Wolvesey Palace is a Grade I listed building in the Winchester local planning authority area, England. First listed on 24 March 1950. A 1684 Palace. 6 related planning applications.
Wolvesey Palace
- WRENN ID
- muffled-baluster-finch
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Winchester
- Constituency
- Winchester MP: Dr Danny Chambers (LD)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 24 March 1950
- Type
- Palace
- Period
- 1684
- Address
- Wolvesey Palace, the Close, SO23 9NB
- OS grid reference
- SU 484 290
- Coordinates
- 51.05891, -1.31071
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Wolvesey Palace is a Grade I listed building, originally constructed as a bishop's residence in 1684, designed by Sir Christopher Wren for Bishop George Morley. The east wing was demolished in 1781. The palace features two storeys and an attic, built from stone ashlar with a string course at the first floor level and an elaborate, bold bracketed stone cornice. It has an old tile roof with stone chimney stacks.
The garden front displays 11 windows and 10 dormers, with a central door that has a bayed pediment supported by rusticated Ionic piers, and a coat of arms positioned above the door. The entrance front has five windows in the central part and three dormers, while the projecting south wing contains three windows and three dormers. The central door here features a moulded architrave and a flat hood supported by carved brackets. All windows are mullioned and transomed with lead casements that are segmental headed.
The north wing houses the chapel of Wolvesey Castle, which dates back to the 15th century but likely includes older elements. This wing has a five-light east window and three three-light south windows, all in the Perpendicular style. The doorways and west gallery date from around 1684. All the listed buildings in The Close are part of a group value context.
Local climate
Wolvesey Palace receives an average of 800 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 56% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 54% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 32 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 59% of listed buildings. Of these, 13 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 6 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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