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Witney Bishop of Winchesters Palace
Also known as, or recorded in historical
documents as; Mount House
In the civil parish of Witney.
In the historic county of Oxfordshire (Modern Authority of Oxfordshire, 1974 county of Oxfordshire).
The known surviving extent of the moated palace of the Bishop of Winchester. The Bishop's Palace was built in the early C12. The remains include a roughly square, walled amd moated enclosure within which stood a series of buildings including a very substantial solar tower and hall which also acted as a defensible keep. Other structures include a chapel, stables, kitchens, latrines, workshops, storage, additional accommodation and a defensible gatehouse. The Bishop of Winchester was granted the estate in 1044. The evidence provided by excavation supports the documented date at which the site ws obtained by the Bishop of Winchester, and evidence from further building phases indicates that the dispute between Stephen and Matilda was the impetus for the building of this strong palace. In 1129 Henry of Blois, Stephen's brother, was made Bishop of Winchester, and in 1137 he ordered the building of six 'castles' to secure his estates against bandits and rebels.
This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle
Palace.
The confidence
that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Cropmarks/slight earthworks remains.
This site is a scheduled
monument protected by law.
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP357093
PastScape number;
334458
Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p430-34
Keevill, Graham D., 2000, Medieval Palaces, An Archaeology (Stroud; Tempus) p25, 47, 89-91, 153, 165 [plan]
Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p96, 186
James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p44, 59, 60
Durham, B., 1985, Witney Palace, Excavations at Mount House, Witney, in 1984 (Oxford: Oxford Archaeological Unit)
Journal Articles
- Durham, Brian, 1993, 'Nine lives for Bishop's Palace [Witney, Oxfordshire]' British Archaeological News Vol8
1984, Oxfordshire Archaeological Unit: newsletter Vol11 No3 p9-11
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