Pawton Palace

Has been described as a Possible Palace (Bishop)

There are masonry ruins/remnants remains

NamePawton Palace
Alternative Names
Historic CountryCornwall
Modern AuthorityCornwall
1974 AuthorityCornwall
Civil ParishSt Breock

Medieval manor house, chapel and deer park owned by the Bishops of Exeter. The deer park was enclosed circa 1258. The buildings are now used as a farm and include an early C17 tithe barn. (PastScape)

At Pawton the Bishops of Exeter had a manor house, chapel and park during the Middle Ages. It is now a large farm. "There are two large barns which contain ancient masonry. One of these was probably the tithe barn and the other may have been the chapel - it lies East and West, and there are remains of a spiral stone staircase in a square newel projecting from the South wall. A field on the North of the farm called the 'Graveyard'..has never yet been ploughed. There being no carved stone fragments it is very difficult to determine the date of the buildings....... the deer park fields remain" (Henderson, 1953). "...very little of the Old Manor House remains but the old mediaeval tithe barn can still be seen." (Garland). The double walls and fences of the deer park are still extant on the Barton. Pawton deer park was enclosed c 1258. (Henderson, 1963) The tithe barn at SW 95887006 is in good condition though not outstanding. It incorporates the stone staircase leading to an upper floor. There is no separate barn which can be identified as a chapel (this would probably have been incorporated within the manor house). The extent of the deer park cannot be deduced from the present hedges and the field called the 'Graveyard' is not known to the present owners. The farmhouse is modern (Field Investigators Comments–F1 NVQ 27-FEB-72). (PastScape)

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 ReferenceSW959701
Latitude50.4952087402344
Longitude-4.87847995758057
Eastings195940
Northings70120
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. 549-51
  • Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p. 177
  • Longden, Preb. A,, 1968, Church and Parish of St Breoke with additions by Francis Hodges
  • Henderson, Charles (edited by Rowse, A.L. and Henderson, M.I.), 1963 (original written 1935), Essays in Cornish history (Clarendon Press) p. 157
  • Elliott-Binns, L.E., 1955, Medieval Cornwall p. 302-5
  • Lake, J., 1872 (reprinted 1974), Parochial History of the County of Cornwall

Journals

  • Reed, J., 1971, ' 'Parochial Check-Lists of Antiquities' Cornish Archaeology Hendhyscans Kernow Vol. 10 p. 107 online copy
  • Garland, M., 1961-67, 'St Breock Parish' Old Cornwall Vol. 6 p. 454
  • Henderson, C., 1953-6, 'Ecclesiastical History' Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall Vol. 2 p. 41-3

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)