South of London, at Croydon, hides one of the capital's most discreet 'Tudor treasures': for more than five centuries, this was the summer residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury, the first prelates of the realm. Its medieval Great Hall and its Tudor chapel make it a place of memory of the high English Church in the age of the Reformation.
The summer palace of the Primates of England
The summer residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury for more than five hundred years, Croydon offered these great ecclesiastical lords a retreat close to London. The surviving buildings are essentially of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: a fifteenth-century Great Hall, a Tudor chapel, and a whole medieval and Tudor ensemble remarkably preserved — all the more so as it was occupied from 1889 to 2025 by a school (the Old Palace School), which ensured its survival. From the outset the Crown knew the place well: Henry VII offered Catherine of Aragon, the young widow of Arthur Tudor, the choice of her residence between Durham House and Croydon.
Elizabeth's archbishops
It is in the time of Elizabeth I that Croydon shines most. The queen stayed here regularly — the room still called her 'chamber' today serves as a classroom. Two of her archbishops are closely linked with it: Edmund Grindal (died 1583), who fell from favour for defying the queen over preaching assemblies, and John Whitgift (died 1604), her last archbishop, a firm defender of the Anglican order, who saw her die and crowned James I. Both rest at Croydon Minster, the nearby church. To see: the fifteenth-century Great Hall, the Tudor chapel, 'Elizabeth's chamber' and the preserved medieval/Tudor ensemble.
Did you know?
The room where Queen Elizabeth I lodged during her stays at Croydon has not vanished: long part of a school, the 'queen's chamber' today serves as a classroom. Generations of schoolchildren have thus learned their lessons where the Virgin Queen once slept.
Notes
Croydon Palace (Old Palace) lies at Croydon, south London, near Croydon Minster; a historic site long occupied by a school — access and visits to check.
Quiz
- Whose summer residence was Croydon?
- The Archbishops of Canterbury
- The Kings of France
- The Lord Mayors of London
- Which queen stayed here regularly?
- Elizabeth I
- Mary Stuart
- Anne of Denmark
- Which of Elizabeth's archbishops, died 1604, is linked with it?
- John Whitgift
- Thomas Cranmer
- William Laud