The Cheddar Palace was established in the 9th century, in

Cheddar, Somerset Cheddar is a large village and civil parish in the English county of Somerset. It is situated on the southern edge of the Mendip Hills, north-west of Wells, south-east of Weston-super-Mare and south-west of Bristol. The civil parish includ ...

, England. It was a royal hunting lodge in the

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

and medieval periods and hosted the

Witenagemot The witan () was the king's council in the Anglo-Saxon government of England from before the 7th century until the 11th century. It comprised important noblemen, including ealdormen, thegns, and bishops. Meetings of the witan were sometimes ...

in the 10th century. Nearby are the ruins of the 14th-century St Columbanus Chapel. Roman artifacts and a burial have also been discovered. The site of the palace is now marked by concrete slabs within the grounds of The Kings of Wessex Academy.

History

A wooden "great hall" was constructed around the reign of King Alfred the Great (died 899 AD) and the "community at Cheddar" received a special mention in his will. At this time the building served as a minster. It was rebuilt around 930 and a chapel and other buildings were added, becoming a royal hunting lodge. During the Saxon period, it was used on three occasions in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot, an assembly of powerful figures, in 941, 956 and 968, probably for

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern histori ...

and

Edgar the Peaceful Edgar (or Eadgar; 8 July 975), known sometimes as Edgar the Peacemaker or the Peaceable, was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. He became king of all England on his brother Eadwig's death. He was the younger son of King Edm ...

. There is documentary evidence that Henry I visited the palace in 1121 and 1130 and

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

in 1158. Several expansions of the site took place between the Saxon and medieval eras. Fragments of Ham Green Pottery found at the site were dated to 1200-1220. In 1230 the site was given to the Dean and Chapter of

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Bath and Wells and the mother church of the diocese of Bath and Wells. There are daily Church of England services in ...

. In 1548, when William Barlow was the

Bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...

, it was sold to

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

. The remains were excavated during the construction of the school, but have since been re-buried. The layout is marked with concrete plinths.

St Columbanus Chapel

Next to the site are ruins of a 14th-century chapel dedicated to St. Columbanus. It stands on a site originally built on in the 10th century and enlarged in the 11th. In the 17th century it became a private dwelling that survived until 1910. The building was octagonal in plan. End walls remain standing and are supported by diagonal corner

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es; however the north and south walls are now only approximately high.

Roman remains

In January 2006, during the building of a new languages block at the school, a grave, believed to be Roman, was uncovered. The grave contained the skeleton of a man, believed to be around 50 years old and pagan rather than Christian due to the north-south orientation of the grave. Various Roman artifacts, including wall plaster and

tessera A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive ''tessella'') is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic. It is also known as an abaciscus or abaculus. Historical tesserae In early antiquity, mo ...

e, dating from the 1st to the 4th centuries have also been found. It has been suggested that this may be linked with the settlement of

Iscalis Iscalis was a Roman settlement described by Ptolemy. The exact location has not been clearly identified but the possible sites are in the modern ceremonial county of Somerset, England. One of the possible sites is at Gatcombe which was occupied f ...

, whose location is unknown.

References

{{Commons category, Cheddar Palace Scheduled monuments in Sedgemoor Grade II listed buildings in Sedgemoor Roman sites in England Cheddar, Somerset