Old Palace Croydon: west range of the south court

Summary

Range of private apartments at the Old Palace at Croydon, built in around 1400 under Archbishop Arundel, integrating fragmentary remains of 12th century walling but extensively remodelled in the 1490s under Archbishop Morton and then after 1660 by Archbishop Juxon. Heavily altered during industrial use from the 1780s and then remodelled and restored in the 20th century by the school.

Reasons for Designation

The west range of the south court of the Old Palace at Croydon is listed at Grade I for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as an important example of the high-status apartments built in the late C14 as part of the archiepiscopal complex, with survival of some early fabric from this time along with significant later work to reconfigure the range from the 1490s and then again in the 1660s;
* as an important element of the architectural evolution of the Old Palace and its plan around two courtyards, demonstrating through its distinct phases of development the enlargement of the complex to provide additional accommodation.

Historic interest:

* as a key part of an important and extensive archiepiscopal manor with standing elements dating back to the C12. Croydon is the best-surviving example of a medieval palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury, built on the route between Lambeth and Canterbury to serve as a residence suitable for the Archbishop’s retinue and frequent royal visitations;
* for its strong association with successive Archbishops of Canterbury, to whom distinct campaigns of building work are attributed.

Group value:

* with the other seven Grade I-listed buildings forming the Old Palace complex and the adjacent Grade I-listed Croydon Minster (Church of St John the Baptist).

History

The Old Palace at Croydon formed one of a chain of great houses to be occupied by archbishops and their retinues when travelling between Canterbury and Lambeth. The archiepiscopal manors were established to allow the journey to be divided into easy stages of around 20 miles, with the route proceeding via Charing, Maidstone, Otford, and (after 1450) Knole. The Old Palace at Croydon was the final staging post on this route towards London and it became one of the largest and most important sites of the archiepiscopal estate. The palace site is likely to date back to the 8th century or early 9th century, with a ‘monasterium’ recorded from 809, at which time a Royal Council was assembled at Croydon. By 880, the site certainly constituted part of the endowment of the Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming an important part of the estate in the late-Saxon period. The palace came to be favoured by archbishops as a summer residence from the C13, by which time it had an early hall, private chambers, kitchens and surrounding grounds. With the adjacent church and village, the area became known as Old Croydon, distinct from New Croydon, which developed to the east as a commercial centre along a main route to London, receiving a market charter in 1276.

The Old Palace at Croydon is an extraordinarily complex site of multiple phases; indeed, almost every generation since the C12 has adapted the palace buildings to some degree to meet their evolving demands. A series of timber buildings centred on a hall built from the 9th century onwards appear to have preceded the stone and brick structures. The evidence indicates that rebuilding in masonry began with the private chambers during the C12, towards the western edge of the palace site, with subsequent development suggesting that that the principal early buildings - the private chamber, hall and kitchens - were strung together from west to east. The later C14 saw a surge in building at the archbishops’ estates, recorded in some cases as repairing damage following social and political unrest across the country culminating in the Peasant’s Revolt of 1381, when Archbishop Sudbury was seized and beheaded in London and the archepiscopal property was attacked. There is no specific record of an attack on the Old Palace at Croydon, though the heightened building activity from this time may have been spurred by these events.

The main standing elements of the Old Palace were built from the mid-C14 to the late C15, by which time the manor was highly regarded, acquiring high-status accommodation suitable for royal visitations. The scheme appears to have begun with an early iteration of the great chamber above its undercroft in the second quarter of the C14 for Archbishop Stratford (1333-1348), and with the hall, probably begun under Archbishop Courtenay (1381-1396) and completed by Archbishop Stafford (1443-1452), whose throne partially survives. The later C14 and early C15 saw a major phase of building by Archbishop Arundel (1396-1397 and then 1399-1414), who completed the great chamber in its present form, probably extending accommodation to the south-west, possibly the site of an earlier private chapel or oratory. The lower section of what was likely at that date to be a chapel (since the existing chapel was built above it) also dates from the later C14. The upper part was then rebuilt in the mid-C15 following its partial collapse. In around 1500, Archbishop Morton (1486-1500) extended the chapel and private chambers westwards, with a west range built to link them. The east range closing the south court appears to have been built at around the same time.

