Old Palace Croydon: Great Hall

Summary

A medieval great hall which forms part of the former Archbishops’ Palace in Croydon. Built under Archbishop Courtenay (1381-1396), it was completed by Archbishop Stafford (1443-1452) and incorporates the relics of Stafford’s archiepiscopal throne. Alterations were made to the west end under Archbishop Juxon (1660-1663) and the hall’s roof structure was reinforced in 1748 under Archbishop Herring (1747-1757). The hall was adapted for industrial use in the late 18th century and its east wall was rebuilt following collapse in 1830. The building was restored in 1891 and re-buttressed in 1913 and 1950.

Reasons for Designation

The great hall of the Old Palace at Croydon is listed at Grade I for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an important example of a medieval archiepiscopal great hall with an elaborate single-span, arch-braced roof of the mid-C15, complete with armorial iconography and also retaining much of a medieval archbishops’ throne with its carved heraldic canopy;
* as a major element of the architectural evolution of the palace, demonstrating through its distinct phases of development the enlargement and aggrandisement of the Old Palace complex from the C14.

Historic interest:

* as a key part of an important and extensive archiepiscopal manor with standing elements dating back to the C12. The Old Palace is the best-surviving example of a medieval palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury, built on the route between Lambeth and Canterbury to serve as a residence suitable for the Archbishop’s retinue and frequent royal visitations;
* for its strong association with successive Archbishops of Canterbury, to whom distinct campaigns of building work are attributed.

Group value:

* with the other seven Grade I-listed buildings forming the Old Palace complex and the adjacent Grade I-listed Croydon Minster (Church of St John the Baptist).

History

The Old Palace at Croydon formed one of a chain of great houses to be occupied by archbishops and their retinues when travelling between Canterbury and Lambeth. The archiepiscopal manors were established to allow the journey to be divided into easy stages of around 20 miles, with the route proceeding via Charing, Maidstone, Otford, and (after 1450) Knole. The Old Palace at Croydon was the final staging post on this route towards London and it became one of the largest and most important sites of the archiepiscopal estate. The palace site is likely to date back to the 8th century or early 9th century, with a ‘monasterium’ recorded from 809, at which time a Royal Council was assembled at Croydon. By 880, the site certainly constituted part of the endowment of the Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming an important part of the estate in the late-Saxon period. The palace came to be favoured by archbishops as a summer residence from the C13, by which time it had an early hall, private chambers, kitchens and surrounding grounds. With the adjacent church and village, the area became known as Old Croydon, distinct from New Croydon, which developed to the east as a commercial centre along a main route to London, receiving a market charter in 1276.

The Old Palace at Croydon is an extraordinarily complex site of multiple phases; indeed, almost every generation since the C12 has adapted the palace buildings to some degree to meet their evolving demands. A series of timber buildings centred on a hall built from the 9th century onwards appear to have preceded the stone and brick structures. The evidence indicates that rebuilding in masonry began with the private chambers during the C12, towards the western edge of the palace site, with subsequent development suggesting that that the principal early buildings - the private chamber, hall and kitchens - were strung together from west to east. The later C14 saw a surge in building at the archbishops’ estates, recorded in some cases as repairing damage following social and political unrest across the country culminating in the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, when Archbishop Sudbury was seized and beheaded in London and the archepiscopal property was attacked. There is no specific record of an attack on the Old Palace at Croydon, though the heightened building activity from this time may have been spurred by these events.

The main standing elements of the Old Palace were built from the mid-C14 to the late C15, by which time the manor was highly regarded, acquiring high-status accommodation suitable for royal visitations. The scheme appears to have begun with an early iteration of the great chamber above its undercroft in the second quarter of the C14 for Archbishop Stratford (1333-1348), and with the hall, probably begun under Archbishop Courtenay (1381-1396) and completed by Archbishop Stafford (1443-1452), whose throne partially survives. The later C14 and early C15 saw a major phase of building by Archbishop Arundel (1396-1397 and then 1399-1414), who completed the great chamber in its present form, probably extending accommodation to the south-west, possibly the site of an earlier private chapel or oratory. The lower section of what was likely at that date to be a chapel (since the existing chapel was built above it) also dates from the later C14. The upper part was then rebuilt in the mid-C15 following its partial collapse. In around 1500, Archbishop Morton (1486-1500) extended the chapel and private chambers westwards, with a west range built to link them. The east range closing the south court appears to have been built at around the same time.

