Editing Addington Palace

{{short description|Mansion in Addington in Greater London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
[[File:Addington Palace Surrey wedding venue aerial shot.jpg|right|upright=1.3|thumb|Addington Palace]]
[[File:Addington Palace Interior Shot - The Grand Staircase.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|The Grand Staircase]]
[[File:The Great Hall inside Addington Palace.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|The Great Hall]]
[[File:Internal shot of Addington Palace.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|The Empire Room]]
[[File:The lobby of the Addington Palace Health Club.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|right|Health club lobby]]

'''Addington Palace''' is an 18th-century mansion in [[Addington, London|Addington]] located within the [[London Borough of Croydon]]. It was built close to the site of an earlier manor house belonging to the Leigh family. It is particularly known for having been, between 1807 and 1897, the summer residence of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury|Archbishops of Canterbury]]. Since the 1930s most of the grounds have been occupied by Addington Palace Golf Club. Between 1953 and 1996 the mansion was occupied by the [[Royal School of Church Music]], which has since moved to [[Salisbury]]. It was later used as a wedding and events venue.

==History==
The original manor house called '''Addington Place''' was built about the 16th century.

An ancient recipe for Malepigernout (or [[dillegrout]]), a spiced chicken porridge, was historically made by the current Lord of the Manor of Addington to be served upon the [[Coronation of the British monarch|coronation]] of the monarch of England in a [[Serjeanty|kitchen serjeanty]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Round |first=J. Horace |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zDssBgAAQBAJ&q=tezelin&pg=PA248 |title=The King's Serjeants & Officers of State: Kings & Sergeants |publisher=Routledge |year=1911 |isbn=978-1-136-22265-8 |pages=243–248 |language=en}}</ref> The Leigh family gained this [[Baron Bardolf#Honour at Coronation of the Monarch|serjeanty]] upon becoming Lords of the Manor of Addington sometime before 1504. The Addington estate was owned by the Leigh family until the early 18th century.

The last owner Sir John Leigh died without heirs in 1737 and his estates went to distant relatives, who eventually sold to [[Barlow Trecothick]].<ref name=history>{{cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43047 |title=A History of the County of Surrey |volume=4 |publisher=Victoria County History |date=1912 |location=London |chapter=Parishes: Addington |editor-first=H. E. |editor-last=Malden |pages=164–168}}</ref> Trecothick had been brought up in [[Boston]], [[Massachusetts]], and became a merchant there. He then moved to London, still trading as a merchant, and later sat as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for the [[City of London (UK Parliament constituency)|City of London]] in 1768–74, and served as [[Lord Mayor of London|Lord Mayor]] in 1770. He bought the estate for £38,500 ({{Inflation|GBP|38500|1770|r=-4|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}).

He built a new house, designed by [[Robert Mylne (architect)|Robert Mylne]] in the [[Palladian style]]; a country mansion with single-storey wings. He died before it was completed in 1774 <ref name=history /> and it was inherited by his heir, James Ivers of Boston MA, who had to take the surname Trecothick in order to inherit the estate. James continued the work on the house, having the substantial grounds and gardens landscaped by [[Capability Brown|Lancelot "Capability" Brown]]. Owing to financial difficulties, James Trecothick had to sell the estate in 1802. The estate was sold in lots in 1803.<ref name=history /> The next owners (William Coles and Westgarth Snaith) <ref name=history /> also got into financial trouble and sold it by [[Acts of Parliament|act of Parliament]] in 1807. This enabled the mansion to be purchased for the [[Archbishop of Canterbury|Archbishops of Canterbury]], since nearby [[Croydon Palace]] had become dilapidated and inconvenient. The name became '''Addington Farm''' whilst owned by the archbishops, much later it became known as Addington Palace. The archbishops made further changes and enlarged the building; work on the building was overseen by [[Richard Norman Shaw]].

It became the official summer residence of six archbishops:
*[[Charles Manners-Sutton]] (Archbishop 1805–1828)
*[[William Howley]] (Archbishop 1828–1848)
*[[John Bird Sumner]] (Archbishop 1848–1862)
*[[Charles Thomas Longley]] (Archbishop 1862–1868)
*[[Archibald Campbell Tait]] (Archbishop 1868–1882)
*[[Edward White Benson]] (Archbishop 1883–1896)

All except Benson are buried in [[St Mary's Church, Addington|St Mary's Church]] or churchyard, Addington: Benson is buried in [[Canterbury Cathedral]].

The house was sold in 1897 to [[Frederick Alexander English]], a diamond merchant from [[South Africa]]. After his death, the mansion was taken over during the [[First World War]] by the [[International Committee of the Red Cross|Red Cross]] and became a fever hospital. Eventually, in 1930, it came into the hands of the [[County Borough of Croydon]].

==Current usage==
The house was [[Grade II*]] [[listed building|listed]] in 1951.<ref name="NHLE">{{National Heritage List for England| num=1358819 |desc=Addington Palace (Royal School of Church Music) |grade=II* |access-date=7 December 2015}}</ref> In 1953, it was leased to the [[Royal School of Church Music]], initially to house choirboys assembled from all over Britain to sing at the [[coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01sll29 |title=Choristers of the Coronation |date=25 May 2013 |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> The building housed the Royal School of Church Music's music publishing operation, residential college and choir school until 1996, when a private company took it over for development as a conference and banqueting venue, health farm and country club. It was used extensively for [[wedding]]s<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.addington-palace.co.uk/ |title=Addington Palace |publisher=Addington Palace |access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref> until the company operating it went into liquidation in 2021.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://metro.co.uk/2021/04/24/addington-palace-doomed-wedding-firm-ignored-warnings-to-refund-740k-14444580/|title=Couples lose £740,000 after failing wedding company ignores Covid refund rules|first=Sam|last=Courtney-Guy|work=Metro|date=24 April 2021}}</ref>

It is surrounded by a park and golf courses, and its gardens are still largely in their original design. Much of the grounds have been leased by golf clubs and the exclusive Bishops Walk housing development was built on Bishops Walk (a private road).{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}}

A large [[Cedrus libani|cedar of Lebanon]] stands next to the palace, one of the [[Great Trees of London]].<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Great Trees of London |publisher=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] Guides Ltd |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84670-154-2 |pages=206}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Croydon Palace]], the summer residence of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] for 500 years

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.addington-palace.co.uk Addington Palace – Surrey Wedding Venue & Conference Centre]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725124240/http://www.palace-fitness.co.uk/ Addington Palace – Surrey Health Club & Spa]
* [http://www.friendsofoldpalace.org/addpalace.htm Friends of Old Palace, Croydon, Surrey]

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{{Archbishop of Canterbury}}
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{{Buildings and structures in Croydon}}

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[[Category:History of the London Borough of Croydon]]
[[Category:Houses in the London Borough of Croydon]]
[[Category:Episcopal palaces of archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Gardens by Capability Brown]]
[[Category:Country houses in London]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Croydon]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed houses in London]]
[[Category:Houses completed in 1774]]