Despite the closure of many religious houses under Henry VIII, the Old Palace at Croydon was retained while other archiepiscopal estates were sold or reduced, and perhaps in response to this loss Archbishop Cranmer added a long gallery, built in 1538-1539, to complete the plan that fundamentally exists today, with enclosed north and south courts. The manor was first described as a ‘palatium’, or palace, by John Whitgift (1583-1604) in the later C16, although after the Reformation its popularity waned. Henry VIII reputedly refused to stay at Croydon claiming it to be bad for his health on account of its low-lying position and waterlogged condition at this stage. Both church and palace were built on an island site and until the early C19 the palace site was surrounded by water, with fishponds, ornamental ponds and waterways.

In the C17, Archbishop Laud (1633-1645) committed to remodelling the archiepiscopal chapels in line with his religious tenets, and at the Old Palace the raised pew, stalls and altar rails are attributed to him. During the Commonwealth (1649-1660), Parliament seized the site and sold it to Sir William Brereton. However, the Old Palace was reinstated as archiepiscopal property in 1660, perhaps a reflection of its importance, and remained so until the later C18. On the restoration of the monarchy, Archbishop Juxon (1660-1663) set about restoring the buildings, particularly the chapel which was significantly reconfigured during this time and likely continued by his immediate successor, Archbishop Sheldon (1663-1677).

Although some improvements were made by Archbishop Wake (1715-1737), who spent frequent summers at the Palace, and by Archbishop Herring (1747-1757), who spent £6000 on the buildings and gardens, by the later C18 the Old Palace was less popular as a residence and had fallen into a poor state of repair. In 1780 it was sold to Abraham Pitches and then subsequently to Sam Starey, becoming a calico printing and bleaching factory. The site was industrialised, land was sold, buildings were adapted, subdivided and used for multiple purposes, including as lodgings. The wider complex of the palace was significantly truncated and all of the northern ancillary buildings of the outer court were lost during this period. The northern stables and the gatehouse were largely demolished in 1806, followed by the western lodgings in 1808 as part of the expansion of the churchyard (marked by the present brick boundary wall from this date). The service range which had been connected to the hall was pulled down in 1810, which ultimately contributed to the collapse of the east wall of the Great Hall in 1830. The final remaining vestige of the outer court was the eastern range of lodgings running along what is now Old Palace Road, which remained in use for most of this period but was finally demolished in 1880.

In order to save the Old Palace from demolition in 1887, the site was bought by the Duke of Newcastle, a follower of the Oxford Movement, who gave it to the Anglican Sisters of Mercy to secure its future for religious purposes. The Sisters established a small school in 1889 that was recognised as a higher-grade elementary school in 1892 and in 1904 as a secondary school. From the outset, the Sisters embarked on a programme to restore the neglected buildings, employing the architect Sir Banister Fletcher in 1905 to work on the chapel restoration. After the Second World War it became a Direct Grant Grammar School and new school buildings were added in phases to the south-west of the site. In 1974 it became an independent school, passing in 1994 to the Whitgift Foundation. In September 2023, the Whitgift Foundation announced the decision to close the school permanently by August 2025.

HISTORY OF THE WEST RANGE OF THE SOUTH COURT
The west range of the south court formed an extension of the principal private apartments, providing additional high-status accommodation beyond the audience hall. Its earliest phase is broadly contemporary with the heightened roof of the great chamber, the heraldry of which indicates that this was work for Archbishop Arundel (1397-1414). This area of the building is complex and altered historically, but still retains significant evidence of early fabric. This includes a small stretch of wall dated to the C12; the earliest standing fabric at Croydon, related to the historic inner chamber undercroft serving the predecessor to the guard chamber. There is also some walling of around 1400 in curtailed stretches, forming part of the primary phase for Arundel. The remains of a stone newel stair confirm the existence of a historic upper storey and both levels appear to have been used as accommodation from the outset. The works of this phase clearly sought to aggrandise the house, providing more extensive accommodation suitable for receiving visitors and performing the archbishop’s public duties.

