Oatlands Palace

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Otelands

In the civil parish of Woking. In the historic county of Surrey (Modern Authority of Surrey, 1974 county of Surrey).

The restored ruins and buried remains of Oatlands Palace, built mainly between 1537-45 for Henry VIII situated on the southern bank of the River Thames at Weybridge on the south western outskirts of London. The Palace was built around 3 main adjoining quadrangular courtyards covering 14 hectares and utilising an existing C15 moated manor house. Most of the palace was destroyed during parliamentary rule in 1650. The main planning of the palace has a typically Tudor emphasis on symmetry, balance and order ornamented by more fanciful architectural elements such as tall corner towers and lanterns. Still surviving is a brick-vaulted conduit along the course of the south western arm of the moat. A restored C16 brick carriage gateway with a tall four-centred archway topped by a stepped parapet survives on the north western side of the outer court with standing portions of the original enclosing wall. This incorporates a further now blocked entrance. Traces of a small banqueting house have also been found. The palace remains have been partly disturbed by the construction of modern housing estates between 1930 - 1980.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law. This is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 286901)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ07716526

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 394327
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 566 '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.

• Web site links
  • http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/GetRecord/SHHER_566
• Books
  • Thurley, Simon, Cook, Alan and Poulton, Rob, 2007, Oatlands Palace (London: English Heritage)
    Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p383-4
    Keevill, Graham D., 2000, Medieval Palaces, An Archaeology (Stroud; Tempus) p30, 81, 116, 131, 154, 159
    Thurley, Simon, 1993, The Royal Palaces of Tudor England (Yale University Press) p49-50, 56, 60-61, 64, 65, 69, 74, 83, 118, 151
    James, T.B., 1990, The Palaces of Medieval England (London; Seaby) p160
    Colvin, H.M., Ransome, D.R. and Summerson, John, 1982, The history of the King's Works Vol4: 1485-1660 (part 2) (London) p205-17
    Pevsner, N. and Nairn, Ian, 1971 (Revised Cherry, Bridget), The Buildings of England: Surrey (London, Penguin) p392, 517
    Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol1 (London) p146-8
• Journal Articles
  • Streitberger, W.R., 1994, 'Records of royal banqueting houses and Henry VIII's timber lodging, 1543-1559' Journal of the Society of Archivists Vol15 p187-202
    Cook, A., 1969, 'Oatlands Palace excavations 1968, interim report' Surrey Archaeological Collections Vol16 p1-9
    Kershaw, S.W., 1903, 'Oatlands in Weybridge' Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol9 p182-90 http://www.archive.org/stream/journalofbritishns09brit#page/n233/mode/1up
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/barkseng.html#surrey3]
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Thurley, Simon, 1991, English Royal Palaces, 1450-1550 (unpub PhD thesis; London) p298-300 [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]