Kelvedon Abbots Palace (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Knights Templars Terrace; Old Red Lion; The White Lion

In the civil parish of Kelvedon.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of Essex.
1974 county of Essex.
Medieval County of Essex.

OS Map Grid Reference: TL85911843
Latitude 51.83348° Longitude 0.69678°

Kelvedon Abbots Palace has been described as a probable Palace.

There are earthwork remains.

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

Description

Nos. 1-5 High Street and No. 1 Church Street appear to have formed the provincial Mansion of the Abbot of Westminster. Dating to the early C16, it is a timber-framed building infilled with plaster and yellow brick, with a range of five large bays facing south-east and three rear wings of two bays, forming an E-plan. Following the Dissolution it was converted to an inn. This property was part of the manor of Church Hall, held by the Abbot of Westminster from before the Conquest until 1539, then by the Bishop of Westminster, and from 1550 by the Bishop of London. The position, size and high quality of timber and workmanship indicate that it was built for the Abbot of Westminster as a provincial mansion, continuing in similar use after the Dissolution. The manor was leased from 1553, and by 1604 the building had become a major inn called 'The White Lyon', later 'The Red Lion'. By 1791 this house and no. 7 (item 9/160) had been converted to 4 tenements, as they remain today. In a major restoration of c.1878 panelling was found bearing carvings of pomegranates, a heads, strawberry leaves and the crest of Henry VIII, now missing, and a photograph was taken of the Church Street elevation stripped to the timber framing. The brick facades and present windows and doors date from that operation. (Derived from listed building report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1123814
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 881623.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 30072.

Books
- Kentish, B.L., 1974, Kelvedon and its Antiquities p. 39-41 and plates 10-11
  Morant, P.,1768, History and Antiquities of the County of Essex Vol. 2 p. 150
Periodical Articles
- Hamilton, A., 1878, 'A description of an old inn at Kelvedon' Essex Archaeological Society Transactions Vol. 1 (new series) p. 153-8
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- 1999, Kelvedon Historic Town Assessment Report (Essex County Council) Download copy

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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.
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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.

Please help to make this as useful a resource as possible by contacting Gatehouse if you see errors, can add information or have suggestions for improvements in functality and design.
Help is acknowledged.

*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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