| back copyright 2005 | ||
| The Great Hall was probably first built in the fourteenth century. It was ruined during the Commonwealth (1649-1660) and rebuilt after the Restoration of the monarchy under the direction of Archbishop
Juxon (archbishop from 1660-1663), with a hammer beam roof of a type which had not been built for over a century. What was its purpose? A glimpse of the lifestyle of the archbishops is given in Charles Knight’s London : ‘Let us look, for instance, at the list of the officers of Cranmer’s household. It comprised a steward, treasurer, comptroller, gamators, clerk of the kitchen, caterer, clerk of the spicery, yeoman of the ewery, bakers, pantlers, yeoman of the horse, yeomen ushers, butlers of wine and ale, larderers, quillaries, ushers of the hall, porters, ushers of the chamber, daily waiters in the great chamber, cooks, chandlers, butchers, master of the horse, yeoman of the wardrobe and harbingers. The state observed of course corresponded with such a retinue. There were generally three tables spread in the hall and served at the same time, at the first of which sat the Archbishop, surrounded by peers of the realm, privy councillors, and gentlemen of the greatest quality: at the second, called the Almoner’s table, sat the chaplains and all the other clerical guests below the rank of diocesan bishops and abbots: and at the third or Steward’s table, sat all the other gentlemen invited.’ The gatehouse was erected between 1486 and 1501 under Archbishop Morton. It was here that the poor received the Archbishop’s Dole, originally the leavings from the many feasts, later reputedly up to four thousand farthing loaves distributed twice a week. There is also a private chapel, close by the Great Hall, and, since 1829 when a new gateway into the hall was made as part of alterations supervised by the architect Edward Blore, the banqueting has given way to the perusal of books. Books were initially donated to the archbishop and his successors in a bequest on his death in 1610 by Archbishop Bancroft, and the library has been expanded |
The Great Hall since into a significant collection of 4,500 manuscripts and 240,000 printed books and pamphlets relating to Church history, the history of art and architecture, colonial and commonwealth history and many aspects of English social, political and economic history. Access to the library has been allowed to scholars since 1610, and the claim is often put forward that this collection therefore constitutes the oldest public library in England, but this seems to be a superficial gloss over the truth that, for large sections of the population, this access was never allowed. |
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The garden front of the palace, showing the mock tudor style adopted by Edward Blore, and approved by Sir Walter Scott, 1875. |
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