Penshurst Place (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Penhurst Palace

In the civil parish of Penshurst.
In the historic county of Kent.
Modern Authority of Kent.
1974 county of Kent.
Medieval County of Kent.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ52754398
Latitude 51.17456° Longitude 0.18340°

Penshurst Place has been described as a certain Palace, and also as a certain Fortified Manor House.

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains.

This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*.

Description

Country house originally constructed as a manor house during the early 14th century. A licence to crenellate was granted in 1341. A second licence to crenellate, granted in 1392, produced an enclosing outer wall with side and angle towers. The house was extended and altered in the late 14th century, in the 1430s, 1552, and during 17th to 18th century. Restorations were carried out circa 1818 and 1850s. The large, rambling house is built largely of sandstone, with tiled roofs. (PastScape)

Large, rambling building of various periods built largely of sandstone in differing colours but with some brickwork and a little Kentish ragstone. Elevations mostly battlemented, but some steeply-pitched tiled roofs visible. The oldest part is hall house built by John de Pulteney, license to crenellate 1341. Very large hall with fine timber roof resting on figure corbels. Carved screen of late C16. Solar end much altered with stone external curved stair of mid C15. Undercroft below has piers running into arches without capitals. Further license to crenellate of 1392 produced enclosing outer wall with square side and angle towers. Only south central gate tower (qv) survives complete and western stretch of wall. Mid C15 the Buckingham building, to west of old house, much altered in 1850's. To south of this the Elizabethan wing with long gallery on 1st floor. Rich plaster ceiling and Jacobean woodwork articulated by fluted pilasters. Sensitively restored. This links with altered south-west tower. Other Elizabethan ranges link altered north-west tower with north central tower and the latter to the original house. Central tower (King's tower) remodelled at this time. Considerable renewal of these parts aid building of long north-east section in 1818 by J B Rebecca in Tudor-Gothic style. (Listed Building Report)

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1341 Oct 6 (Click on the date for details of this licence.).
A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1392 Sept 21.

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1243169 , 1243044
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 409388; 409412.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) TQ 54 SW 136.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Owners website
  CastleUK.net
  Charles Taylor's ecastles
  Wikipedia entry
Books
- Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 318-9, 413, 453
  Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 386-94 (plans and reconstructions)
  Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Kent (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 57
  Cooper, Nicholas, 1999, Houses of the Gentry, 1480-1680 (Yale University Press) p. 270
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 123-4
  Thurley, Simon, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (Yale University Press) p. 49, 68
  James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p. 111, 131
  Guy, John, 1980, Kent Castles (Meresborough Books)
  Girouard, Mark, 1979, Historic Houses of Britain (Artus) (1984edn by Perage Books) p. 40-44
  Newman, John, 1976, Buildings of England: West Kent and the Weald (Harmondsworth) p. 454-59
  Binney, M. and Emery, A., 1973, The Architectural Development of Penshurst Place
  Tipping, H.A., 1921, English Homes, period 1 Vol. 1 (London) p. 166-88
  Sidney, Philip, 1907, 'Penshurst Place' in Ditchfield and Clinch, Memorials of Old Kent (London) p. 215-27 online copy
  Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol. 1 (London) p. 303-8 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 3 Part 2 p. 413, 420 online copy
  Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol. 2 p. 277-81 online copy
  Hasted, Edward, 1797 (2edn), The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent Vol. 3 p. 227-257 (manorial history) online transcription
Periodical Articles
- West, Susie, 2011 Feb 9, 'Ancestral Renown' Country Life Vol. 205 No. 6 p. 52-59
  Goodall, John, 2011 Feb 2, 'A Merchant's Palace' Country Life Vol. 205 No. 5 p. 38-45 online copy
  Coulson, Charles, 2007-8, 'On Crenellating, in Kent and Beyond - A Retrospection' Castle Studies Group Journal Vol. 21 p. 189-201 esp p. 195, 197
  Binney, M., 1972 March/May, Country Life
  Parker, J.H., 1863 July, The Gentleman's Magazine Vol. 25 Part 2 p. 178-88 online copy
Guidebooks
- anon, n.d., Penshurst Place, Tonbridge, Kent (Curwen Press)
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1900, Calendar of Patent Rolls Edward III (1340-43) Vol. 5 p. 331 online copy
  Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1905, Calendar of Patent Rolls Richard II (1392-96) Vol. 5 p. 164 online copy
  The National Archives E36/150 Survey of the lands late of Edward, duke of Buckingham, attainted online details
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)

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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.
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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of Historic England, County Historic Environment Records and other individuals and organisations. It may also contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes.
The author and compiler of Gatehouse does not receive any income from the site and funds it himself. The information within this site is provided freely for educational purposes only.

The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

The possible site or monument is represented on maps as a point location. This is a guide only. It should be noted that OS grid references defines an area, not a point location. In practice this means the actual center of the site or monument may often, but not always, be to the North East of the point shown. Locations derived from OS grid references and from latitude longitiude may differ by a small distance.
Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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

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