Buckden Towers
Buckden
Near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire in England
The Great Tower and St Hugh's Church
Buckden Towers is located in Cambridgeshire
Buckden Towers
Buckden Towers
Shown within Cambridgeshire
Coordinates52°17′39″N 000°15′09″W / 52.29417°N 0.25250°W / 52.29417; -0.25250
TypeFortified house
Site information
Open to
the public		Grounds open regularly
ConditionUsed as a Christian retreat
Site history
Built1175 (1175)
In use1175-Present
grid reference TL192677

Buckden Towers, formerly known as Buckden Palace, is a medieval fortified house and bishop's palace in Buckden, Cambridgeshire, England. It is now a conference and retreat centre operated by the Claretian missionaries.

History

The Inner Gatehouse and the adjoining parish church of St Mary's.

The 15th-century buildings are the remains of the palace of the bishop of Lincoln. Although it is often stated as being built in the 15th century, the first (wooden) Palace was built in the late 12th century, when records show it as being used by the bishops of Lincoln. The wooden structure was replaced by more substantial buildings and a tall brick tower was added in 1475, protected by walls and a moat, and surrounded by an outer bailey. Parts of the complex were demolished in 1632 on the orders of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The Victorian house now present on the site was built in 1872. The remains of the bishops' moated palace consist of the great tower, the inner gatehouse, part of the battlemented wall, which used to surround the inner court within the moat, and the outer gate and wall.

The antiquary Edward John Rudge published a history, Illustrated and Historical Account of Buckden Palace, in 1839.[1]

Present day

The site is a scheduled monument and the great tower,[2] inner gatehouse[3] and curtain walls are Grade I listed buildings.[4]

The Claretian Missionaries were given the site by the Catholic Bishop of Northampton in 1956. Initially it was used as a junior seminary carrying out the preliminary training of 11- to 18-year-olds aspiring to become Claretian Missionary priests or brothers. The junior seminary closed in July 1965. Since then the Towers complex has been developed by the Claretians as a retreat and conference centre. Also on the site is the Catholic Church of St Hugh of Lincoln, which stands on the site of the great chamber of the medieval palace and was built as the chapel for the junior seminary. The grounds, but not the buildings, of the Towers are open to visitors at all reasonable times but dogs are not permitted.

Notable visitors

See also

Bibliography

  • Pettifer, Adrian. (2002) English Castles: a Guide by Counties. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 978-0-85115-782-5.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Woodward, Bernard Barham (1897). "Rudge, Edward" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 49. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ↑ Historic England. "The Great Tower (1130324)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 July 2019.
  3. ↑ Historic England. "The Inner Gatehouse (1130290)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  4. ↑ Historic England. "The Curtain Wall (1130444)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  5. 1 2 Buckden Palace Page on Cambridge Military History Website, accessed 10 January 2015
  6. ↑ Strype, John, Ecclesiastical Memorials, vol. 2 part 1, Oxford (1822), 491
  7. ↑ "The 10th instant". Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser. 18 January 1814. p. 3.
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