Despite the closure of many religious houses under Henry VIII, the Old Palace at Croydon was retained while other archiepiscopal estates were sold or reduced, and perhaps in response to this loss Archbishop Cranmer added a long gallery, built in 1538-1539, to complete the plan that fundamentally exists today, with enclosed north and south courts. The manor was first described as a ‘palatium’, or palace, by John Whitgift (1583-1604) in the later C16, although after the Reformation its popularity waned. Henry VIII reputedly refused to stay at Croydon claiming it to be bad for his health on account of its low-lying position and waterlogged condition at this stage. Both church and palace were built on an island site and until the early C19 the palace site was surrounded by water, with fishponds, ornamental ponds and waterways.

In the C17, Archbishop Laud (1633-1645) committed to remodelling the archiepiscopal chapels in line with his religious tenets, and at the Old Palace the raised pew, stalls and altar rails are attributed to him. During the Commonwealth (1649-1660), Parliament seized the site and sold it to Sir William Brereton. However, the Old Palace was reinstated as archiepiscopal property in 1660, perhaps a reflection of its importance, and remained so until the later C18. On the restoration of the monarchy, Archbishop Juxon (1660-1663) set about restoring the buildings, particularly the chapel which was significantly reconfigured during this time and likely continued by his immediate successor, Archbishop Sheldon (1663-1677).

Although some improvements were made by Archbishop Wake (1715-1737), who spent frequent summers at the Palace, and by Archbishop Herring (1747-1757), who spent £6000 on the buildings and gardens, by the later C18 the Old Palace was less popular as a residence and had fallen into a poor state of repair. In 1780 it was sold to Abraham Pitches and then subsequently to Sam Starey, becoming a calico printing and bleaching factory. The site was industrialised, land was sold, buildings were adapted, subdivided and used for multiple purposes, including as lodgings. The wider complex of the palace was significantly truncated and all of the northern ancillary buildings of the outer court were lost during this period. The northern stables and the gatehouse were largely demolished in 1806, followed by the western lodgings in 1808 as part of the expansion of the churchyard (marked by the present brick boundary wall from this date). The service range which had been connected to the hall was pulled down in 1810, which ultimately contributed to the collapse of the east wall of the Great Hall in 1830. The final remaining vestige of the outer court was the eastern range of lodgings running along what is now Old Palace Road, which remained in use for most of this period but was finally demolished in 1880.

In order to save the Old Palace from demolition in 1887, the site was bought by the Duke of Newcastle, a follower of the Oxford Movement, who gave it to the Anglican Sisters of Mercy to secure its future for religious purposes. The Sisters established a small school in 1889 that was recognised as a higher-grade elementary school in 1892 and in 1904 as a secondary school. From the outset, the Sisters embarked on a programme to restore the neglected buildings, employing the architect Sir Banister Fletcher in 1905 to work on the chapel restoration. After the Second World War it became a Direct Grant Grammar School and new school buildings were added in phases to the south-west of the site. In 1974 it became an independent school, passing in 1994 to the Whitgift Foundation. In September 2023, the Whitgift Foundation announced the decision to close the school permanently by August 2025.

HISTORY OF THE GREAT HALL

The lower stage of the hall and the north porch date to a major building programme around the end of the C14, attributed to Archbishop Courtenay. According to the Lambeth Palace archivist Ducarel, Courtenay ‘resided a good deal’ at Croydon and extracts from the archiepiscopal registers record that, on 4 May 1382, Courtenay received the papal decree and the pallium in the principal chamber of his manor of Croydon, most likely the hall (Ducarel, 1783, pp34-35 and Appendix 1, pp5-6). The north elevation has blocked openings from this period and the junction with the porch confirms that the latter was contemporary with the lower stage of the hall (Drury, July 2020, pp25-26). The north entrance into the hall from the porch has a two-centred arch with continuously moulded jambs consistent with late-C14 work. The north porch, the normal appendage to a medieval great hall, is sited against the last bay of the lateral wall, as was customary. The chamber over the porch was formerly reached by a staircase turret in the eastern angle between the porch and the hall (Ducarel, 1783, p32, Plate III); it is now (2025) accessed via a C20 steel stair inside the hall.

The hall had a central hearth with a smoke bay or louvre above, which both Ducarel and Pugin affirm survived until Archbishop Herring’s improvements during the mid-C18 (Ducarel, p46; Pugin, 1838, p28). There is evidence of the modification of the roof for a smoke bay or louvre in the second bay from the west (Lea, 2004, p29) which indicates the hearth was located near the upper (west) end of the hall to provide heat to the dais and high table.

