Fulham Palace facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fulham Palace |
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The Tudor courtyard at Fulham Palace
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| General information | |
| Type | Bishop's palace |
| Architectural style | Tudor, Gothic, Georgian |
| Location | Fulham |
| Town or city | London, SW6 |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°28′14″N 0°12′58″W / 51.470556°N 0.216111°W |
| Current tenants | Fulham Palace Trust |
| Owner | Church of England |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Brick, stone, wattle and daub, timber |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Designated | 7 May 1954 Amended 11 November 1988 |
| Reference no. | 1286903 |
| Designated | 1 October 1987 |
| Reference no. | 1000133 |
Fulham Palace is a very old and important building in Fulham, London. For many centuries, it was the main home of the Bishop of London, a high-ranking leader in the Church of England. Bishops lived here from the 11th century all the way until 1973!
Even though the Church of England still owns it, the palace is now looked after by the Fulham Palace Trust. You can visit many of its old rooms, which have been carefully restored. There's also a museum that tells the story of this amazing place. The palace is right next to Bishops Park and has a huge botanic garden filled with interesting plants. The garden is so special that it's ranked as a Grade II* historic park.
Fulham Palace is open every day, and it's free to visit! Lots of people come to see it; in 2015/2016, over 390,000 visitors explored the palace and its gardens.
Contents
A Look Back: The History of Fulham Palace
How Old Is Fulham Palace?
Fulham Palace has been around for a very long time! People were active here even before recorded history.
Ancient Times (6000 BC–AD 43)
Archaeologists have found tools made from flint, showing that people lived here thousands of years ago. Back then, the area was a small island in the River Thames. There's also some evidence of people living here during the Bronze Age and Iron Age.
Roman Period (AD 43–AD 410)
After a quiet period, people returned to the site during the late Roman times. They found items that suggest a small farming community lived by the Thames. It might have been a Roman villa or a farm near the All Saints Church.
Saxon Period (AD 410–1066)
Not much is known about the Saxon period at Fulham Palace itself. However, in AD 704, the Manor of Fulham, which was a large estate, was bought by a Bishop. This huge area stretched from Chiswick to Chelsea and further north.
Medieval Life (1066–1485)
The first signs of medieval life at the palace date back to around 1080. The first Bishop of London to live here was Robert de Sigello in the 12th century. The palace started to grow around what is now the eastern courtyard. A chapel was first mentioned in 1231.
In the 1400s, King Henry VI even visited the palace! After he left, it took four days to clean up all the rooms. Records show that repairs were made to the hall roof and fences around the gardens. A new bucket was bought for the well, which was built in 1426.
Building the Palace: Tudor Times (1485–1603)
Big changes happened to the palace in the late 1400s. This is when the famous Great Hall and the beautiful Tudor Courtyard, which you can still see today, were built. It's thought that Bishop Richard FitzJames (who was Bishop from 1506-1522) was responsible for much of this work, as his family crest is on the buildings.
However, studies of the wood used in the Great Hall roof show that the oak trees were cut down in 1493, and the wood for the Tudor entrance gate was cut in 1495. This suggests that Bishop Richard Hill, who died in 1496, might have started these big building projects.
The palace you see today has changed a lot over the centuries. The west courtyard is from the Tudor period, while the east courtyard is Georgian. The Great Hall is late-medieval. Parts of the building were updated in the Gothic style in the late 1700s, and the east courtyard was changed again in the early 1800s. The chapel was built much later, in 1867.
Fulham Palace is a Grade I-listed building, meaning it's very important historically. Other parts of the property, like the chapel, moat bridge, stables, and walled garden, are also listed as Grade II buildings.
The Amazing Palace Garden
The garden at Fulham Palace has been a very important botanical garden since the 1500s. It's actually the second oldest in London!
Early Gardeners and New Plants
Bishop Grindal (who lived from 1519 to 1583) created a walled garden and special patterned gardens called parterres. He is known for bringing the tamarisk tree to England. He even grew grapes that were sent to Queen Elizabeth I!
Later, in the late 1600s, Bishop Henry Compton made the gardens even more famous. He brought many new types of plants to England, including the American magnolia, the tulip tree, and the first American azalea grown here. He even grew the first coffee tree in England in his heated greenhouses! His gardener was a famous landscape architect named George London.
