The Archbishops’ Palace
The Old Palace as we see it today is a medley of restorations and alterations showing evidence of its ecclesiastical and civil owners throughout many centuries. Its history is central to the development of the town as we know it today.
In the Domesday Book, Maidstone is described as being ‘part of the lands of the Archbishop’. It is later recorded that the Manor of Maidstone was owned by William de Cornhill, who was rector of St Mary’s Church in the town. In 1207, William de Cornhill gave the manor to Stephen Langdon, Archbishop of Canterbury, starting a 330 year ownership of the site by the archbishops.
William de Cornhill’s Manor House is believed to be on the site of the present Palace. The original building was probably a ragstone and timber-framed hall house with an undercroft (or vaulted basement). Over time this was developed into the grand building we see today.
The Palace at Maidstone is one of four similar Archbishops Palaces set between London and Canterbury. Many famous Archbishops of Canterbury, including Morton, Wareham, Courtenay and Cranmer, spent much time at Maidstone Palace and made substantial improvements to it.
The presence of the Palace and its manorial estate led to the development of a small settlement, then to the establishment of a market in 1261.
There is then a shortage of records until the 14th century when Archbishop John Ufford began to rebuild the manor house. One of his successors, Simon Islip, continued this work and the new building would have housed the Archbishop’s court for formal occasions, as well as being the administrative centre of the manor.
The original palace created by Archbishop Islip has mostly been lost under later alterations. It is believed that the present Hall and Solar were probably (in their original form) part of this building. There is archaeological evidence for other buildings extending to the north and south-east possibly linking with St Mary’s Church.
The Palace consisted of a large courtyard approached via a bridge over the River Len to the north. At the west end were the Archbishop’s residence and formal rooms with the stables and servants accommodation at the east end. The long sides of the courtyard would have been lined with lodgings for retainers. The Archbishop travelled with his whole court of about 300 people.
Little remains of the courtyard now, apart from the stables, gatehouse and principle stone buildings. The Archbishop’s residence was later remodelled into a house for the local gentry with a number of the old rooms still remaining.
The Gatehouse and 14th century bridge (now under Bishop’s Way) are all that remains of Islip’s outer courtyard entrance. The ponds on the River Len, on the other side of Bishop’s Way, are the remains of eel fisheries mentioned in the Domesday Book. They were used by the Palace as fish ponds and later as mill ponds, which is where Mill Street gets its name.
The old Palace undercroft is often, wrongly, known as the ‘Dungeon’. It consists of two bays of ribbed vaults on thick ragstone walls, buttressed outside to give protection against the flow of the river.
From the building, high walls run eastwards to the church, enclosing an open area. This appears to be the remains of the undercrofts of at least two two-storey buildings. The earliest walls which adjoin the church are early Norman and contain stone imported from Caen in Normandy and tufa (volcanic rock) features in the ragstone. These features date the wall to c.1100 which make them the earliest known construction in Maidstone.
The building would seem to have formed part of the kitchen courtyard to the Palace, being part of the range of buildings between the Palace and the Church. An 1850’s deed plan refers to it as ‘the old brew house’.
The first major alterations came at the end of the 14th century under Archbishop William Courtenay who succeeded in 1381. He added the building on the southern half of the river elevation to the Archbishop’s residence. He also founded the College of Secular Priests in 1395 and rebuilt St Mary’s Church, from which time it was known as All Saints.
The College was founded for a Master and 24 chaplains and clerks. The majority of buildings were built during this period though there are some parts which show evidence for earlier construction. Two gateways gave access to the College. The southern gateway, now a ruin accessible from College Avenue, gave access to the farmland on the banks of the River Medway and enclosed the farm buildings, which were demolished to create the Cutbush almshouse in the late 19th century. The northern gateway gave access to the horseway, which still runs down to the river at a point where it used to be possible to ford at low tide, and a ferry once carried passengers to the west bank.
John Morton, Archbishop from 1486 – 1501, was a friend of Henry VI. It is recorded that he greatly augmented and beautified the Palace, which had fallen into a dilapidated condition. The tile-hung gabled building on the river frontage has been dated to his reign. At this time, the park known as the ‘Court Garden’ or ‘My Lord’s Garden’ was let for £2. This was situated on the opposite side of the river to the Palace and is now called ‘Lockmeadow’ after a lock and weir, which was removed in the 1920s.
The College was disbanded with the dissolution of religious establishments in 1537. It remained in Crown ownership until 14 June 1540 when it passed to Sir Thomas Wyatt the elder.
