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Summary

Bishopthorpe Place was originally built in 1241 by Archbishop Walter de Grey with the undercroft being constructed using stone from an old manor house which de Grey pulled down when he bought the village of Thorpe St Andrew. It is constructed from magnesian limestone, almost certainly from Thevesdale near Tadcaster. It has mason's marks common to York Minster south transept (also built for de Grey) and was finished around 1250. The house then consisted of a Great Hall with a chapel at right angles at the upper end and offices with the Archbishop's rooms above them at the lower end. Grey decided that when each Archbishop completed his term of office the house should revert to the Dean and Chapter of York rather than to the King - a financially beneficial arrangement that was observed until the Reformation. Archbishop Thoresby extended his private rooms in 1364-5 and in 1483 Archbishop Rotherham added a range to the north built of red brick which doubled the size of the residential quarters and improved the kitchens. In 1766-9 a Gothic block was built to the west of the main range of the house by Thomas Atkinson for Archbishop Drummond and provided a new entrance hall, drawing rooms and services. An addition to the north range was produced in 1835, probably by Sir Rober Smirke on behalf of Archbishop Harcourt and rooms were built above the chapel.

Monument Type(s)

• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (Built, Medieval - 1241 AD to 1250 AD)
• DOMESTIC CHAPEL (Built, Medieval - 1241 AD to 1250 AD)
• MOAT (Built, Medieval - 1241 AD to 1250 AD)
• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (Extended, Medieval - 1364 AD to 1365 AD)
• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (Altered, Medieval - 1483 AD to 1483 AD)
• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (C17, Post Medieval to Late 17th Century - 1600 AD to 1699 AD)
• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (1766-9, Mid 18th Century to Late 18th Century - 1766 AD to 1769 AD)
• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (Extended, Mid 18th Century to Late 18th Century - 1766 AD to 1769 AD)
• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (Extended, Mid 19th Century - 1835 AD to 1835 AD)
• ARCHBISHOPS PALACE (C20, Late 19th Century to 20th Century - 1900 AD to 1999 AD)

Protected Status

• Listed Building
• Conservation Area

Full description

Archbishop's Palace. C13 for Archbishop Walter de Grey, with alterations and additions of C14, C15, C17, C18, C19 and C20, and re-modelling of 1766-9 by Thomas Atkinson for Archbishop Drummond. Magnesian limestone, pinkish red and brown brick with Atkinson's re-modelling in Gothick style. L-shaped on plan. For full description see Eric A Gee, Bishopthorpe Palace. An Architectural History, 1983.
Listing NGR: SE5972047824

Derived from English Heritage LB download dated: 22/08/2005

NMR Information:

[SE 59714782] The Palace [GT]. (1)

The manor of Bishopthorpe was acquired by Walter Gray, Archbishop of
York, about 1226, and he built a manor house with chapel there
between that date and 1241 when the property was vested in the Dean
and Chapter of York.

Archbishop Rotherham added a new wing on the north side about 1480
and this became the chief residence of the Archbishops until the
time of Drummond (later 18th c).

The building, however, "cannot, properly speaking be called a
palace". The house was enlarged and further altered by Archbishop
Drummond and others in the 18th and 19th cent. (2)

Although Bishopthorpe has been much altered, Gray's river front
remains in substance and still forms the nucleus of the house. A long
brick wing was added by Thomas Scot in the late 15th century, and
further wings in 1647.

Archbishop Drummond added a `Gothic' face in 1762 and a gatehouse
was built in the same style in 1765 (3). (2-3)

The Palace is correctly described by 2 and 3 and is still used as the
residence of the Archbishop of York, GP.AO.62. 92.2 shows the western
aspect, GP AO.62.92.3 the western aspect of the Gatehouse,
GP.AO.62.92.4 the northern aspect of the Palace and GP AO.62.92.5
shows the south west aspect. (4)

Condition unchanged. (5)

Condition unchanged. (6)

SE 597477 Bishopthorpe was a moated site, the only remains of the
moat being an arm to the south. Listed as a Grade 1 building. (7-8)

7/23 Bishopthorpe Palace and Chapel
4.7.52 (Formerly listed as The
Archbishop's Palace including Chapel,
Gatehouse, Stable block,
Outbuildings etc)
Grade I
Archbishop's Palace. C13 for Archbishop Walter de Grey, with
alterations and additions of C14, C15, C17, C18, C19 and C20, and
re-modelling of 1766-9 by Thomas Atkinson for Archbishop Drummond.
Magnesian limestone, pinkish red and brown brick with Atkinson's
re-modelling in Gothick style. L-shaped on plan. For full
description see Eric A Gee, Bishopthorpe Palace. An
Architectural History, 1983.

