Winchester Palace, Southwark, Greater London
This cutaway reconstruction drawing by Liam Wales illustrates the main surviving feature of Winchester Palace; the rose window and its tracery in the Great Hall. Winchester Palace was built for William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester, in 1109. The bisops used it as a London residence when carrying out royal or administrative state business. The Great Hall and adjoining parts of the Bishops' House were rebuilt in around 1340. In 1642 it was converted to a prison for royalists. It remained a prison for five years and fell into such a bad state that the Bishop let it out as tenements and it deteriorated even further. In 1814 a fire destroyed most of the building. This property is now (2011) in the care of English Heritage. Find out more.
