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HAVERING PALACE

ALTERNATIVE NAME:

HAVERING ATTE BOWER

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Former site of the palace or manor, which was of Late Saxon origin. It was a retreat of Edward the Confessor, then a hunting seat. In the Tudor period, it was seized by Henry VII from the Widow of Edward IV. Henry VIII gave the palace to the first three of his wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour. It was abandoned in 1620, and was described as ruinous during the Commonwealth. It was a favourite residence of the royal consorts, the Queen's residence being known as the Bower. No trace now remains and the plan of the palace is only known from documentary sources.

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[TQ 51079301]. Site of HAVERING PALACE [LB]. (1)

The Manor, Palace, or Bower of Havering was of Saxon origin, and was a retreat of Edward the Confessor. In later times it was a hunting seat. The palace fell in disrepair in Tudor times, was visited by Charles I in 1637, but in the Commonwealth was described as ruinous. No trace now remains. An attached chapel of St.John the Evangelist continued in use, but has now been replaced by a modern church. (2)

(TQ 511930) The palace plan is only known from documentary evidence, the reconstructed layout covering an area approximately 100m square. The proposed reconstruction places the main block, originating in the Medieval period, north and north-west of the present church. The kitchen court, the kitchen and the stabling block, of Elizabethan date, lay on the western edge near the present Bower Hall and The Courts TQ 51139310. The parish church overlies the larger of the two chapels, the church rebuilt twice before the end of the C19. The palace was a major Mediaeval residence throughout the Mediaeval period. Apart from the King's chambers, there were at least 2 chapels. (3-8).

A print of 1818 shows a stone nave with prominent buttresses at the SE and NE corners and a timber tower on th west. Part of the palace was then recorded as surviving beneath the tower (4).

After Elizabeth Is death, James I used Havering Palace as a hunting lodge, only occassionally using it for state functions. In 1650 it was described as fit for demolition. However the estate was leased to the Earl of Lindsey, and survived into the 18th century. By 1878 only the chapel remained, then in use as the parish church, but that was replaced by the present church in 1878-9. (9)

Havering became a Tudor royal palace having been siezed by Henry VII from the Widow of Edward IV. Henry VIII gave the palace to the first three of his wives: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour, but not to Anne of Cleves or subsequent queens. The source notes the subsequent use of the house by other monarchs and its decline by 1650. (10)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1961.

( 2) by Alfred W Clapham and Walter H Godfrey 1913 Some famous buildings and their story : being the results of recent research in London and elsewhere

Page(s)145-50

(3) Essex Archaeological and Historical Congress Essex journal: a review of archaeology and local history

G Caunt 5 1 1970 Page(s)44-48

(4) Essex Archaeological and Historical Congress Essex journal: a review of archaeology and local history

Matthews, Madell & Rowland 19 3 1984 Page(s)65-68

(5) Essex Archaeological and Historical Congress Essex journal: a review of archaeology and local history

21, 1986 Page(s)27-29

(6) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 1 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)150-2

(7) The Victoria history of the counties of England

Essex Vol 7 1968 7 Page(s)22-23

(8) General reference

Terry, G Ed 1969: Memories of Old Romford Page(s)69-70

(9) R Allen Brown, H M Colvin and A J Taylor 1963 The history of the King's Works, volume 2 : the Middle Ages

Page(s)956-59

(10) by H M Colvin, D R Ransome and John Summerson 1975 The history of the King's Works, volume 3 : 1485-1660 (part 1)

Page(s)150

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CHAPEL OF ST JOHN

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Site of a Medieval or Post Medieval chapel, which is now covered by St John's church. This was one of the chapels of Havering Palace which the inhabit...

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