The western section of the gallery of the range integrates remnants of the earliest structure of around 1400, running north-south, extending from the private apartments to the north. The extension of the private apartments formed an L-plan wing comprising two compartments on each floor, with a spiral stair clasped in the angle between them. The southern, narrower compartment (covered separately under the entry for the south range and long gallery) gives the clearest evidence of the date of the whole range. This retains its upper floor structure of substantial, close-set joists spanning from wall to wall. These do not appear to be reused, and dendrochronology has produced a felling range of 1372-1408, therefore placing them, and by extension the interconnected northern portion of the range (which clasps the first phase of the guard chamber as well as the C12 fragment to its west), in this first phase of rebuilding.

In the mid-1490s, under Archbishop Morton, the northern room of the range was substantially rebuilt as part of the wider work undertaken to accommodate visits by Henry VII. A royal license for works was granted in 1493 and it is probable that his buildings at Croydon were essentially complete by the time he entertained the royal party in October 1498. This campaign of building used uniform large, red brick with distinctive internal moulded ceiling joists to principal rooms, as can be noted to varying degrees in most of the accommodation at the Old Palace. The primary alterations to the west range of the south court at this time were made to the northern end, consequent on Morton's building of the western range along the boundary of the site. This included a window and doorway in the northern ends of the ground-floor room and a window (now surrounded by C17 brick refacing) on the first floor. The large bridging joist over the ground-floor room is the only in situ medieval timber known to survive in the northern arm of the range and dendrochronology provided a felling date-range of 1485-1521; consistent with this being part of Morton's work. The renewal of the first-floor framing of the northern compartment, considered alongside the inserted openings, indicates a comprehensive reworking of that part of the building as part of Morton’s 1490s works.

Major investment under Archbishop Juxon followed the recovery of the palace in 1660 after its seizure during the Commonwealth. This restoration involved extensive high-level reconstruction in brick to the guard chamber, the west end of the great hall and the east end of the chapel. To the west end of the south court, this phase of work probably included the only addition to the plan of the palace, in the form of the western corridor gallery which flanks the range to provide a direct connection between the stair serving the principal apartment and the west end of the long gallery. To facilitate this, the 1490s stair tower was opened on the south, its side walls spanned by a characteristic segmental arch above a substantial lintel. Only a modern, narrowed reflection of this structure now remains, following subsequent remodelling. The rebuilding of the south wall of the adjacent guard room extended to sections of the eastern wall along with the chimney at its south end.

The sale of the palace by the archbishopric led to the loss of the outer courts and great damage to the south-west range through industrial use from the 1780s. During the course of the century, a waterwheel was erected in the south-west corner of the southern courtyard and substantial chimney was built in the angle between this range and the western boundary range. The east wall shows evidence of adaptation to accommodate machinery, including a block of masonry now defining the south-eastern corner of the range. The opening forming the covered passage and related works were probably interventions from this stage, providing access to the industrialised courtyard. The changes made to accommodate the industrial use entailed a high level of attrition to the historic fabric and the roof above was completely rebuilt with two queen post trusses later in the C19. The 1880 survey plan shows the range in use as a laundry at both levels, as had probably been the case for several decades.

Significant restoration was undertaken by the Sisters of Mercy following the conversion to a school in 1887. The western first-floor passage was repaired in 1909-1910 but this was subsequently completely replaced to a different design in 1962. The external walls saw significant rebuilding as part of the work of the early C20. In school use, the range accommodated an office to the ground floor and a classroom with a flanking western passage above.

Details

Range of private apartments, built in around 1400 under Archbishop Arundel, integrating fragmentary remains of C12 walling but extensively remodelled in the 1490s under Morton and then after 1660 by Juxon. Heavily altered during industrial use from the 1780s and then remodelled and restored in the C20 by the school.

