Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Question from Anon - Lambeth

The Dowager Duchess of Norfolk's residence is often referred to as Lambeth, but what was its full name? And was Lambeth an area where there were many grand houses?

6 comments:

Marilyn R said...

Norfolk House came to the Howards via their Mowbray ancestors, who in turn had received it a few years after the 1397 execution of Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel. Arundel’s daughter Elizabeth was the widow of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk.

The house was almost opposite Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, which is still there. The Bishop of Rochester’s house was also nearby. Today this is very much a built-up area, but then it was open countryside – Norfolk House stood in 12 acres of land in the fifteenth century. If you Google ‘Braun and Hogenberg London’ you might come up with their famous 1572 map of London.

On a modern map look for Old Paradise Street, at the southern end of Lambeth Bridge. The main rail lines to Waterloo Station possibly run through what were the grounds of Norfolk House.

PhD Historian said...

In the sixteenth century, "Lambeth" was an area on the south bank of the Thames River across from the old City of London and from Westminster. Lambeth Palace, the London residence (then and now) of the Archbishop of Canterbury is in Lambeth. The Archbishopric has owned the Manor of Lambeth since the 1100s, and it was from the ancient manor that the area got its name.

Agnes, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk and step-grandmother of Queen Katherine Howard, lived at Norfolk House (the proper name for the residence) in the area known as Lambeth until her death in 1545. Norfolk House was located near what is now Old Paradise Street and the eastern foot of Lambeth Bridge, southeast from Lambeth Palace.

Lambeth was not a particulary "posh" area in the Tudor era, despite the presence of a handful of grand houses. The area of Lambeth along the river was very marshy and considered unhealthy. Much of the land close to the river was wasteland. Further back away from the river, there were a few scattered modest houses and shops owned by craftsmen and tradesmen, as well as several farmers' houses. But much of the area was either wooded or un-developed or under-developed until the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Kennington Palace, a royal palace dating back to the middle of the 14th century, once stood in Lambeth to the south and east of Lambeth Palace. It was the residence of Katherine of Aragon prior to her formal entry into London in 1501. Kennington was dismantled in 1531 and its building materials used in the construction of Whitehall Palace. The lands known as the Manor of Kennington are still in royal hands as part of the Duchy of Cornwall.

Vauxhall Manor was to the south of Lambeth Palace. Vauxhall Manor was a church property, the income from which (leasing, farming) was used to fund the monastic house known as Christ Church at Canterbury. It appears never to have had a manor house. The lands of the manor remain in the ownership of the Church of England.

The Bishop of Rochester kept a small episcopal palace in Lambeth, known as La Place, prior to 1539. After that year, it became the London residence of the Bishop of Carlisle.

There were six other lesser manors within the larger area commonly known as Lambeth, including those of Stockwell Manor and the Manors of Milkwell, Heathrow, Levehurst, and Bodley, as well as Leigham Court. But these six were manors in the sense of being an administrative unit of property, not in the sense of being a palatial estate. Of the six, only Stockwell had a significant residential establishment on it. Stockwell was a former crown property granted to Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Monatgu in 1555 and held by his grandson, the 2nd Viscount, during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Noel de Caron, an ambassador from the Low Countries in the last years of Elizabeth's reign, owned an estate in the area known as Lambeth that included a "great house." Caron dismantled it and built a larger mansion house that became known as Caron House. It was demolished in the 1680s to make way for what eventually became Vauxhall Park.

There appear not to have been any other significant large houses in the Lambeth are during the Tudor period.

The modern London Borough of Lambeth is in the same general area as Tudor-era Lambeth and incorporates such familiar neighborhoods as Brixton, Vauxhall, and Clapham. Modern local sites include Waterloo and Vauxhall Train Stations, the London Eye, and The Oval cricket ground.

See volumes 23 and 26 of Survey of London, edited by F.H.W. Shepperd (1956).

Foose said...

I understood that Lambeth was notorious, along with Southwark, for being the location of the "stews" (brothels) -- granddam Norfolk's house probably fit in well! I read that the Bishop of Winchester actually drew a lot of income from these establishments, so the prostitutes were known as "Winchester geese."

Marilyn R said...

Winchester House, the London palace of the Bishops of Winchester, was in nearby Southwark; it is true that the bishops were the stewholders’ landlords. In Tudor times the Bear Pit and theatres, including the Globe, were also in this area.

The Howard accounts reveal that in 1461 John Howard, later the first Howard Duke of Norfolk, lent money to his cash-strapped cousin John Mowbray, the then Duke of Norfolk, so he could indulge in his pastimes of watching bear dancing (baiting?), gambling and visits to the stews. I think the young duke’s preferred home at this time would have been Norfolk Inn, his mansion on the north bank at Broken Wharf, near where the Millennium Bridge is now, and only a few minutes away from the attractions of Southwark by boat.

The following is from: 'Southwark: Winchester House and Barclay's Brewery', Old and New London: Volume 6 (1878) URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45264

‘The antiquary Pennant..... insinuates that the Bishops of Winchester and Rochester, and the Abbots of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, Lewes, Hyde, Waverley, and Battle, had their town residences here on account of their adjoining the Bordello or "Stews" on the Bankside. These "stews" comprised nearly twenty houses along the river-side, and were licensed under certain regulations confirmed by Act of Parliament. The houses... were ... a collection of public brothels leased from the Bishops of Winchester.
One of the houses, says Pennant, but he gives no authority for the statement, bore the sign of the "Cardinal's Hat." Cardinal Cap Alley is, however, to be found in the neighbourhood. In Holland Street, at the end of Bankside, near Blackfriars Bridge, was another notorious "stew" frequented by King James I and his court.‘
(Cardinal Cap Alley is still there; the first Blackfriars Bridge was not built until 1769.)

Tudorrose said...

Lambeth is the principal residence of a Duchess/Duke.The full name for the historic place is Lambeth palace which is situated in London.
The Duchess of norfolk did reside here with her husband the Duke of Norfolk.Agnes Tilney nee Howard being The Duchess and Thomas Howard being the Duke.Along with catherine Tylney Agnes daughter from a previous courtship and Thomas Howards son Henry Howard and daughter Mary Howard from a previous courtship.Along with catherine Howard the Duke's neice along with other members including Catherines music teacher Henry Mannox and catherines lover Francis Dereham and Derehams friend Edward Waldgrave.
This that being Lambeth palace would be the howards last place of stay until they moved to Hampton court.
Before hand the Duchess lived in Horsham house with the household.
Horsham which is in sussex is also a main place of stay for a Duke/Duchess.

Marilyn R said...

Lambeth is the name of the whole district. Lambeth Palace itself was, and still is, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, while Norfolk House was one of the homes of the Dukes of Norfolk. Lambeth Palace and Norfolk House were not one and the same.