The Archbishop's Palace or the Old Palace is a Grade I listed building in the Canterbury local planning authority area, England. First listed on 3 May 1967. A Rebuilt 1896 Palace. 5 related planning applications.
The Archbishop's Palace or the Old Palace
- WRENN ID
- slow-flagstone-gold
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Canterbury
- Constituency
- Canterbury MP: Rosie Duffield (Ind)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 3 May 1967
- Type
- Palace
- Period
- Rebuilt 1896
- Address
- The Archbishop's Palace or the Old Palace, the Cathedral Precincts, CT1 2EE
- OS grid reference
- TR 150 579
- Coordinates
- 51.28034, 1.08171
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Archbishop's Palace, also known as the Old Palace, was rebuilt in 1896 by W.D. Caröe. The south wing still shows some remnants of earlier work, including buttresses and a 14th-century two-light trefoil-headed window. A 16th-century gateway from the Borough remains, although it is now blocked. The building is curved and consists of two to three storeys made of flint and ashlar, topped with a tiled roof that features three dormers on the right side and three mullioned and transomed windows with hood moulding. There are buttresses along the structure. The left side elevation displays three gables with finials and three mullioned windows. The central entrance porch is adorned with an archiepiscopal cartouche and two twisted columns, and it incorporates the west end of the undercroft of the monastic refectory. On the north side, there are significant traces of the early 13th-century Archbishop's Palace, which was the largest and most elaborate of its kind. Inside, numerous details remain that are useful for reconstructing the windows and their tracery.
Local climate
The Archbishop's Palace or the Old Palace sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 700 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 90% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 52% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 14 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 87% of listed buildings. Of these, 7 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 — 5 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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Nearby listed buildings
- Sundial in Front Garden of Archbishop's Palace
- Wall to left of Archbishop's Palace
- Walpole House, King's School
- Wall and Gate Piers Between Archbishop's Palace and Cathedral
- Cloister to Christchurch Cathedral
- Remains of Cellarer's Hall in Archbishop's Palace Garden
- 50 and 51, Palace Street
- 52 to 54, Palace Street
- 47, Palace Street
- 9, The Cathedral Precincts