Castles, Customs, and Kings by Debra Brown

A flock of black birds, arrayed in a perfect circle, as if convened at a great table. There, I couldn’t help but whisper about the mysterious happenings the Golden Hinde crew had all witnessed during our long moonlit stints on ship watch.Ī shadow moving slowly through the grounds, when the source of the movement could not be detected.

When I used to lead school children on tours of the ship, we’d often pause by the Palace ruins. Now only the bare remains and beautiful rose window suggest the former grandeur of the Palace. The ruins remained in disrepair until the 1980s when the area began to be redeveloped. In the 19th century, much of the palace was destroyed in a fire in 1814. By the 17th century it was divided into tenements and warehouses.

(Yes, this is where we get the phrase being ‘thrown in the clink.’)Īfter the Reformation and King Henry VIII’s dissolution of many church properties, the palace changed its purpose. The Clink prison, under the auspices of the Bishop of Winchester, was also nearby. The palace seems to have been surrounded around two courtyards, a brew-house and butchery. There was also a passageway to the river wharf along the south bank of the Thames, to bring supplies into the Palace. Underneath the hall was a vaulted wine cellar, no doubt full of great vats and bottles to keep the bishops and their guests merry. There is also evidence that the palace had a tennis court, bowling alley and pleasure gardens, to keep the bishops entertained while on royal and administrative business. The majestic qualities of the palace are suggested by the presence of a rose window, a common feature of more lavish churches and palaces built in this time. In its late medieval heyday, the Palace had been a site of great spectacle, feasts and grand dinners, even have hosted the wedding dinner of James I of Scotland and Joan Beauford in 1424.

It was designed to serve as a place for visiting bishops to stay when they journeyed to London.Īccording to the English Heritage website, the Palace once consisted of a Great Hall, which led to a buttery, pantry and kitchen.

Not to be confused with the more illustrious Winchester Castle-or Winchester Cathedral, as many a dismayed tourist has done-Winchester Palace was founded by Bishop Henry de Blois, brother of King Stephen, in the early 13th century.

Castles, Customs, and Kings by Debra Brown