Howden Palace

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Hoveden

In the civil parish of Howden. In the historic county of Yorkshire East Riding (Modern Authority of East Riding of Yorkshire, 1974 county of Humberside).

Remains of the medieval residence of the Bishops of Durham. The site was granted to the bishops in 1086 and held by them until late C16. The medieval layout comprised ranges of buildings set around an irregular courtyard. The north range contained the gate; the east the bishops' lodgings, chapel, oratory, chambers and guest rooms and the south the great hall, service rooms, kitchen and a second gate. The majority of the buildings were demolished in late C16 but part of the courtyard wall, the great hall, the southern gateway and two further medieval buildings survive. The great hall and porch were built by Bishop Skirlaw between 1388 and 1405 on the site of an earlier aisled hall. Bishop Skirlaw's hall was a tall, single storey building entered through a two storey, vaulted porch. The hall was floored in late C16, further altered in C18/early C19 and restored in 1983-5. The medieval moat and fishpond survive as landscaped earthworks in a park.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SE74882818

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 59360
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website, or elsewhere.

• Web site links
  • http://www.castleuk.net/castle_lists_north/106/howdenmanor.htm
• Books
  • Salter, Mike, 2001, The Castles and Tower Houses of Yorkshire (Malvern) p49
    Ingham, Bernard, 2001, Bernard Ingham's Yorkshire Castles (Dalesman) p26
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p116, 138, 175
    Emery, Anthony, 1996, Greater Medieval Houses Vol1 (Cambridge) p51-4, 353-6
    Le Patourel, H.E. Jean, 1973, The Moated Sites of Yorkshire (The Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series 5) p113
    Pevsner, N and Neave, D., 1972, The Buildings of England: York and the East Riding (London)
    Niemeyer, N., 1911, 'Introductory Chapter' in Rait, R.S. (ed), English Episcopal Palaces (Province of York) (London; Constable & Co) p9 http://www.archive.org/details/englishepiscopal00raitiala
• Journal Articles
  • Whitwell, J.B., 1984, 'The Bishop of Durham's Manor House at Howden' The Archaeological Journal Vol141
    Bilson, J., 1915, 'The manor house of the bishops of Durham at Howden' Yorkshire Archaeological Journal Vol22 p256-69
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/yorkseng.html#yorks33]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p538
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • 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 http://ethos.bl.uk ]