Cakeham Manor House

Has been described as a Possible Palace (Bishop), and also as a Possible Fortified Manor House

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains

NameCakeham Manor House
Alternative Names
Historic CountrySussex
Modern AuthorityWest Sussex
1974 AuthorityWest Sussex
Civil ParishWest Wittering

The Bishops of Chichester had a house here from the C13 to the C16. The early house had fallen into ruins by 1363, but of it there survives one bay of a C13 hall and undercroft. It was rebuilt in the C16, and of this re-building the principal survival is a tall hexagonal red brick tower, with taller stair turret, built by Bishop Sherborn about 1519. To the south of this is one contemporary bay with trefoil-headed windows with dripstones over. (Listed Building Report)

In 1447 a general licence to impark the estates of the see and to crenellate or fortify the manor-houses, including Cakeham, was granted to Bishop Adam Moleyns, but it is improbable that he made use of it before his murder in 1450.

The episcopal manor-house of Cakeham was a favourite residence of the Bishops of Chichester from the early 12th century onwards. Two of the miracles of St. Richard are associated with his presence there, and many instruments were executed here by later bishops. In 1363, however, the house was stated to be of no value, as it was ruined and roofless. Bishop Robert Sherburne early in the 16th century restored and enlarged it, building, presumably on the strength of the charter of 1447, a tower which has survived and is the most prominent feature of the existing building. (VCH 1953)

Gatehouse Comments

Granted licence to crenellate in 1447, along with other manor houses of the see of Chichester, but no work from this time appears to survive and, given the large number of houses on the licence none may have been done or even intended to be done.

- Philip Davis

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law

This is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law

Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceSZ784975
Latitude50.7724685668945
Longitude-0.888440012931824
Eastings478480
Northings97570
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales Vol. 3 Southern England (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) p. 440
  • Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Sussex (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 31
  • Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 168, 173
  • Pevsner, N. and Nairn, I., 1965, Buildings of England: Sussex (London, Penguin) p. 377-8
  • Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1953, VCH Sussex Vol. 4 p. 217-8 online transcription
  • Elwes, Dudley George Cary, 1876, A history of the Castles, Mansions, and Manors of Western Sussex (London: Longmans) p. 269 online copy

Primary Sources

  • Maxwell Lyte, H.C. (ed), 1927, Calendar of Charter Rolls 5 Henry VI - 8 Henry VIII, AD 1427-1516, with an appendix, 1215-1288 Vol. 6. (HMSO) p. 94-5 online copy

Other

  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales (available via EThOS)