Wolverton Palace

Has been described as a Certain Palace (Royal)

There are no visible remains

NameWolverton Palace
Alternative NamesWolverton House; Vlfertona; Ulferton
Historic CountryHampshire and the Isle of Wight
Modern AuthorityHampshire
1974 AuthorityHampshire
Civil ParishBaughurst

Wolverton was a royal demesne manor until alienated by King John in 1215. In the reign of Henry II (1154-1189) there was a royal residence and deer park here. Repair of the King's House at Wolverton accounted for in the Pipe Rolls of 1158-9, 1159-60, 1165-66 and 1166-67. (HKW)

WOLVERTON, which Elveva had held of Edward the Confessor, was held by Alvred the priest of the Conqueror at the time of the Domesday Survey. In the 12th century the manor was farmed out for £10 a year, exclusive of the park, which sometimes brought in an additional £1, and also occasionally furnished venison for the royal table. There was a royal residence at Wolverton, as appears from the Pipe Rolls, in which there is frequent mention of money spent in repairing the king's houses there, and it seems probable that the early kings sometimes stayed in the parish. Thus in 1165 Queen Eleanor, the wife of Henry II, was at Wolverton during her husband's absence in Normandy, and her expenses during her stay amounted to £18.

At length King John in 1215 granted the manor to Peter Fitz Herbert —a gift which was, however, rendered void in 1217, in which year it was granted by Henry III to his mother, the dowager queen Isabel, as part of her dower. Peter, however, subsequently regained possession of the manor, obtaining a grant of free warren in his lands in the hundred of Kingsclere from Henry III (VCH)

Gatehouse Comments

Long sections of the park pale remain but nothing of the buildings, which may well have been mainly of timber and which presumably was at, or very close to, the current Georgian House. See also Freemantle, which form part of a complex of hunting lodges within the large areas of royal forest in north Hampshire.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

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 ReferenceSU553585
Latitude51.3231010437012
Longitude-1.20691001415253
Eastings455360
Northings158520
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • 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
  • Page, Wm (ed), 1911, VCH Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Vol. 4 p. 270-2 online transcription

Journals

  • Briggs, Keith, 2008, 'Freemantle' Journal of the English Place-name Society Vol. 40 p. 97-111 online copy

Primary Sources

  • 1884, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the fifth year of the reign of King Henry II, A.D. 1158-1159 (Pipe Rolls Society 1) p. 45 online copy
  • 1884, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the sixth year of the reign of King Henry II, A.D. 1159-60 (Pipe Roll Society 2) p. 48 online copy
  • 1888, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the twelfth year of the reign of King Henry II A.D. 1165-1166 (Pipe Roll Society 9) p. 101 online copy
  • 1889, The Great Roll of the Pipe for the thirteenth year of the reign of King Henry II A.D. 1166-1167 (Pipe Roll Society 11) p. 176 online copy