A Rare Look Inside The Ancient London Home Of The Archbishop Of Canterbury

Lambeth Palace is a magnificent example of living history. For over 800 years it has been the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury in London and continues to serve that purpose today. Due to it being a private, working building, it is not one many Londoners are particularly familiar with. They may have seen the red-brick Tudor facade of Morton’s Tower by Lambeth Bridge, but most have not seen beyond.

I was lucky enough to be shown around by a couple of members of the Lambeth Palace team and it was a truly fascinating visit. The building is an architectural tapestry, as well as being packed with dramatic tales of Archbishops, Kings, Queens and rebels.

There are usually a few opportunities a year when members of the public can visit and I will cover this later on in the post. 

Origins

Lambeth Palace has it origins back in the late 12th century. Archbishop Baldwin started building a large church on the South side of the river from the Palace of Westminster. Archbishops of Canterbury enjoyed great powers in this period and were often one of the King’s chief counsellors. 

In 1197 Baldwin’s successor Hubert Walter, acquired the roughly nineteen arce Manor of Lambeth and completed the church. Unfortunately, the monks at Canterbury Cathedral felt threatened by this new church, perceiving it as a threat to their primacy and so petitioned the Pope, who ordered it to be demolished. A small church, with a home for the Archbishop attached, was agreed on instead.

The Oldest Surviving Remnant

The oldest surviving part of the building today is the crypt chapel. Dating back to 1199, it is an undercroft built by Archbishop Walter and is one of the best preserved stone vaults in London. However, due to being eight feet below ground level, it was liable to flooding and was used as a simple storage area. It was cleared of mud deposits in 1905 and is now a peaceful crypt chapel where services take place for palace staff or guests.

Morton’s Tower

I will take you through some of the other spaces and buildings, whilst covering the rest of its fascinating story.

You enter through the magnificent Morton’s Tower, which dates from the 1490s. It was built for Archbishop Cardinal John Morton, a key advisor and Chancellor to Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch. 

This is a painting in The State Dining Room showing Morton’s Tower before the Albert Embankment was constructed in the 1860s, showing the river coming up much closer to the side of the building.

The Central Courtyard

You then enter into the central courtyard. Immediately on the left is a huge White Marseilles fig tree.

This was first planted in 1556, a gift from Archbishop Reginald Pole, to Queen Mary I. Pole was the last Roman Catholic to hold the post of Archbishop of Canterbury. It was replanted in its current position in the 1830s after the courtyard was remodelled. In 2014 Archbishop Justin Welby gifted a cutting to Pope Francis, to symbolise shared Christian heritage and unity. It still produces figs twice a year, used in the palace kitchens.

In 1828 when Archbishop William Howley took up residence, he ordered a restoration and modernisation at the palace. Lots of the sprawling Tudor buildings were cleared and a new central building designed by Edward Blore in Bath stone. 

Walking into this wing you are met with walls brandishing collections of spears.

These are a nod to the fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury once had his own personal force of men-at-arms, for those time when relations with the monarch or populace were strained. 

In Blore’s wing you will find the State Drawing Room. This has developed over the years from a private residential space to the main formal reception room. 

A Prison For Heretics

The highlight of the visit for me was probably climbing the tight spiral stone staircase up into Lollards’ Tower. This is not one that is available to see on any public tours, so I am pleased to be able to share a few photos with you here. 

Lollards’ Tower is a nickname for Chichele Tower, built in 1435 for Archbishop Chichele. In 1500 living accommodation was added to the upper floors and a small prison cell. A ‘Lollard’ was originally the term applied to a follower of John Wycliffe, the fourteenth century English Church reformer, but later came to be applied more generally to religious ‘heretics’. 

Remarkably, it has seemingly been left untouched since the time when it was in use. Lots of the oak panelling around the walls has survived, as well as the iron rings to which prisoners would be chained. There are also lots of surviving carvings and graffiti in the wood. It really felt like a room charged with history. 

I was also fun to get some views of the palace from the roof of the tower. 

The Guard Room

The Guard Room has its origins as the Great Chamber in the medieval period, where the Archbishops would receive guests and receive petitions. The original room was built in the 14th century, with the magnificent roof dating back to this time.

Blore restored the room in the 19th century, propping up the old roof whilst rebuilding the room around it. It later became a space for the Archbishop’s men-at-arms, hence the name today. This change possibly occurred after the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 when Lambeth Palace was stormed and ransacked. Archbishop Simon Sudbury fled to the Tower of London but he was found there, seized and beheaded on Tower Hill. 

It is also said to have been here that Sir Thomas More refused to sign the Oath of Supremacy, acknowledging Henry VIII as head of the English Church. He was, just over a year later, executed at the Tower of London on 6th July 1535. It was also used in the Second World War as a dining room for local residents. 

