Old Bishop's Palace, Chester

Coordinates: 53°11′18″N 2°53′12″W / 53.1884°N 2.8867°W / 53.1884; -2.8867

Old Bishop's Palace
Location in Cheshire
Location:	The Groves, Chester, Cheshire, England
OS grid reference:	SJ 409 661
Built:	1745–51
Built for:	Bishop Samuel Peploe
Architectural style(s):	Georgian
Listed Building – Grade II*
Designated:	28 July 1955
Reference #:	1375949

The Old Bishop's Palace is located in an elevated position overlooking The Groves and the River Dee in Chester, Cheshire, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building.^[1]

History

Building of the palace began before 1745, and it was completed in 1751. It was built for Samuel Peploe, Bishop of Chester. The palace was substantially expanded in the 18th century, and altered again in the 19th century but, apart from the main door, its external appearance has been virtually unchanged since the 18th century. It became the official residence of the bishops of Chester in 1865, and continued to be used for this purpose until the 1920s. It then was converted for use as a YMCA hostel, and retained this purpose until the early 1980s, when it was further converted into commercial offices.^[2]

Architecture

The palace is constructed in red brick with stone dressings and has grey slate roofs. It is in three storeys plus cellars, and has a hipped roof. The front of the main block facing the river has eleven bays with rusticated quoins at the corners. The fourth to sixth bays form a canted projection rising through the three storeys containing the entrance door in the ground floor. All the other bays in each storey contain a sash window. Between the ground and first floors is a stone band. Above the upper storey is a stone cornice and a brick coped parapet. There is a one-bay wing at the right end of the building. In the wing and on the sides of the building are more sash windows.^[1] The interior contains an open-well staircase with six flights and turned balusters; the balustrade has replaced a former Chinese Chippendale balustrade. On the first floor is a large room with an 18th-century decorated ceiling.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Old Palace, Chester (1375949). National Heritage List for England. English Heritage. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
2. ^ ^{a b} Langtree, Stephen; Comyns, Alan, eds. (2001), 2000 Years of Building: Chester's Architectural Legacy, Chester: Chester Civic Trust, p. 118, ISBN 0-9540152-0-7