At the lower end of the hall, the opposing north and south doorways indicate the line of former screens passage, which had a gallery over. Evidence for this is provided by Pugin’s section drawing of 1829, which shows a doorway with a pointed head at upper level on the east wall (Ibid, Figure 38, 1829). This would have provided access to the gallery from the service range behind. The public entrance to the gallery was via the chamber over the porch. The east wall also had the customary tripartite arrangement of service doorways leading to the buttery, pantry and kitchen. These are no longer extant but were again recorded by Pugin before the collapse of the wall in 1830 (Ibid, Figure 38, 1829) and by Edward Blore in an early-C19 drawing (Blore, C19, f. 57). They comprised three linked entrances with continuously moulded two-centred arches, suggesting late-C14 work contemporary with the porch. They were not aligned on the central axis of the hall, implying that the adjoining service range may have pre-dated the hall (Drury, July 2020, p23).

The upper structure of the hall, including the complex arch-braced roof, was completed around 1445-1450 for Archbishop Stafford, whose arms are displayed in prominent positions on the roof corbels and on the canopy of the archiepiscopal throne. According to Ducarel, Stafford made the Old Palace at Croydon the chief place of his residence, along with Lambeth, and rebuilt or entirely repaired the hall (Ibid, 1783, p35). As in many great houses, the late-C14 triple arrangement of the service doorways was retained along with the entrance on the north side of the screens passage, but the opposing south entrance was upgraded. The external side of the south doorway has roll mouldings and hollow chamfers which correspond to the jambs of the windows above, as well as a square head and spandrels, consistent with mid-C15 work.

It was probably during Stafford’s tenure that improvements were made to the upper end of the hall, to enhance lighting and circulation routes within the palace. An oriel or bay window was introduced within the western bay at ground floor level, in line with the dais, to provide illumination directly from the south. Although the bay window has been removed, the moulded oriel arch survives internally and corresponds to the rear arches of the mid-C15 windows at upper level. Pugin’s section drawing of 1829 posits that the oriel was consistent with the fenestration above and had three-mullioned lights with pointed arches (Ibid, Figure 39, 1829). For further convenience, a direct entrance from the upper end of the hall to the private chambers beyond was introduced. The ‘dais doorway’ in the west wall is still extant and aligns with the doorway into the Guard Chamber at higher level. The entrance has a pointed arch beneath a square head with a deep hood mould, which is analogous to both the outer south doorway and to a doorway in the former south wall of the south range, suggesting that in the mid-C15 the palace was furnished with a fashionable new south front (Drury, July 2020, p31).

The Archbishops’ throne, which resides against the west wall in a fragmentary state, is also attributed to Stafford. There is a C13 throne at Canterbury cathedral and there are surviving examples of medieval bishops’ thrones in several other English cathedrals; however, the throne at Croydon is an exceptional survival in this context. The relics have been fashioned into a composite structure incorporating the carved heraldic canopy, parts of the chair and a pair of roof corbels originating from the eastern roof truss. Stafford’s coat of arms is prominently displayed at the base of the canopy, beneath the royal arms of the contemporary reigning monarch, Henry VI (1422-1461). The throne’s original site would have been similarly on the dais, but with the canopy suspended at higher level. The introduction of fenestration in the west wall during the C17 was most likely the catalyst for the canopy’s relocation to another part of the hall.

Ducarel, writing in 1755, records that Archbishop Herring had placed the canopy on display within a blocked high-level window in the east wall, where Pugin recorded it in the C19 (Ducarel, 1783, p64; Pugin, 1829, Figure 38). Prior to this Herring had apparently removed the canopy from ‘an Oreille or passage at the upper end of the hall’. Following the collapse of the east wall in 1830, the canopy was evidently placed in its present location, where it was united with fragments of the chair and the salvaged corbels from the east wall.

