8 Palace Street: Canterbury’s Best Half-Timbered Building

This timber-framed house, 8 Palace Street, is one of Canterbury’s most photographed building.

It’s known for its striking architectural features, including large decorative bressumer beams and two grotesque corbels.

Originally constructed around 1250 as the priest’s house for St Alphege Church, the building featured a first-floor hall above a stone-flagged undercroft.

The remarkable structure is Grade 2 listed, making it of historic national importance.

Canterbury as a whole is home to a remarkable collection of medieval buildings.

Timber-framed houses, with their distinctive overhanging upper stories and intricately carved beams, are scattered throughout the city - but number 8 Palace Street is the best known.

The distinctive timber framing and overhanging first floor were added in the late 15th century.

Major expansions followed in 1665, adding a second floor and constructing a new building between the house and the church.

This addition served as the rectory until it was demolished in the 1880s, leaving only its doorway in the now plain wall.

Around that time, the ground-floor facade was replaced by a repurposed shop front, and the building became a barber's and tobacconist’s shop.

While the interior is not open to the public, it still preserves its central pier, double stone arches, massive oak joists, and heavy flagstone flooring on the first level.

You can still admire the exterior which is adorned with exquisite carvings, featuring detailed floral and geometric patterns along the jetties.

The most captivating elements, however, are the carved brackets supporting the jetties.

These depict grinning demons or grotesques, each holding their protruding chests in a rather suggestive manner.

Grotesques were often believed to ward off evil spirits and protect buildings from malevolent forces.

Their fearsome or bizarre appearance was thought to act as a deterrent to demons and supernatural threats.

Built as a priest’s house for St Alphege Church

St Alphege Church in Canterbury is a significant historical and architectural landmark.

The church, dedicated to St Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1006 to 1012, honours his martyrdom during a Viking raid.

St Alphege refused to allow his people to pay a ransom for his life and was ultimately killed in Greenwich in 1012.

His canonisation soon followed, and the church stands as a tribute to his legacy.

The building itself has ancient origins, with parts dating back to the 12th century.

Its Norman-era construction laid the foundation for what would become a symbol of Canterbury’s ecclesiastical past.

The church's medieval core, including its stone nave, reflects traditional architecture of its time, blending elements of Norman and early English Gothic styles.

St Alphege Church, although modest in scale compared to Canterbury Cathedral, played a vital role in the local community, serving as a parish church for centuries.

In the late medieval period, alterations were made, including the addition of windows and the remodeling of certain internal spaces.

However, like many smaller churches, St Alphege fell into decline during the post-Reformation era, and by the 16th century, its significance had waned.

The church was deconsecrated in 1982, a fate that befell many churches across the country due to shrinking congregations.

If you’d like to visit 8 Palace Street, the address is: 8 Palace Street, Canterbury, Kent, England, CT1 2DY.

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