Fulham Palace, once the country residence of the Bishop of London, is now a tourist attraction in London. It features a moated area, a 1500s house, botanic gardens, and a children’s play area. The site is free to enter and can be hired for private functions. It has a museum, art gallery, café-bar, and reception. The botanical gardens include a lawn, woodland, lawns, and an enclosed garden. The Bishops’ Tree is a popular feature with visitors.
Fulham Palace is the former country residence of the Bishop of London but is now a tourist attraction within the city. The site is owned by the Church Commissioners and is managed by the Fulham Palace Trust in partnership with the local Hammersmith and Fulham Council. It contains one of the largest moated areas in Britain, a house dating back to the 1500s, botanic gardens and a children’s play area. The venue is primarily used as a tourist attraction and art gallery and is free to enter for the general public. Some rooms within the building can be hired for private functions such as weddings and conferences.
The site of the bishop’s country retreat is deep in modern day London. It is located in the area known as Fulham and is close to Craven Cottage, the home stadium of Fulham Football Club. The mansion also sits on the banks of the River Thames before curving eastwards to Westminster. While it is now the center of an affluent area of modern London, it was once considered rural enough to be a country retreat for Catholic and Protestant bishops.
Roman and prehistoric artefacts have been recovered from the site of Fulham Palace, but the modern building dates from 1495. Bishops held the site from 691 onwards and were lords of the manor from the 11th century until the end of feudalism. While the bishops formally renounced the residence of the palace in 11, they were expelled on a couple of occasions, including during the English Civil War and World War II.
Historical records date the moat around Fulham Palace to at least 1392, but archaeologists believe the moat is much older. The moat, a moat filled with water from the River Thames, was filled in around 1924 at the Bishop’s behest. This led to a parliamentary debate and protests from angry locals. Restoration efforts began in the 21st century to re-excavate the moat while repairing other areas of the palace, including the vineyard, Gothic loggia, moat bridge and stables.
Fulham Palace’s main building is now home to a museum, art gallery, café-bar and reception. The museum includes a permanent collection of paintings, both of bishops and monarchs, and archaeological remains from the history of the site. Many of the rooms have been restored to their Georgian splendour, while other artefacts show what the building looked like during the Tudor and Victorian eras.
There are guided tours of both the building and the botanical gardens. The palace’s former winery produced grapes for Elizabeth I of England, and the gardens were also home to the first spices exported from Virginia. The modern gardens include a lawn, woodland, lawns and an enclosed garden. There is also a herb-filled knot garden.
A popular feature with visitors is the Bishops’ Tree: a carved piece of cedar wood that features images of four bishops. At the top sits anti-slavery activist Bishop Porteus. Below him are the effigies of Bishops Bonner, Creighton and Compton. The sculpture was commissioned by Delores Moorhouse for her late husband and was sculpted by Andrew Frost.
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