Under Archbishop Juxon (1660-1663), alterations were carried out to the upper end of the hall including the insertion of three mullion and transom windows at high level in the west wall, the rebuilding of the gable above in brickwork and possibly the replacement of the oriel with a smaller window opening flush with the south wall (Drury, July 2020, p48). The brick parapets to the north and south were probably added during this period. During the mid-C18, the hall was ‘greatly improved by his present Grace’, Archbishop Herring, (Ducarel, 1783, p45), and this was acknowledged on an external stone plaque on the porch which is no longer legible in 2025 (Malden, 1912, pp205-217). The hall roof was reinforced using substantial pine tie-beams, one of which bears Herring’s initials and the date of 1748. The deep box cornice at eaves level was installed at the same time, replacing the mid-C15 moulded timber cornice (Lea, 2004, pp29-30). Later that century, Herring’s tie-beams conveniently supported an inserted upper floor while the hall was in industrial use as a calico printing and bleaching works. Other adaptations included the installation of a steam boiler and associated large stack outside the south-western bay, as well as alterations to the hall windows. C19 photographs and a survey drawn up during the 1880s indicate that the medieval stonework had been partially replaced with mullion and transom casements and wooden shuttering was installed in the two eastern bays (Society of Antiquaries, Drawings of the Archiepiscopal Palace Croydon, 1880s).

The east wall was rebuilt after its collapse in 1830, following the demolition of the eastern service range in 1810. Contemporary illustrations suggest the complete loss of the wall, although at lower level the medieval ashlar quoins to the corners and adjacent buttresses appear to survive or were reused in the wall’s reconstruction. The central vertical bands of stonework correspond to the jambs of a now-blocked central vehicular doorway, which was recorded on the survey made during the 1880s (Ibid, Drawings of the Archiepiscopal Palace Croydon, 1880s). Following the Palace’s acquisition by the Sisters of Mercy, the industrial modifications were removed and, in 1891, the hall was provided with a new floor and the porch entrance and the stone-mullioned three-light windows and hood moulds were reinstated. In 1913, the north porch was restored and the buttresses to the south were rebuilt; those to the north were reconstructed in 1950. A C20 steel stair was inserted at the north-east end of the hall, to enable access to the chamber over the porch, and the oak panelling was installed or renewed in 1960.

Details

A medieval great hall which forms part of the former Archbishops’ Palace in Croydon. Built under Archbishop Courtenay (1381-1396), it was completed by Archbishop Stafford (1443-1452) and incorporates the relics of Stafford’s archiepiscopal throne. Alterations were made to the west end under Archbishop Juxon (1660-1663) and the hall’s roof structure was reinforced in 1748 under Archbishop Herring (1747-1757). The hall was adapted for industrial use in the late C18 and its east wall was rebuilt following collapse in 1830. The building was restored in 1891 and re-buttressed in 1913 and 1950.

MATERIALS: flint with stone dressings with some areas of red brick and rendering.

PLAN: broad, four-bay hall under a single-span roof, with an entrance beneath a two-storey porch at the east end of the north elevation and an opposing entrance at the east end of the south wall. There is also an entrance from within the main body of the palace in the west wall.

EXTERIOR: the north elevation is divided into four bays, three of which are clad in flint on a brick base with a moulded stone coping and with stone ashlar stepped buttresses. In the western bay, the jamb and arched head of two late-C14 blocked openings are visible. Tall, mid-C15 stone-mullioned windows at high level have three pointed lights in hollow chamfered architraves beneath depressed arch hood moulds. The central and western windows retain some of their original stonework. The eastern bay is filled with a two-storey late-C14 porch with outer angle buttresses and a plain parapet. Built of masonry, it is rendered throughout. The rebuilt entrance has a moulded pointed arch springing from imposts, supported on moulded jambs. Above it there is an eroded C18 stone plaque. The window to the chamber over has a simple rectangular stone architrave beneath a hood mould, with two, four-centre arched lights. At upper level on the west elevation of the porch there is a small pointed arched opening with a hollow-chamfered architrave. A stack heating the first-floor chamber rises on the eastern side.

The south elevation and south buttresses are mostly in flint with stone dressings. There is some red brick patching in the western bay, which was repaired following removal of the C19 factory chimney. There is also a segmental-headed opening with C20 glazed windows in this bay, above which is the remnant of an earlier stone arch springing from the west. The eastern bay has a heavily eroded mid-C15 stone doorcase with moulded jambs, a pointed head and plain spandrels beneath a restored hood mould. Windows are as the north elevation, one per bay, although much of the stonework has been renewed. At eaves level there is a rainwater head with Herring’s initials and the date of 1748. The parapet on both north and south elevations is rebuilt in red brick.

The east elevation is the result of rebuilding following its collapse in 1830. The lower stage is clad in flint and divided into three bays by vertical bands of stone, visible beneath the flint. The upper stage is rendered, while the gable is tile-hung in alternating bands of plain and fishscale tiles beneath a plain gable end.

