BECKLEY PALACE

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DESCRIPTION

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Site of former manor house, royal residence and dower house, and hunting lodge at Beckley, extant from the 13th to 16th centuries.

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(SP 56421129) Beckley Palace (NR) (site of (NAT) (Site marked by terrace earthworks)
(SP 56451128) Dovecote (site of) (NAT) (1)

Richard of Cornwall's Manor House at Beckley was held by Edward I following the death of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, in 1300, but he did nothing to it except to repair the park wall. Buildings at the time included the lord's chamber, a chapel, a knight's hall and chamber, a kitchen and stables. In 1373 the Black Prince gave the estate to Edward III, who built a hunting lodge in the grounds. This was surrounded by a moat. In 1382 the property was given in dower to Queen Anne. In the 16th century a new brick house, Beckley Park, was built on part of the site, but the triple moats surrounding the Mediaeval lodge remain. (2)

(SP 51 SE 26). At Christmas 1233 the property was destroyed by Richard Siward (3). Traces of foundations and a moat were seen by Kennett, (a) near the present Dovers Field, and worked stones have been found in nearby cottage and garden walls. A round stone dovecote, belonging to the Palace, survived until the 1830's (3). (2-4)

The traditional site of the 'Palace', occupying a level area on the crest of a north-facing hillslope, is delimited to the north and east by fairly steep slopes which are probably the result of levelling. No building foundations or platforms were identified in the pasture field and a major part of the site has been overlaid by houses and gardens.

Surveyed at 1:2500 on PFD.

The site of the dovecote can be traced as a slight semicircular
bank 0.1m high and 9.0m across; the other half of this bank has been destroyed by a modern fence. (5)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1955

( 2) 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)898-9

( 3a) General reference

Paroch Ant 1 1818 25-6 (W Kennett)

( 3) edited by Mary D Lobel 1957 A history of the county of Oxford: volume V: Bullingdon Hundred

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)56-7

( 4) Aerial photograph

APs RAF (V58/RAF/2293 0025-6 15.10.57)

( 5) Field Investigators Comments

F1 MJF 05-MAY-76

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