Doddington Bishops Palace

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Manor House Moat

In the civil parish of Doddington. In the historic county of Cambridgeshire (Modern Authority of Cambridgeshire, 1974 county of Cambridgeshire).

Buried and earthwork remains of a moated manor house documented during late C13. The buildings in existence in 1356 included the house and a chapel. The site was converted into a farm by C19. All the present buildings date to C19 and C20. The moated island now measures up to 104m by 106m, surrounded by a moat ranging from 6m to 12m in width. The arms have been greatly recut and shaped in recent years, and about 20m length of the west arm had been filled in. The original entrance was probably central to the west arm. (PastScape)
Doddington was one of the Bishop's principal residences ...survey made for Bishop de Fontibus (1221) ... Like most ecclesiastical manors it passed through a period of depression in the C14. The decline in prosperity seems to have set in about 1300. A survey of 1356 shows some recovery. The manor house itself consisted of a hall, principal chamber, cloister (claustera), pantry, buttery and other chamber. Enclosed within the same encircling wall were a kitchen, brewhouse, chapel, a lodging for the Knights and Esquires, dovehouse, granary and stables. In the wall was a gatehouse. All these buildings were in good repair. The rest of the manorial buildings however, which consisted of a grange, ox-house, two windmills, (one dating from 1300), a newly erected grindery, the park wall, and the vaccary at Stonea, were all more or less ruinous. As in the other manors where the Bishop had an actual residence, the customary tenants of Doddington had the duty of ferrying him to his next manor. ... In the later Middle Ages, the bishops ceased to use the manor house as an official residence. In 1493, Bishop Alcock leased it. ... In the second half of the C16 the... bishop was allowed to Keep Doddington palace ... but the manor was finally alienated c 1600. The manor house had ceased to be used as such before 1808 and was converted into a farm, but the Courts Leet and Baron were still being held there in 1827. .... Letters Patent were dated at Benwick in 1314, presumably when Bishop Ketene was entertaining Edward II at Doddington Palace. (VCH 1953)

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TL40749061

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 372488
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 01063 '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.

• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p154
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p176
    Pugh, R.B. (ed), 1953, 'North Witchford Hundred: Doddington' VCH Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol4 p110-112 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=21901
    Phillips, 1948, in Salzman, L.F. (ed), VCH Cambridge and the Isle of Ely Vol2 p28
• 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 ]
    English Heritage, 2001. Scheduling record: Scheduled Monument - 2001.