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Designations

• Scheduled Monument () 1018654: Bishop of Winchester's Palace, 90m east of St Mary's Church

Monument Type(s):

• BISHOPS PALACE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1101 AD to 1800 AD)

Summary

A well defended rectilinear enclosure contains a strong house with a related range of buildings. In excellent condition. Only one other parallel in Norfolk. Part of layout of early Med town.

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds:

Description

1) The monument includes the known surviving extent of the moated palace of the Bishop of Winchester. It is situated 90m east of St Mary's Church and close to the west bank of the River Windrush at the point where the river emerges into the open from its Cotswold valley. The palace lies at the southern end of an open green which provided the economic centre of the market town which grew up as part of the deliberate development of the large and wealthy Witney estate, at the expense of the nearby secular manor of Cogges, situated on the opposite side of the river, and the subject of a separate scheduling. The Bishop's Palace was bult in the early C12th, and much is known of its plan and history from extensive documentary records and an exploratory excavation of part of the site in 1984.
The remains include a roughly square, walled and moated enclosure within which stood a series of buildings including a very substantial solar tower and hall which also acted as a defensible keep. Other structures included a chapel, stables, kitchens, latrines, workshops, storage, additional accommodation and a defensible gatehouse. The moat survives as a buried feature on its western and northern sides enclosing an area approximately 116m from north to south by 84m from east to west widening to 114m at the northern end. The moat measured 12m across and more than 3m deep. A substantial gatehouse was located at the centre of the northern side facing the green. This gatehouse was a large square strucure of two storeys or more with arrow slits and a solid gate facing a stone pierced bridge.
3) Manor of Witney granted 1044 to Bishop of West Saxons Palace built by Bishop on site now occupied by a house called 'The Mount' (east of Witney Church) - present house is modern but foundations of a more pretentious building have been discovered. Ceased to be an eccesiastical palace in C14th. Buck's drawing (Gough prints, Bodleian Library) of 1729 shows ruins including Norman doorway and windows.
4) Palace site at 'The house called The Mount . . . Great mounds of ruins under the charming garden.
5) Rescue excavations by OAU in 1984 confirmed the extensive nature of the C12th and C13th complex, which was part country and manor house, part castle and probably the Bishop of Winchester's Witney Palace.
7) See CBA report for a detailed interpretation of the north range.
8) Further excavations and watching brief conducted in 1989 by OAU, mainly on the north range. Examination of the old ground surface here suggested the palace was built on green fields and formed part of the original layout, adjacent to the church and green, at a date perhaps a century earlier than other planned towns.
9) Excavation prior to to public display exposed massive postholes on north, but did not reveal a NW corner tower. Identification of gatehouse still assumed.
9a) A 3-week excavation in April 1989 was designed to complete the story of the north range of the C12th manor house of the Bishops of Winchester and to confirm the results of work done in 1984. Careful examination of the ground surface beneath the north range tended to confirm the notion that the palace was set up on a green field site since it forms such a natural shape with the church and the 'green' it is beginning to look as if we have the bishops laying out a formal settlement at a date perhaps a century earlier than most planned towns in England.
10) OAU excavations in advance of anchorage points and walkways revealed new info on solar tower and adjoining buildings.
11) Upper levels have yielded dense concentrations of mainly horse and dog bones. Archaeological and historical documents point not to human consumption but to the use of horse meat as hunting dog food for animals kept at kennels kept by wealthy landowners.
12) WB revealed layers of soil containing limestone pieces at base of excavations; these layers may derive from final phases of demolition of adjacent Bishop's Palace buildings in C17-18. Above general rubble layers were deposits formed during construction of present cottage and occupation layers/topsoil layers from recent times. Small quantity of medieval pottery and worked stone moulding found in general soil layer for new driveway may all date from Palace phases of activity.
13) Clippings and historical study of Park Farm removed to be archived at Oxon History Centre. D Pinches 28/01/13.
15) Existing cottage built in early 1950's and no records of archaeological discoveries were made, but walls of the medieval manor house survive below ground only 2m from the boundary of the cottage. Little evidence found. Underneath the drive a dump of later C19th bottles and ceramics was discovered and the foundation trenches revealed deep homogeneous deposits of gravelly soil including roof tiles, possibly destruction material from the manor house.
16) Notes on stonework provided by English Heritage 1987.
17) Overview of work done at site; produced by Oxford Archaeological Unit.
18) Evaluation in 1990 identified sections of the moat, just to the east of the scheduled area.

<1> English Heritage, Scheduled Ancient Monuments Record, SM 21834 (Scheduling record). SOX283.

<2> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1985 ?, Witney Palace: Excavations at Mount House, Witney in 1984 (Unpublished document). SOX248.

<2a> Oxford Archaeology, 2002, St Mary's Cottage, 11 Station Road, Witney, West Oxfordshire (Unpublished document). SOX476.

<3> Local History Publications, W J Monk: History of Witney (1894) pp.8/9 and 30 (Bibliographic reference). SOX291.

<4> Local Informant as main provider of information, MS Wickham Steed: History of the Wychwood Country Ch. 'The King and his manor of Woodstock' pp.41/2 (Verbal communication). SOX277.

<5> OAU Newsletter, Vol XI, No 3, September 1984; Vol XI No4 December 1984 p.7; Vol XI No 3 September 1984 pp.9-11 (Article in serial). SOX270.

<6> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, CBA9 NL 15 (1985) pp113-4 and fig 28, p.115 (Serial). SOX5.

<7> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, CBA9 NL 16 (1986) pp.115-6 (Serial). SOX5.

<8> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, CBA9 NL 19 (1989) p.57 (Serial). SOX5.

<9a> OAU Newsletter, Arch News vol xvii no 4 December 1989 pp.27-8; vol xvi no 3 September 1988 p.10 (Article in serial). SOX270.

<9> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 20 (1990) p.86 B Durham (Serial). SOX5.

<10> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 22 (1992) p.52. B Durham (Serial). SOX5.

<11> Post Medieval Archaeology, Vol 27 (1993) pp.43-56 (see DRF) (Serial). SOX416.

<12> Oxford Archaeology, 2002, Excavation of medieval manor house of the bishops of Winchester at Mount House, Witney, Oxon (Monograph). SOX453.

<13> Additional Information in Detailed Record File, Newspaper cuttings and correspondence (Index). SOX258.

<14> Black and White print photographs, 20 views of OAU excavation in 1984 taken by J Steane (Photograph). SOX315.

<15> CBA South Midlands Group, South Midlands Archaeology, Vol 33 (2003) p.78 (Serial). SOX5.

<16> Additional Information in Detailed Record File (Index). SOX258.

<17> Additional Information in Detailed Record File (Index). SOX258.

<18> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1990, Witney: The Weavers 1990, Archaeological Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SOX1196.

Sources

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