Ewelme: A Village And Its Vanished Medieval Palace

Send us a textWhere is Ewelme Palace?  It was one of the most splendid houses in the country when it was built in the 15th century but nothing of it now remains.  There are, however, some of the ancillary buildings and monuments that went with a great medieval estate.  Its chatelaine Alice, Duchess of Suffolk, is remembered by one of the most beautiful tombs in the country.  A granddaughter of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, she became a great heiress when her first husband, the Earl of Salisbury, was killed by a cannonball while fighting in France.  Her second husband, William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, with whom she built what was virtually a palace at Ewelme, does not rest beside her.  Why not?   Having spectacularly enriched himself while ruling England in the place of the weak-minded Henry VI, he was instrumental in losing most of the English possessions in France; fleeing England, he was caught and had his head hacked off, his remains being eventually buried in Suffolk.  The 13 almsmen at Ewelme had a punishing schedule of prayers, intended to shorten the time William and Alice would spend in Purgatory.  You can see why they might have thought it was necessary.The 15th-century school house contains a primary school.  The almshouses, too, are still going, softening the blow of old age.  It’s true, not a stitch of the palace remains above ground, though it was of exceptional splendour and had some extraordinary features, such as an early use of cast iron.  Wholly and utterly gone – but don’t despair.  Ewelme was the subject of John’s doctoral thesis and there is no one who can talk about it with Clive in such fascinating and absorbing detail.  Prepare to be amazed by the story of this little known and now vanished palace and the village that went with it – now one of the most beautiful in Britain.

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