Bede House, Lyddington, Rutland
Lyddington Bede House is a historic house in Rutland, part of a former palace of the Bishops of Lincoln, and later used as an almshouse. It is next to St Andrew's Church in the village of Lyddington.
The medieval Diocese of Lincoln was the largest bishopric in England, extending from the River Thames to the Humber Estuary. The Norman king's often hunted in the nearby royal forest of Rockingham; the Bishops of Lincoln, influenced by the pleasures of the chase and the proximity to royalty, developed their estate at Lyddington just to the north. This was conveniently near to the centre of the diocese, and became an important seat in ecclesiastical administration.
The existing building is probably only one range of the original palace, most likely built by Bishop Alnwick (1436-49) and altered by Bishops Russell (1480-94) and Smith (1496-1514).
After the Reformation, ownership passed to the Cecil family who made it their private house. By 1600 it had passed to Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, son of Lord Burghley, who converted it into an almshouse for twelve poor bedesmen and it continued in this use until 1930. A feature is the former bishop's Great Chamber with its beautifully carved ceiling cornice.
Bede House, Lyddington, Rutland
Lyddington Bede House is a historic house in Rutland, part of a former palace of the Bishops of Lincoln, and later used as an almshouse. It is next to St Andrew's Church in the village of Lyddington.
The medieval Diocese of Lincoln was the largest bishopric in England, extending from the River Thames to the Humber Estuary. The Norman king's often hunted in the nearby royal forest of Rockingham; the Bishops of Lincoln, influenced by the pleasures of the chase and the proximity to royalty, developed their estate at Lyddington just to the north. This was conveniently near to the centre of the diocese, and became an important seat in ecclesiastical administration.
The existing building is probably only one range of the original palace, most likely built by Bishop Alnwick (1436-49) and altered by Bishops Russell (1480-94) and Smith (1496-1514).
After the Reformation, ownership passed to the Cecil family who made it their private house. By 1600 it had passed to Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, son of Lord Burghley, who converted it into an almshouse for twelve poor bedesmen and it continued in this use until 1930. A feature is the former bishop's Great Chamber with its beautifully carved ceiling cornice.