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Ford Palace

Christianity in KentEpiscopal palaces of archbishops of CanterburyRuined palacesRuins in KentUse British English from October 2015

Ford Palace was a residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury at Ford, about 6.6 miles (10.6 km) north-east of Canterbury and 2.6 miles (4.2 km) south-east of Herne Bay, in the parish of Hoath in the county of Kent in south-eastern England. The earliest structural evidence for the palace dates it to about 1300, and the earliest written references to it date to the 14th century. However, its site may have been in use for similar purposes since the Anglo-Saxon period, and it may have been the earliest such residence outside Canterbury. Archbishop John Morton (1486–1500) rebuilt the palace, adding a five-storey tower of brick, and Thomas Cranmer was visited there by King Henry VIII in 1544. In 1573 Archbishop Matthew Parker proposed to demolish it, but it survived to be surveyed in 1647 by commissioners acting on the instructions of the Long Parliament, which had acquired it from the Church of England. The survey found the palace to be in fair condition, but it was largely demolished and the materials sold by order of Parliament in 1658, while the see of Canterbury was vacant. Its site was returned to the Church after the Restoration. In 1661, what remained of it was described as so ruined that its chapel was in use as a barn.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Ford Palace (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Ford Palace
Ford Hill, Canterbury

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N 51.3478 ° E 1.1671 °
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Ford Hill

Ford Hill
CT3 4LT Canterbury
England, United Kingdom
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East Blean Woods
East Blean Woods

East Blean Woods is a 151.4-hectare (374-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Herne Bay in Kent. It is also a National Nature Reserve a Special Area of Conservation and a Nature Conservation Review site. An area of 122 hectares (300 acres) is managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust.The reserve is ancient semi-natural woodland situated on poorly drained London clay, with a small area of gravelly soil in the south. The underlying clay results in much surface water and mud in winter and wet summers. The soil is mostly fairly acid, as shown by the carpets of bluebells and patches of heather (Calluna vulgaris), but more alkaline elsewhere, with characteristic species such as spurge-laurel (Daphne laureola), sanicle (Sanicula europaea) and common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii). The wood has been heavily managed in the past as wood pasture and as a source for sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa) coppice. When conditions are open, after the coppice is cut, much of the ground is colonised by common cow-wheat (Melampyrum pratense), which is the food plant of the caterpillar of the rare heath fritillary (Melitaea athalia) butterfly. As the chestnut grows up again and the shade becomes denser, the habitat becomes unsuitable for the flowers and butterflies, therefore it is very important that regular coppicing is carried out to maintain open areas for our colony of one of Britain's rarest butterflies. The older coppice is, however, valuable for nesting birds such as warblers, and the maturing oak and wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis) stands attract many insects and birds such as woodpeckers, nuthatches and treecreepers.