The Great Hall 

There has been a Great Hall since at least the early 13th century, for feasts and to entertain esteemed guests. Henry VIII is known to have visited for example.

It is also where the wedding feast of Prince Arthur, Henry VIII’s older brother and Catherine of Aragon took place on the 14th November 1501. After the feast they were put to bed for their formal ‘bedding’ to consummate the marriage. Whether they did actually fully consummate the marriage that night came up as a big area of debate many years later when Henry was trying to annul his marriage to Catherine. Arthur died of the ‘sweating sickness’ in April 1502 and the Spanish princess was then married to Prince Henry, future King Henry VIII on 11th June 1509. If Arthur and Catherine had consummated the marriage, it would have likely made it a lot easier for Henry to remarry, because, although they had been given special permission, you cannot traditionally marry your dead brother’s wife in the eyes of the Catholic Church. 

The medieval Great Hall was demolished during the Commonwealth in 1649 after the execution of Charles I, but rebuilt by Archbishop Juxon after the Restoration of Charles II. 

It became a part of Lambeth Palace Library in the 1830s and served as a reading room until World War Two. Sadly thousands of books were damaged and destroyed by fire damage in the Blitz. Lambeth Palace Library moved to a new purpose built building in 2021 at the bottom of the garden. You can visit for free and they put on interesting exhibitions.

An Archbishop’s Tortoise

One of the more bizarre items in the Palace is in the Great Hall: the shell of Archbishop Laud’s tortoise. 

William Laud was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633-1645. He was a staunch supporter of King Charles I and was accused of steering the English Church back towards Roman Catholic tendencies. He was beheaded in 1645 by the Long Parliament, dominated by Puritans and their allies.

Laud’s tortoise is thought to have possibly lived from around 1570 until 1753, outliving many Archbishops, spending his days moseying leisurely around the grounds. 

The Chapel

Dating back to the early 13th century, the chapel is one of the oldest parts of the palace.

Archbishop Laud made some changes to the chapel in the 17th century. He replaced the stained glass windows, although the ones you see today are post-war replacements.

He erected the oak screen, laid the black and white marble floor and installed the communion rails.

Along with other liturgical reforms, such as music, vestments and candles on the altar, the changes were used as evidence against him when was brought to trial and subsequently executed.

The roof and the stained glass were destroyed by bombs in the Second World War. Scorch marks from falling timbers can still be seen on the floor today. 

You can also see a preserved patch of medieval floor tiles. 

The colourful ceiling was painted by Leonard Rosoman in 1988, depicting key events in the history of the Archbishops of Canterbury. 

Overlooking the altar is a study that was built in the time of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, for him to work, study and pray. It is from Lambeth Palace that Cranmer helped Henry VIII eventually annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. 

‘Nosey Parker’

One of the white tiles has an inscription in latin translating to ‘The body of Archbishop Matthew. At last he rests in peace’, marking the burial spot of Matthew Parker, the only Archbishop to be laid to rest within the precincts of the palace. 

His tomb is in the adjoining Post Room, but it was desecrated by Parliamentarian soldiers in the Commonwealth and his bones thrown onto a dung heap. They were recovered by Archbishop Sancroft and reinterred under the chapel in the 1680s. 

Parker was Queen Elizabeth I’s first Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559-1575. He was fastidious in trying to ensure that members of the clergy adhered to Protestant doctrine and did not slip back into Catholicism. He would send out questionnaires and look into members of the clergy’s personal affairs, giving him a reputation for being nosey. Some say this is where we get the term ‘nosey parker’ from. Although, as far as anyone is aware, first appears in print in the late 19th century, so it is unfortunately unlikely. 

The Gardens

The garden is also stunning. It is one of the largest and oldest continuously cultivated private gardens in all of London. 

The current layout mostly dates from an 18th century laying out of the gardens into a relaxed, tree-lined landscape. 

You get a great view of the gardens from the roof of Lambeth Palace Library (generally only accessible if you rent out the Bancroft meeting room). 

The gardens usually open roughly once a year for an open garden event. The next, at time of writing, is on the 21st May through the National Open Garden Scheme. You can find out more here. 

How To Visit Lambeth Palace

It is, as you have hopefully seen, a place with such a deep, rich history. It has witnessed so many important moments in British history, particularly throughout the great religious turbulence of the 16th and 17th centuries. 

There are, you will be pleased to hear, some opportunities to visit. They have what they call HOPE open days, which raise money for local charities. Those coming up this summer (2026) are: 

• 29 May with Help Musicians
• 26 June with Arts for Dementia
• 31 July with the Southwark Mothers’ Union
• 28 August with The Passage

Find out more about those here. They also now have a newsletter to make sure you receive via email all future news about open days and events. You can sign up here. 

Thank you for reading, more of London’s historic treasures below!