Woodstock Palaces

Has been described as a Possible Timber Castle (Motte), and also as a Possible Palace (Royal)

There are no visible remains

NameWoodstock Palaces
Alternative NamesEverswell; Wudestok Wodestok
Historic CountryOxfordshire
Modern AuthorityOxfordshire
1974 AuthorityOxfordshire
Civil ParishBlenheim

Woodstock was a Royal Manor and there is a record of a royal building there in 1129. Aethelred II (979-1016) held council at Woodstock but it is not known if this represents a predecessor to the 1129 Palace. It continued as a Royal Palace until the latter 15th c and was used occasionally thereafter (Elizabeth I was lodged there when Mary Tudor was on the throne). The Palace eventually fell into disrepair but was "patched-up" by Vanbrugh as his own residence when he was building Blenheim Palace. It was pulled down c 1720 and its materials used in the filling of the Grand bridge and the causeway. The site is said to have been covered by mud dredged from the lake in 1896.

The Palace is associated with Rosamund Clifford (Fair Rosamund) mistress of Henry II, and by tradition the oldest part of the Palace was called Fair Rosamund's Tower and said to have been joined to the Palace proper by a drawbridge. This fits in well with the view of the palace in Plot's "Natural History of Oxfordshire" which suggests a motte and bailey. The OS siting accords with Thomas Pryce's map of Blenheim (1789). (HKW; Renn; Green; Taunt)

There is nothing at the site today except an ornamental pillar dated 1802, presumably brought from elsewhere to support a concrete tablet,dated 1961, saying that this marks the site of the Palace. (Field Investigators Comments F1 CFW 14-JAN-72)

The palace seems to have been defensible, based upon the evidence of Plot's depiction of the palace. Its relation to the Stephanic castle documented there as fortified on behalf of the Empress Matilda in 1141 is not known. (King 1983) (PastScape)

Gatehouse Comments

Possible site for recorded Stephanic castle, although this may have been in Woodstock Town. Renn (1973) writes 'the view in Plot suggests a motte beside the raised bailey in which the house stood. Woodstock palace was quite heavily walled. Everswell was an adjacent but separate group of buildings in the palace complex built for Rosamund Clifford in the 1170's In 1249 the queens chamber at Woodstock was ordered to be crenellated and in 1251 John Haneberg was ordered to crenellate the queen's chapel and the kings chamber. It is difficult to see these as anything other than decorative battlements. This shows that as early as 1249 crenellations were an important decorative element. Blenheim Palace and its grounds, including the locations of the medieval palaces, are a World Heritage site although this is for the C18 buildings and landscaping by 'Capability' Brown.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSP439165
Latitude51.8460884094238
Longitude-1.36364996433258
Eastings443920
Northings216570
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of The Thames Valley and The Chilterns (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 79
  • Keevill, Graham D., 2000, Medieval Palaces, An Archaeology (Stroud; Tempus) p. 14, 32, 83
  • Cooper, Nicholas, 1999, Houses of the Gentry, 1480-1680 (Yale University Press) p. 110, 323
  • Thurley, Simon, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (Yale University Press) p. 2, 8, 27, 60, 67-9, 73, 74, 114, 164, 166, 170, 203
  • Crossley, Alan (ed), 1990 'Blenheim: Woodstock manor' and 'Blenheim: The King's houses' VCH Oxfordshire Vol. 12 p. 431-35 online transcription [online transcription > http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=11221]
  • James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby)
  • Bond, J. and Tiller, K. (eds), 1987, Blenheim: Landscape for a Palace (Oxford: Alan Sutton) p. 42-5, 55-6
  • Colvin, H.M., 1986, 'Royal Gardens in Medieval England' in Elisabeth MacDougall (ed) Medieval Gardens (Washington D.C.) p. 11, 18-20
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 2 p. 387, 388, 389n28
  • < >Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol. 4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p. 349-355, 552 < >
  • DAMHB, 1975, Archaeological Investigations in New Palace Yard 1972-74 (HMSO)
  • Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 349
  • Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol. 2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p. 1009-17 (plan)
  • Green, D., 1951, Blenheim Palace (London: Country Life) p. 23, 31-36
  • Taunt, H.W., 1909, ‪Blenheim, Woodstock, Etc‬: ‪Their Story and Some of the Scenes Around Them‬ p. 15-24
  • Marshall, E., 1875, The Early History of Woodstock (London)
  • Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol. 2 (London) p. 427-35 online copy
  • Mavor, W.F., 1789, Blenheim, a poem, to which is added a Blenheim Guide (London) online copy
  • Plot, R., 1705 (2edn), The Natural History of Oxford-shire (Oxford) p. 357 online copy

Antiquarian

Journals

  • Taylor, C., 2000, 'Medieval Ornamental Landscapes' Landscapes Vol. 1 p. 38-55 (reprinted in Liddiard, Robert (ed), 2016, Late Medieval Castles (Boydell Press) p. 3375-392)

Primary Sources

  • Potter, G.R. (ed), 1955, Gesta Stephani (Nelson) p. 91
  • Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1901, Calendar of Patent Rolls Henry III (1216-25) Vol. 1 p. 124-5 online copy
  • Stamp, A.E. (ed), 1937, Calendar of Liberate Rolls Henry III (1245-1251) Vol. 3 passim online copy esp p. 244 (order to crenellate queens chamber, p. 332 (order to crenellate queen's chapel and order to crenellate kings chamber)