Formerly the 14th century Great Gatehouse of Beaulieu Abbey, Palace House is set in glorious grounds and gardens with immaculate spreading lawns and walkways overlooking the Beaulieu River. The House… Read More »Montagu Palace (Beaulieu Abbey) & Beaulieu Abbey Church
In the 15th century, Edward IV granted Ashby De La Zouch Castle to Lord Hastings who converted what was no more than a fortified manor house into a grand castle,… Read More »Ashby De La Zouch (Hastings, UK)
Alcester, Warwickshire, has been the home of the Throckmortons since the 15th century and still is – the present Tudor house was built in the 16th century. There are lots… Read More »Coughton Court
Fife, Scotland, ruins of a 15th century keep with a courtyard wall with a gate and a corner tower; once a stronghold of the Balfours of Burleigh, and visited several… Read More »Burleigh House
Fife, Scotland, the ruins of a 15th century tower with the 1581 addition of a walled courtyard and gatehouse.
Bishop’s Waltham, Southampton, Hampshire
The last Bishop of Winchester to reside at Bishop’s Waltham left in a dung cart disguised as a farm labourer! He was escaping from Oliver Cromwell’s troops after unsuccessfully defending his palace, which was torn down and never rebuilt. Bishop’s Waltham was at the peak of its importance during the medieval period when it was the seat of the bishops of Winchester.
The palace once stood in an enormous park of some 10,000 acres. Most of the remains to be seen today date from the 12th and 14th centuries. There are substantial parts of the Great Hall and three-storey tower, and the moat which once surrounded the palace can be seen in places. A brick wall which once encircled the palace is still in place. Nearby is the abbot’s fish pond. Conservation is now complete on part of the north-east range of guest rooms, latterly a farmhouse. Inside is an exhibition on the history of Bishop’s Waltham Palace. Bishops Waltham Palace