Penryn Bishops Palace

In the civil parish of Penryn.
In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of Cornwall).

Medieval bishops residential manor, small and infrequently used, in Penryn, situated across the road from the Glasney College. After the Reformation the building and chapel became ruinous and were finally demolished in early C19. There is now a modern house on the site, in the garden of which are a number of Medieval carved stones.

This site has been described as a Palace.

A high status manor house. That is a fundamentally domestic building of a high status person usual a bishop or member of the royal family. Usually more elaborate that a fortified manor but a small bishops palace, such as the one at Lyddington might be quite modest compared to a large fortified manor. All these high status building had some fortifications, if only to keep out thieves, but were probably not seen, even by the contemporary people, as being military buildings. Included in this definition, for the purposes of this site, are Royal hunting lodges. These could vary from sizable buildings, even castles, with courts and gaols to simple timber building providing short term accommodation.

The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.

Nothing visible remains.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 2 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 66669)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW78494250

Modern Map from

Good for landscape form and features

Modern Map from

Good for general location

Air Photo from

1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 427689

Books
- Emery, Anthony, 2006, Greater Medieval Houses Vol3 (Cambridge) p549-51
  Higham, Robert A., 1999, 'Castles, Fortified Houses and Fortified Towns in the Middle Ages' in Kain, R. and Ravenhill, W., Historical Atlas of South-West England (University of Exeter Press) p136-43
  Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p177
  Wingfield, D.E., 1979, Penryn: archaeology and development, a survey (Truro)
  Elliott-Binns, L.E., 1955, Medieval Cornwall p302-5
Journal Articles
- Henderson, C., 1955, Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall Vol2 p48-9
  1865, Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall Vol1 p3

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The comprehensive gazetteer of the medieval fortifications and castles of Cornwall

With thanks to Philip Davis

Penryn Bishops Palace

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SW78494250

Sources of information, references and further reading