The west elevation gable wall, where exposed above eaves height, is in C17 red-brown brick with a blocked oculus above the eaves and four diamond-set ties in the gable. The mid-C15 west doorway within the entrance hall to the palace is recessed within the depth of the wall, within a simple and likely C18 timber rectangular architrave and panelled linings. This face of the door has sunk panels within broad rails and muntins and has long L-hinges.

INTERIOR: the windows appear to retain their original moulded stone rear arches and architraves and rest on a continuous enriched, moulded stone string course. At each bay, stone corbels carved with angels bearing painted armorial shields are surmounted by timber responds or half-piers with octagonal bases and moulded capitals. These in turn support a richly moulded and complex mid-C15 oak roof of principal rafters and arched braces that describe a four-centred arch rising to equally moulded collars and side purlins. An outer framework of purlins with curved wind braces supports coupled rafters with plain, braced collars towards the apex of the roof. Pine tie beams, bearing Herring’s initials and dated 1748, are framed into a heavy modillion cornice at eaves level. The angel corbels to the eastern truss are missing and can be found integrated into the archbishops’ throne (see below).

The mid-C15 west doorway has a pointed head beneath a deep, square hood mould, with foliate decoration and blank shields in the spandrels. The late-C14 north doorway has a segmental-headed rear arch; the opposing mid-C15 south doorway has a four-centred head. In the west bay of the south wall, the internal opening to the former oriel or bay has a wide, moulded, four-centre arch, which corresponds to the windows at upper level. High on the west wall are three C17 mullion and transom windows that illuminate the upper floor of the adjoining range to the west. The walls are lined in pegged oak panelling, installed or extensively restored in 1960.

Centrally placed against the west wall are the carved stone fragments of the mid-C15 archbishops’ throne. These consist of a projecting rectangular canopy, carved to imitate a tasselled fringe, surmounting a crowned shield supported by flanking angels and bearing the arms of Edward the Confessor and Henry VI. These in turn are supported by an angel bearing a carved scroll inscribed ‘d’ne salvum fac regem’ (Lord save the king). The canopied architectural sculpture is integrated into a curved, tiered structure, possibly the capping of the throne-back, which has the armorial shield of Archbishop Stafford at its centre. This is supported by a plinth with a blank concave panel flanked by two corbels with angels holding armorial shields, which sits over a square section with a sunk-moulded front panel.

The north porch has a vaulted quadripartite stone ceiling with moulded ribs and a central foliate boss. The late-C14 entrance from the porch into the hall has a pointed arch and continuously moulded jambs and head. The chamber above has a corner fireplace with an eroded moulded surround. Windows are set in deep reveals and have C20 diamond leaded lights.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

201229

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Cherry, B, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: London 2: South, (1983), pp212-214
Ducarel, AC, Some Account of the Town, Church and Archiepiscopal Palace of Croydon in Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, Vol. XII, (1783), pp30-67, Appendix 1 (Extracts from the Archiepiscopal Registers at Lambeth), pp1-26
Pugin, A, Examples of Gothic Architecture Volume 1, (1838), pp26-30, Plates 38-42
Wood, M, The English Medieval House, (1965)
Emery, A, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300-1500, Volume 3: Southern England, (2006), pp329-333

Websites
'Croydon: Introduction and Croydon Palace', in Malden, HE (ed), A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), accessed 24 March 2025 from https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol4/pp205-217

Other
Lea, R, Observations at the Archbishop’s Palace, Croydon, 1987 to 1996 (English Heritage, 2004)
Drury McPherson Partnership, Croydon Archiepiscopal Palace, The Evolution of the Buildings (July 2020)
Drury McPherson Partnership, Old Palace Croydon, The Chapel, Heritage Impact Assessment (February 2020)
Hilton, K, The Old Palace School, Centenary History 1889-1989 (1989)
The Heritage Advisory, Old Palace School, Croydon, Conservation Management Plan (January 2016)
Arnold, A, Howard R, The Archiepiscopal Palace (The ‘Old Palace’) John Whitgift School, Croydon, London, Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers (February 2020)
Drawings of The Archepiscopal Palace, Croydon c1880 (Society of Antiquaries, B.P. Surrey, no. 53)
Oswald, A, 'The Old Palace, Croydon, Surrey: A Former Residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury', Country Life, (April 1965), pp806-810, 876-880
Croydon, Surrey: Drawings of the Palace by Edward Blore, C19 (British Library, Volume XXIV, Add MS 42022, ff. 56, 57)

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