MATERIALS: fragments of early stone and rubble walling with red brick from the 1490s and later C17 sections in addition to C20 patching. Internal timber-framing survives in sections, likely dating to the 1490s remodelling.

PLAN: covered passage and small room to the north-west, latterly an office. Distinct now from the rest of the range is a store to the south-east corner, formed to accommodate machinery associated with the former industrial use and then, to the south-west, the remnants of the spiral staircase, which has a blocked door to the passage and can only be accessed from the western room of the south range.

EXTERIOR: a covered passage, restored in the 1960s, has brick flanks and is ceiled with massive beams with void mortices for former joists. Above it, the west elevation has been significantly rebuilt (in 1965), removing a previous jettied upper floor above the covered passage.

The west-facing wall to the north of the passage (now enclosed within the stairwell block added in 1987), connecting to the west range, is a restored window of around 1400. This has a heavily weathered stone architrave and a reset mullion, with brick cheeks and a pointed-arched head to a lower light. It is set in a wall of early narrow bricks and flint rubble, with fragments of tile above the window. Crossing behind it appears to be the base of a stack.

The east elevation is in soft red-brown brick with later patching, on two storeys with inserted attic dormers. Above the passage is a two-light mullion window of four-centre arched heads and casements with diamond leaded glazing, set beneath a moulded hood. To the south is a narrow two-light window with C19 sashes similar to the adjacent window.

INTERIOR: features of note include the base of a stone newel stair with, above it, a blocked square-headed two-light window with a chamfered architrave, its blocked openings buried within later fabric and the C20 refacing. At first floor, the curvature of the passage to the north of the gallery reflects the form of the newel stair below and, to the east, an apparent blocked opening remains visible. The passage is otherwise lined in C20 tongue-and-groove dado panelling. The adjacent room (east) has boxed-in transverse beams, the roof structure dating entirely to the C19. The ceiling above the ground-floor room to the north-west corner retains the only early timber in the range, with a bridging joist here dated by dendrochronology to 1485-1521.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: the connecting glazed stair block* to the west of the range, set against the south wall of the western range of the 1490s, was added in 1987 as part of the enlargement of the southern school buildings.

* Under the powers of exclusion in s1 (5A) (b) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, this part of the building has been specifically excluded from the listing.

Sources

Books and journals
Cherry, B, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: London 2: South (1983), pp212-214
Some Account of the Town, Church and Archiepiscopal Palace of Croydon in Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica, ,Vol. XII, (1783), pp30-67, Appendix 1 (Extracts from the Archiepiscopal Registers at Lambeth), pp1-26
Pugin, A, Examples of Gothic Architecture Volume 1 (1838), pp26-30, Plates 38-42
Wood, M, The English Medieval House (1965),

Websites
'Croydon: Introduction and Croydon Palace', in Malden, HE (ed), A History of the County of Surrey: Volume 4 (1912), accessed 24 March 2025 from https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/surrey/vol4/pp205-217

Other
Lea, R, Observations at the Archbishop’s Palace, Croydon, 1987 to 1996 (English Heritage, 2004)
Drury McPherson Partnership, Croydon Archiepiscopal Palace, The Evolution of the Buildings (July 2020)
Drury McPherson Partnership, Old Palace Croydon, The Chapel, Heritage Impact Assessment (February 2020)
Hilton, K, The Old Palace School, Centenary History 1889-1989 (1989)
The Heritage Advisory, Old Palace School, Croydon, Conservation Management Plan (January 2016)
Arnold, A, Howard R, The Archiepiscopal Palace (The ‘Old Palace’) John Whitgift School, Croydon, London, Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers (February 2020)
Drawings of The Archepiscopal Palace, Croydon c1880 (Society of Antiquaries, B.P. Surrey, no. 53)
Oswald, A, 'The Old Palace, Croydon, Surrey: A Former Residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury', Country Life, (April 1965), pp806-810, 876-880

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