The gardens were so impressive that John Evelyn, a famous diarist, visited them in 1681. Even William Penn, who founded Pennsylvania in America, wanted to trade plants with Bishop Compton's gardener! Bishop Compton was very interested in plants from the American colonies and had people send him drawings, seeds, and plant samples.
The Palace During Wartime
World War I (1914–1918)
During World War I, part of the palace grounds was turned into allotments. This meant people could grow their own food to help with the war effort. The palace building itself was used as part of a military hospital. After the war, it became hard for the church to pay for such a large building.
World War II (1939–1945)
The palace was damaged by bombs during World War II. After the war, it was still very expensive to keep up. In 1954, an architect said the palace was "badly planned and inconvenient." Finally, in 1973, the church authorities moved out of the palace.
The Mysterious Moat
The palace has a moat that was almost 1.4 kilometers (nearly a mile) long! It was the biggest home moat in medieval England, but no one knows exactly when it was built. The first mention of it was in 1392, but it's probably much older.
Because it's so far from the palace, some people think it wasn't just for defense. One idea is that the Danes built it to protect against flooding from the Thames. In 1976, the moat area was made a Scheduled Ancient Monument, meaning it's a very important historical site.
The moat was filled in with dirt and debris in the 1920s. However, it still exists underground as a complete circle! In 2010, archaeologists started digging up parts of the moat as part of a big renovation project for the palace.
The Tait Chapel
The Tait chapel at Fulham Palace is the fourth chapel built on this site. It was designed by William Butterfield for Bishop Tait in 1866–67 and cost £1869.
The chapel was damaged by a bomb in World War II. After the war, it was rearranged. The beautiful mosaic artwork was moved. The east window, which was destroyed, was replaced in 1956 with a new one showing "The Risen Saviour." The west window survived the bombing. The chapel's patterned brick walls were painted over in 1953 with amazing murals. The north wall shows scenes like "The Fall" and the Nativity. The south wall shows scenes like St Peter's vision and the conversion of St Paul.
Fulham Palace Today
After the Bishops of London left in 1973, the local council leased the property in 1975 to open a museum and art gallery. For a while, the palace and gardens were not well cared for. But in 1990, a special trust was created to look after the property with the council.
The palace grounds used to be over 30 acres, but today they are about 13 acres. Even though the palace has its own chapel, the garden is next to the churchyard of All Saints Church, Fulham, where several former bishops are buried. The allotments that were started during the war are still used today by local people to grow their own food and flowers.
You can still see some very old trees at Fulham Palace. There's a large holm oak tree that is believed to be 500 years old! It's even been named one of the "Great Trees of London." You can also see the beautiful knot garden and wisteria in the walled gardens.
Bringing the Palace Back to Life
The Fulham Palace Restoration Project started in the 2000s and happened in three stages.
- The first stage, finished in 2006, restored the east wing and part of the west wing, including the Tudor courtyard. This cost £4 million.
- The second stage, finished in 2011, focused on the walled garden, other buildings, and the moat. This cost £7 million.
- The third stage, completed in 2019, added a new museum and did important restoration work on the brickwork in the Tudor courtyard and the Great Hall. All these projects were funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Fulham Palace Trust.
Museum and Art Gallery
In 1992, the Museum of Fulham Palace opened in some of the palace's historic rooms. It showed paintings that used to hang in the building, stained glass, old stone carvings, and a bishop's robe. It also had displays explaining the palace's history.
A very important old book, Of Plymouth Plantation (1620–47) by William Bradford, was found in the palace library in 1855. This book is a key document about the founding of the United States. No one knows how it got there from America! In 1897, it was given back to the United States.
The palace's art collection includes several important portraits. These include two paintings from 1798 by Benjamin West, and portraits of Field Marshal George Wade and Beilby Porteus.
Planning Your Visit
The palace house and gardens are open every day, and entry is free. The museum and historic rooms are open from 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM (or 4:00 PM in winter). The beautiful walled garden is open from 10:15 AM to 4:15 PM (or 3:45 PM in winter). The botanic garden is open from dawn until dusk. You can also enjoy lunch or snacks at the café, which is in what used to be Bishop Howley's dining room.
You can get to Fulham Palace from Fulham Palace Road, which is near the northern end of Putney Bridge. It's also close to Bishop's Park and All Saints Church, Fulham. The closest Underground station is Putney Bridge.
See also
