Croydon Palace
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Croydon Palace, in the Old Town neighbourhood of Croydon, now part of south London, was the summer residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury for over 500 years. Regular visitors included Henry III and Queen Elizabeth I. Now known as Old Palace, the buildings are still in use as Old Palace School, an independent girls' school that is now part of the Whitgift Foundation. It has been a Grade I listed building since 1951.<ref>Template:NHLE</ref>
HistoryEdit
The Manor of Croydon was connected with the Archbishop of Canterbury from at least the late Saxon period,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and records of buildings date back to before 960.<ref>See Croydon Minster</ref> The location of the original manor house is unknown. A larger palace was required to accommodate the retinues of the archbishop and his guests, and as a staging post between Canterbury and Lambeth Palace.<ref>Friends of Old Palace, pp. 2–3</ref> The palace as it now exists is a group of largely 15th- and 16th-century buildings, "an aggregate of buildings of different castes and ages", as Archbishop Herring found it in 1754.<ref>Quoted in Charles Nicholl A Cup of News: the life of Thomas Nashe, 1984, p. 136.</ref> Only the parts used by the archbishops remain: the servants' quarters, which made up the remaining three and a half sides of an irregular quadrangle, were demolished in the 19th century.<ref name=":0">Steinman 1834, p. 99</ref>
The palace was entered from Church Street down today's Old Palace Road, which was protected by iron gates from 1742.<ref name=":0" /> Along the south side of today's Church Road was the porter's lodge and stables that formed the north side of the quadrangle.<ref>Steinman 1834, pp. 100–103</ref> An archway in the porter's lodge permitted access to the palace. South of Church Road, along the east side of the Old Palace Road, were the servants' quarters.<ref>Ducarel 1783, p. 45</ref> This was a two-storey brick building that formed the east side of the quadrangle. A similar building formed the west side of the quadrangle for the servants of guests. The upper storey was accessed by an external wooden staircase and passageway. Kitchens, buttery etc. connected the Great Hall and servants quarters to the east.<ref>Steinman 1834, p. 103</ref>
The 15th-century Great Hall is thought to have been installed by Archbishop Stafford (d. 1452), with a late-14th-century two-storey porch and a vaulted ceiling to the lower chamber. The hall interior has a rich 16th-century timber roof and windows with interesting features such as the late Gothic interior porch. The Great Hall was partially remodelled in the 17th century by archbishops Laud and Juxon, who also rebuilt the chapel.
West of the hall are the state apartments including the first-floor Guard Room, now the school library. The room is ascribed to Archbishop Arundel (Archbishop 1396–1414), and has an arch-braced roof with carved stone supports and an oriel window. Other rooms have later panelling and fireplaces. The chapel has fine 17th-century stalls and an elaborate corner gallery. The fine altar rails are now in the Guard Room. The exterior of the whole palace is of stone or red brick, with early stone windows or Georgian sash windows.
The connection of the archbishops with Croydon was of great importance, with several being important local benefactors. Six are buried in Croydon Minster, neighbouring the palace: in date order they were Edmund Grindal, John Whitgift, Gilbert Sheldon, William Wake, John Potter and Thomas Herring. Archbishop Whitgift, who first called it a "palace", liked Croydon for "the sweetness of the place", though not all admired it, in the low-lying site which Henry VIII found "rheumatick", a place where he could not stay "without sickness". Sir Francis Bacon found it "an obscure and darke place" surrounded by its dense woodland.<ref>Quotes in Nicholl 1984, p. 136; in the Great Hall at Croydon Nashe's masque Summer's Last Will and Testament was performed, in October 1592.</ref>
Template:Infobox UK legislation By the 18th century, the palace had become dilapidated and uncomfortable and the local area was squalid. In 1715 Archbishop Wake wanted to demolish it,<ref>Aubrey 1718, p. 33</ref> although he subsequently had the Long Gallery reconstructed<ref>Steinman 1834, pp. 109–110</ref> and Archbishop Herring had other work done.<ref>Steinman 1834, p. 105</ref><ref>Anderson 1879, p. 304</ref><ref>Friends of Old Palace, p. 4</ref> By 1780, it had remained uninhabited for the last 20 years and Parliament decided to build a new palace.<ref name=":1">Lysons 1792, p. 176</ref> A private act of Parliament, the Template:Visible anchor (20 Geo. 3. c. 57 Template:Small),<ref name="Stephens">Template:Cite book</ref> enabled Croydon Palace to be sold and Addington Palace on the outskirts of Croydon to be bought in 1807. This became the new episcopal summer residence for much of the rest of the 19th century.
Croydon Palace was bought at auction with the adjacent meadows to the south and east by the brandy merchant Abraham Pitches for £2,520 on 10 October 1780,<ref name=":1" /> which he subsequently let for calico printing and bleaching.<ref>Thornhill 1987, p. 211</ref> The palace had several owners over the next 100 years, but was primarily associated with calico printing, bleaching and later as a laundry.<ref>Thornhill 1987, pp. 210–247</ref> The servants' quarters on the west were demolished around 1802 and became part of the graveyard in 1808.<ref>Thornhill 1987, pp. 229, 246</ref> By 1805 the Croydon, Merstham and Godstone Railway cut through the palace grounds, creating today's Church Road. The porter's lodge was demolished around 1806,<ref name=":2">Steinman 1834, p. 101</ref> followed by the kitchens in 1810 to provide another entrance to the palace.<ref name=":2" /> Bankruptcy saw the palace sold in lots on 20 March 1832,<ref>The Times No. 14788 1st March 1832 p. 8</ref><ref>Thornhill 1987, pp. 217–218, 245</ref> with the subsequent demolition of the quadrangle's east side.<ref>Steinman 1834, p. 119</ref> Bleaching continued at the palace until it was sold by private agreement to Henry Pelham-Clinton, the 7th Duke of Newcastle at the beginning of June 1887.<ref>The Hampshire Advertiser (Southampton Herald) Vol 63, No. 4277 11 June 1887 p. 2</ref> He gave the palace to the Sisters of the Church, who restored it and founded it as Old Palace School in 1889.<ref>Malden 1912, pp. 205–217</ref>
LegacyEdit
The historic connection between Croydon and the archbishops is recognised in the modern coat of arms of the London Borough of Croydon. Several streets in Croydon are named after the archbishops, including Whitgift Street, Grindall Close, Sheldon Street, Laud Street, Cranmer Road and Parker Road.
NotesEdit
Further readingEdit
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External linksEdit
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