Otford. These building are part of the only surviving range of the palace built by Archbishop Warham in the the early 16th century.
Remains of Walls of Archbishop's Palace in back gardens of numbers 5 to 11 (odd), Grade II, Bubblestone Lane, Otford. Early 16th century.
Remains of Walls of Archbishop's Palace in front gardens of numbers 5 to 11 (odd), Grade II, Bubblestone Lane, Otford. Early 16th century. (9)

The walls of the three storeyed tower are now extremely dangerous. (10)

Additional bibliography. (11-16)

Additional source noting the use of Otford as a Royal Tudor Palace. The source notes the use of water conduits not only to carry water but also used to flush through the sewrs below the building. (17)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1961

( 2) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 25" 1962

( 3) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

C Hesketh 31, 1915 Page(s)1-24

( 4) General reference

Ancient Monuments in England & Wales, 1961, 59

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 CFW 08.08.64

( 6) by Brian Philp 1984 Excavations in the Darent Valley, Kent

Kent monograph series research reports2 (1973) - 4 Page(s)133-88

( 7) Post-medieval archaeology : the journal of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology

9, 1975 Page(s)254

( 8) General reference

Archaeological Excavations (DOE) 1974, 93 (B Philp)

( 9) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

DOE (HHR) Dist of Sevenoaks, Kent R D, Jan 1975, 187, 190

(10) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

96, 1980 Page(s)367

(11) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

89, 1974 Page(s)199-203

(12) The Antiquary: a magazine devoted to the study of the past

15, 1887 Page(s)16-19

(13) Trust for British Archaeology and Council for British Archaeology Rescue news : the newspaper of RESCUE, the British Archaeological Trust

7, 1974 Page(s)3

(14) by H M Colvin ... [et al] 1982 The history of the King's Works, volume 4 : 1485-1660 (Part 2)

Page(s)208, 217-9

(15) Moated Sites Research Group report

6, 1979 Page(s)47

(16) Council for Kentish Archaeology Kent archaeological review

37, AUTUMN 1974 Page(s)195-6

(17) Simon Thurley 1993 The royal palaces of Tudor England : architecture and court life

Page(s)50, 79,163-4

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