Lyddington Bede House

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Liddington; Lydyngton

In the civil parish of Lyddington.
In the historic county of Rutland (Modern Authority of Rutland, 1974 county of Leicestershire).

Bishops Palace, possible fortified. Possibly late C12-C13 in origin. Bishop Burghersh was given licence to crenellate 1336. The monument includes the stone walls which surround the grounds of the Bedehouse. The walls on the north western and north eastern sides, and on the south eastern side bounding the churchyard, are principally of post-medieval date. Running south from the Bedehouse, between the Bedehouse garden and the churchyard, it overlies the remains of a medieval building which lay within the palace precinct. In the southern part of the Bedehouse garden, the present wall represents a rebuilding of part of the palace's precinct wall. Part excavation in this area has demonstrated that the first precinct wall was constructed in C14, rebuilt on a slightly different alignment in C15 and finally replaced by the present wall in C18. At the southern corner of the precinct is a projecting stone tower of octagonal plan which dates largely from the late C15. In CA King writes "nothing remains but the fish-stews", however, substantial domestic remains do exist.

This site has been described as a;
Palace
Fortified Manor House.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1336 Nov 16.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 427654)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP87549695

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 346120

• Web site links
  • http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/notable%20houses/lyddington%20bede.htm
    http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/conProperty.65
• Books
  • Cantor, Leonard, 2003, The Scheduled Ancient Monument of Liecestershire and Rutland (Leicester: Kairos Press) p83
    Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of the East Midlands (Malvern) p97
    Keevill, Graham D., 2000, Medieval Palaces, An Archaeology (Stroud; Tempus) p78, 81, 92, 125, 129, 136, 157
    Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p274
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p10, 118, 154, 167, 179
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p418
    Hartley, R. F., 1983, The Mediaeval Earthworks of Rutland, A survey (Leicester)
    Page, Wm (ed), 1935, VCH Rutland Vol2 p188-92
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p411
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p243
• Journal Articles
  • Creighton, O.H., 1999, 'Early Castles in the Medieval Landscape of Rutland' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol73 p19-33
    Woodfield, C. and Woodfield, P., 1981-82, 'The Palace of the Bishops of Lincoln at Lyddington' Transactions of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society Vol57 p1-16
• Guidebooks
  • Woodfield, C. and Woodfield, P., 1988, Lyddington Bede House (English Heritage)
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1334-38) p330
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p379