Lambeth Palace

While the original residence of the archbishop of Canterbury was in his episcopal see, Canterbury, Kent, a site originally called the Manor of Lambeth or Lambeth House was acquired by the diocese around AD 1200 (though Archbishop Anselm had a house there a century earlier) and has since served as the archbishop's London residence. The site was chosen for its convenient proximity to the royal palace and government seat of Westminster, just across the Thames. The palace was ransacked and partially demolished by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War of the 1640s, necessitating major reconstruction, especially of the great hall, in 1660–1663. New construction was added to the building…

The cluster of buildings is listed in the highest category, Grade I, for its architecture. The palace consists of three main structures: the historic residence itself, which is built round a cloister; Morton's Tower, which forms the main entry; and 19th century extensions to the East. The medieval building had three more courtyards, which have since disappeared, as has the moat that surrounded the complex. It was restored in 1954–55 on a limited budget, and again in 1986-88. During the second of these restorations paintings by Leonard Rosoman were added to the reconstructed vault and an elaborate screen of 1633 made by master carpenter by Adam Brown in a classical manner was taken out of…