7/26 Gatehouse and walls adjoining to
Bishopthorpe Palace
Grade II*
Gatehouse and walls adjoining. 1763-5 by Thomas Atkinson for
Archbishop Drummond incorporating clock of 1744 with turret of 1895
and re-roofing of 1978. Magnesian limestone with brown stone,
lead roof and oak gates. Gatehouse square on plan. Gothick style.
2 storeys single bay. Angle buttresses with off-sets surmounted by
pinnacles. Segmental-headed archway with continuous moulding to
architrave and coat of arms at head under ogee-headed hood-mould.
Panelled gates with Perpendicular enrichment. First floor: 4-light
window with intersecting tracery under hood-mould. Clock in gable.
Embattled pediment with modillion cornice. Concealed hipped roof,
surmounted by open turret with conical roof and weathercock.
Similar facade to rear. Embattled walls to either side with
4-centred arched openings and buttresses with off-sets surmounted
by pinnacles. Eric A Gee, Bishopthorpe Palace. An Architectural
History, 1983, pp 40-41.

7/28 The Stables to Bishopthorpe
Palace
Grade II*
Stables, coach house and dovecote, now 2 dwellings. 1761-3 by Peter
Atkinson I for Archbishop Drummond, with C20 alterations.
Pinkish-brown brick with red brick and ashlar dressings and plain
tile roof. 3-storey, single bay centre with 2-storey ranges with
3 first floor windows to either side between slightly-projecting
2-storey, single bay wings. Centre: rusticated quoins.
Segmental-headed carriage arch in quoined surround. First
floor: Venetian window in round-headed recess intruding upwards
into open pediment. Second floor: semicircular recess containing
blind semicircular panel. Segmental pediment. Ranges. Ground
floor: to left has 2 similar carriage arches, that to right has
central doorway in quoined surround between 12-pane sashes. First
floor ashlar band. 6-pane sashes throughout. All windows under
flat arches of gauged brick. Wings (alike): rusticated quoins.
Similar carriage entrance. First floor: unglazed-Venetian window
intruding upwards into open pediment. Interior: ground floor to
right has C18 open well staircase with turned balusters. Eric
A Gee, Bishopthorpe Palace. An Architectural History, 1983,
pp 39-40.

7/27 Sundial approximately 10 metres
south-east of Bishopthorpe Palace
Grade II
Sundial. Medieval base with probable C18 sundial. Magnesian
limestone base with copper sundial. Base circular on plan,
approximately one metre high surmounted by sundial.

7/25 Folly in grounds of Bishopthorpe
Palace
Grade II
Folly. Mid-late C18. Magnesian limestone ashlar with pinkish-orange
brick interior, and no roof. Gothick. Circular on plan. Tall
single storey. Entrance a round arch with brick surround. 3 further
blocked round arches in ashlar surrounds with keystones, some
containing decorative fragments. Blocked window above one arch.
Modillion cornice and broken parapet.

7/29 Wall and archway adjoining
Bishopthorpe Palace to right
Grade II
Wall and archway. c1763-5. By Peter Atkinson for Archbishop
Drummond. Magnesian limestone ashlar. L-shaped on plan,
approximately 2 metres high and 20 metres in length. Round-headed
archway in moulded surround under ogee-headed hood-mould
surmounted by finials and with head stops. Cross-shaped slits
to either side. Embattled wall. (9)

1 Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date) OS 6" map, 1958
2 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Rait RS. 1911. English Episcopal Palaces: Province of York, 33, 35-6, 62, 92, 94
3 VIRTUAL CATALOGUE ENTRY TO SUPPORT NAR MIGRATION Country Life 65 1929 50-6 illus (G Hussey)
4 Field Investigators Comments F1 RL 15-MAY-62
5 Field Investigators Comments F2 RWE 15-MAY-63
6 Field Investigators Comments F3 BHP 03-JAN-75
7 The moated sites of Yorkshire 122 no.5 by H E Jean Le Patourel
8 List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest 7,8 Tadcaster Rural District, 1960
9 List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest 15-18. 453 Selby, 12-JUL-1985
10 Bishopthorpe Palace [York]: an architectural history by Eric A Gee

English Heritage, 2008, Bishopthorpe Palace Bishopthorp York (Report). SYO1167.

Sources and further reading

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