Lyminge manor of Archbishop of Canterbury (The Gatehouse Record)

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

OS Map Grid Reference: TR15994086
Latitude 51.12628° Longitude 1.08536°

Lyminge manor of Archbishop of Canterbury has been described as a probable Palace.

There are no visible remains.

Description

The foundations of the manor house of the Archbishops of Canterbury at Lyminge are marked by mounds in the Court Lodge Green. The house was built by Lanfranc and became ruinous after 1382 (Jenkins).
No trace of building was found in Court Lodge Green, a pasture field containing many pits, (probably small, disused quarries), terrace-like features, and one rectangular platform, probably the site of a small building (F1 ASP 01-May-1963).
The foundations of the building are marked by the vast mounds and terraces which fill Court Lodge Green, the original site of the manor house. Periodically, parts of these have been uncovered, including the foundations of and oblong room with an inner chamber beyond, bearing some resemblance to the ground plan of a small chapel. The ancient residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury at Lyminge. It is the earliest place mentioned in the Register of Archbishop Peckham, the first known, and was visited by him in 1279. In 1382 Archbishop Courtney granted a commission to sell the houses and stones of certain of his manors, and in 1387 the custody of the park at Lyminge was united with that of the park at Saltwood, presumably indicating that the house had been demolished between those dates. Building stone, probably from the site, including a number of carved Norman capitals have been found at Great Woodlands Farm, North Lyminge, Ottinge, and in a wall at the Rectory (Goodman and Cyprien). (PastScape)

Sources of information, references and further reading

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 1410488.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) TR 14 SE 7.

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 320-25
  Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 171
  Goodman, A. and Cyprien, M., 1986, A Traveller's Guide to Early Mediaeval Britain
  Hasted, Edward, 1799 (2edn), The history and topographical survey of the county of Kent Vol. 8 p. 78-91 online transcription
Periodical Articles
- Jenkins, R.C., 1889, 'Remains of the basilica of Lyminge' Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 18 p. 50-1 online copy
  Jenkins, R.C., 1861, 'On some fragments of Norman building recently discovered at Great Woodlands, in the parish of Lyminge' Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 4 p. 123-6 online copy
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales (available via EThOS)

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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.

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