Pyrgo Palace (The Gatehouse Record)

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as;
Pirgo Palace; Pergoe; Portegore

In the civil parish of Havering.
In the historic county of Essex.
Modern Authority of London Borough of Havering.
1974 county of Greater London.
Medieval County of Royal Liberty of Havering.

OS Map Grid Reference: TQ520939
Latitude 51.62398° Longitude 0.19512°

Pyrgo Palace has been described as a certain Palace.

There are no visible remains.

Description

Site of Pyrgo Palace. Trial excavations in 1973 revealed walling foundations, along with a heavy scatter of C16 brick. The layout of the palace is unclear, although it included a chapel with burials which were translated before the chapel and wings were demolished circa 1778. The remainder of the house was demolished in 1814. (PastScape)

Documentary evidence shows that Sir Brian Tuke was allowed to create a park of 300 acres at Pyrgo in 1538. The house was described as "a house of brick covered with tile, cased with goodly windows of white glass and with conduits of water to every house of office". it had an inner court, a base court, 2 gardens and 2 yards surrounded by a brick wall. the bricks were made nearby, the great and little brick fields were numerated in documents of 1541. A map of 1618 shows a sizeable building with a number of gables. It was assessed as having 30 hearths in 1671. A chapel (06014401) was built as were large stables (06014402) and a bowling green was extant by 1785. The manor was taken over by Henry VIII in 1542 and the house was used as an annexe of Havering Palace (060141) the site was granted by Elizabeth I to the Grey family. The site was then variously sold and let until the end of the eighteenth century. The house was demolished in 1814 and a farm house erected on the site. this was demolished in 1851-2 and a new house (061283) built on its site. (Greater London HER)

In 1544 or '45, Henry purchased Pyrgo as a second residence and as an alternative to the ageing Havering, but by the beginning of Elizabeth's reign it passed back into private hands, being given by her to Lord John Grey, uncle of the ill-fated Lady Jane Grey.

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 411661.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) 060144/00/00.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
Books
- Marjorie Keniston McIntosh, 2002, A Community Transformed: The Manor and Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower 1500-1620 (Cambridge University Press)
  Marjorie Keniston McIntosh, 2002, Autonomy and Community: The Royal Manor of Havering, 1200-1500 (Cambridge University Press)
  Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works, Vol. 4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p. 151
  Powell, W.R. (ed), 1979, VCH Essex Vol. 7 p. 9-17 online transcription
  RCHME, 1921, An inventory of the historical monuments in Essex Vol. 2 (central and south-west) p. 126 no. 3 online transcription
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Sellars, E. and Ryan, P.M., 1973, Excavations at Pyrgo Park, Havering atte Bower (LDPEM/AC/HA/042)

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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.

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Further information on mapping and location can be seen at this link.

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