Addington Palace Surrey wedding venue aerial shot

Addington Palace Interior Shot - The Grand Staircase

The lobby of the Addington Palace Health Club

Addington Palace is an 18th-century mansion in Addington located within the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...

. It was built on the site of a 16th-century manor house. It is particularly known for having been, between 1807 and 1897, the summer residence of the

Archbishops of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

. Since the 1930s most of the grounds have been occupied by Addington Palace Golf Club. Between 1953 and 1996 the mansion was occupied by the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

. It is currently used as a wedding and events venue.

History

The original manor house called Addington Place was built about the 16th century. An ancient recipe for Malepigernout (or Dillegrout), a spiced chicken porridge, was historically made by the current Lord of the Manor of Addington to be served upon the

Coronation A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the presentation of o ...

of the Monarch of England. The Leigh family gained this

serjeanty Under feudalism in France and England during the Middle Ages, tenure by serjeanty () was a form of tenure in return for a specified duty other than standard knight-service. Etymology The word comes from the French noun , itself from the Latin ...

upon becoming Lords of the Manor of Addington prior to the coronation of Charles II in 1661. The Addington estate was owned by the Leigh family until the early 18th century. Sir John Leigh died without heirs in 1737 and his estates went to distant relatives, who eventually sold to

Barlow Trecothick Barlow Trecothick ( – 28 May 1775) was a City of London merchant brought up in the colonial Province of Massachusetts Bay who became one of the Members of Parliament for the City of London and was Lord Mayor of London in 1770. Early life Trec ...

. Trecothick had been brought up in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, and became a merchant there. He then moved to London, still trading as a merchant, and later sat as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

in 1768–74, and served as Lord Mayor in 1770. He bought the estate for £38,500 (). He built a new house, designed by Robert Mylne in the

Palladian style Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

; a country mansion with single-storey wings. He died before it was completed in 1774 and it was inherited by his heir, James Ivers, who had to take the surname Trecothick in order to inherit the estate. James continued the work on the house, having the substantial grounds and gardens landscaped by

Lancelot "Capability" Brown Lancelot Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English gardener and landscape architect, who remains the most famous figure in the history of the English lan ...

. Owing to financial difficulties, James Trecothick had to sell the estate in 1802. The estate was sold in lots in 1803. The next owners (William Coles and Westgarth Snaith) also got into financial trouble and sold it by

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliame ...

in 1807. This enabled the mansion to be purchased for the

, since nearby

Croydon Palace Croydon Palace, in Croydon, now part of south London, was the summer residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury for over 500 years. Regular visitors included Henry III and Queen Elizabeth I. Now known as "Old Palace", the buildings are still in us ...

had become dilapidated and inconvenient. The name became Addington Farm under the first few Archbishops, but gradually changed to Addington Palace. The archbishops made further changes and enlarged the building; work on the building was overseen by

Richard Norman Shaw Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the ...

. It became the official summer residence of six archbishops: *

Charles Manners-Sutton Charles Manners-Sutton (17 February 1755 – 21 July 1828; called Charles Manners before 1762) was a bishop in the Church of England who served as Archbishop of Canterbury from 1805 to 1828. Life Manners-Sutton was the fourth son of Lord G ...

(Archbishop 1805–1828) * William Howley (Archbishop 1828–1848) *

John Bird Sumner John Bird Sumner (25 February 1780 – 6 September 1862) was a bishop in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury. Early life John Bird Sumner was born in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, on 25 February 1780. He was the eldest son of the R ...

(Archbishop 1848–1862) *

Charles Thomas Longley Charles Thomas Longley (28 July 1794 – 27 October 1868) was a bishop in the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Ripon, Bishop of Durham, Archbishop of York and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1862 until his death. Life He was born at Roc ...

(Archbishop 1862–1868) *

Archibald Campbell Tait Archibald Campbell Tait (21 December 18113 December 1882) was an Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England and theologian. He was the first Scottish Archbishop of Canterbury and thus, head of the Church of England. Life Tait was bo ...

(Archbishop 1868–1882) *

Edward White Benson Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral. He was previous ...

(Archbishop 1883–1896) All except Benson are buried in St Mary's Church or churchyard, Addington: Benson is buried in

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

. The house was sold in 1897 to Frederick Alexander English, a diamond merchant from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. After his death, the mansion was taken over during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

by the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

and became a fever hospital. Eventually, in 1930, it came into the hands of the

County Borough of Croydon The County Borough of Croydon was a local government district in and around the town of Croydon in north east Surrey, England from 1889 to 1965. Since 1965 the district has been part of the London Borough of Croydon within Greater London. Hist ...

Current usage

The house was

Grade II* In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

in 1951. In 1953, it was leased to the

, initially to house choirboys assembled from all over Britain to sing at the

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II The coronation of Elizabeth II took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London. She acceded to the throne at the age of 25 upon the death of her father, George VI, on 6 February 1952, being proclaimed queen by her privy and executive ...

. The building housed the Royal School of Church Music's music publishing operation, residential college and choir school until 1996, when a private company took it over for development as a conference and banqueting venue, health farm and country club. It was used extensively for

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

s until the company operating it went into liquidation in 2021. It is surrounded by a park and golf courses, and its gardens are still largely in their original design. Much of the grounds have been leased by golf clubs and the exclusive Bishops Walk housing development was built on Bishops Walk (a private road). A large Cedar of Lebanon stands next to the Palace, one of the

Great Trees of London Great Trees of London is a list created by Trees for Cities after the Great Storm of 1987, when the general public were asked to suggest suitable trees. Forty-one were chosen, with a further 20 added in 2008. In 2010, Time Out Guides Limited ...

References

External links

Addington Palace – Surrey Wedding Venue & Conference Centre

Addington Palace – Surrey Health Club & Spa

{{Authority control History of the London Borough of Croydon Houses in the London Borough of Croydon Episcopal palaces of archbishops of Canterbury Gardens by Capability Brown Country houses in London Grade II* listed buildings in the London Borough of Croydon Grade II* listed houses in London Houses completed in 1774

History

Current usage

See also

References

External links