Bitterne Bishops Palace

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Manor House

In the civil parish of Southampton.
In the historic county of Hampshire (Modern Authority of Southampton; City of, 1974 county of Hampshire).

Much altered large square tower has some C13 remains. Possible castle built originally within Roman wall and ditch of Clausentum. Site of episcopal house, possibly fortified, of C13 date. A documentary source of 1207-8 refers to a great house, with cloister, courtyard, kitchen, chapel, and barns. The house was restored in 1864. It was severely damaged during World War II and was subsequently rebuilt using old materials. The house had been divided into flats by 1955. According to Lelenad 'sumtyme a castelle'. Remains within Roman shore fort of Clausentum

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

listed building

Images of England

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU43371337

PastScape number; 230268

Books

Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p430-34
Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p38
Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p186
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p195-6 [possible]
Pevsner, N. and Lloyd, D., 1973, The Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (Harmondsworth) p597

Journal Articles

1947, The Antiquaries Journal Vol27 p151
Crawford, 1944-6, Proceeding of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Vol16 p148-55
1937, Proceeding of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Vol13 p195
Fox, 1902, Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries London Vol19 p56-9

Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)

Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p206
Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1910, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (Bell and Sons; London) Vol1 p280

Most of the sites or buildings recorded in this web site are NOT open to the public and permission to visit a site must always be sought from the landowner or tenant

The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations.

It is an offence to disturb a Scheduled Monument without consent. It is a destruction of everyone's heritage to remove archaeological evidence from any site without proper recording and reporting. Don't use metal detectors on historic sites without authorisation.

Please help me to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting me if you see errors or if you can add information.
I do acknowledge the help I get with this site.

*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

¤¤¤¤¤

Bitterne Bishops Palace

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU43371337

Sources of information, references and further reading