Kempsey Bishops Palace

In the civil parish of Kempsey.
In the historic county of Worcestershire (Modern Authority of Worcestershire, 1974 county of Hereford and Worcester).

Saxon monastery extant in 799 when King Coenwulf granted land to its Abbot, Balthun. It was under the church of Worcester, and the manor was granted to the bishop in 847 on condition that he gave an annual contribution to the monks. It seems to have been abandoned or destroyed before 1033, when a manor house or palace had been built for the Bishops of Worcester. About 1300 the mansion was greatly enlarged by Bishop Giffard who twice entertained Edward I here but by 1473 the palace had fallen into disuse. At its greatest extent from C13, the manor included a mill, dovecote, free warren and deer park.

This site has been described as a;
Palace.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Nothing visible remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SO84784919

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; 115946

Books

Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p187
Knowles, David and Hadcock, R Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longman) p475
Page, Wm and Willis-Bund, J.W. (eds), 1913, VCH Worcestershire Vol3 p430-2

Journal Articles

O'Neil, H.E., 1956, Transactions of the Worcestershire Archaeological Society Vol33 p37
Purton, R.C., 1900, Associated Architectural Societies' reports and papers [Lincoln, York, Northampton, Bedford, Worcester, Leicester and Sheffield ] Vol25 p593-6

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This record last updated on Friday, April 6, 2007

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