Palace (2)

Palace in ecclesiastical phraseology is used for a bishop's house, called before the Norman invasion the minster-house, in which he resided with his family of clerks. It was provided with a gatehouse at Chichester and Hereford; at Wells it is moated and defended by walls; at Durham it is an actual castle; at Lincoln and St. David's it exists only as a magnificent ruin; the chapels remain at York, Winchester, Chichester, Durham, Wells, and Salisbury; and the hall is preserved at Chichester; a few portions remain at Worcester. There is a very perfect example at Ely. Bishops had town houses mostly along the Strand, as el as numerous country houses, like Farnham Rose, Hartlebury, and Bishop's Auckland. The chapels of Lambeth and Ely Place (Holborn), the abbots' houses at Peterborough and Chester, converted at the Reformation into palaces, retain many ancient portions, like those of Bayeux, Sens, Noyon, Beauvais, Auxerre, Meaux, and Laon. See Walcott, Sacred Archceol. s.v.