Bristol Bishops Palace

Has been described as a Certain Palace (Bishop/Other)

There are no visible remains

NameBristol Bishops Palace
Alternative Names
Historic CountryGloucestershire
Modern AuthorityBristol; City of
1974 AuthorityAvon
Civil ParishBristol

Probable Abbot's lodging, later Bishop's Palace. Damaged in the riots of 1831, and still in ruins. (PastScape ref. Pevsner)

The see of Bristol was separated from that of Salisbury in I542,and raised to an independent bishopric. Henry VIII., according to his usual custom, endowed the bishopric with the abbot's lodging and some of the possessions formerly belonging to the dissolved monastery.

The episcopal palace and the park attached to it were sold to Thomas and John Clark for £250 during the Rebellion. The house as it then stood was large and rambling, with a great deal of waste space; it opened into the east cloister. The domestic chapel was very small, only fifteen feet by eleven, with a good deal of painted glass. Judging from the names and armorial bearings of the last abbots who occupied the house, it could not have been a very ancient structure. In 1851 the original episcopal palace was attacked by the rioters, and burnt to the ground. Some of the blackened ruins can still be seen in the graveyard on the south side of the cathedral. (Morewood)

Gatehouse Comments

Some ruins remained until the 1960's when a new school was built on the site.

- Philip Davis

Not scheduled

Not Listed

Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
OS Map Grid ReferenceST583726
Latitude51.4512100219727
Longitude-2.60047006607056
Eastings358370
Northings172640
HyperLink HyperLink HyperLink

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Books

  • Pevsner, Nikolaus, 1958, Buildings of England: North Somerset and Bristol (Harmondsworth)
  • Morewood, Caroline C., 1910, 'Introductory Chapter' in Rait, R.S. (ed), English Episcopal Palaces (Province of Canterbury) (London; Constable & Co) p. 42-44 online copy