Beaumont Palace

Beaumont Palace in Oxford was built by Henry I about 1130 to serve as a royal palace conveniently close to the royal hunting-lodge at Woodstock (now part of the park of Blenheim Palace). Its former presence is recorded in Beaumont Street, Oxford. Set into a pillar on the north side of the street, near Walton Street, is a stone with the inscription: "Near to this site stood the King's Houses later known as Beaumont Palace. King Richard I was born here in 1157 and King John in 1167". The "King's House" was the range of the palace that contained the king's lodgings.

When Edward II was put to flight at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314, he is said to have invoked the Virgin Mary and vowed to found a monastery for the Carmelites (the White Friars) if he might escape safely. In fulfillment of his vow he remanded Beaumont Palace to the Carmelites in 1318. When the White Friars were disbanded at the Reformation, most of the structure was dismantled and the building stone reused in Christ Church and St John's College. The last remains of Beaumont Palace were obliterated at the laying out of Beaumont Street in the 1820s.

External links

* [http://www.oxfordinscriptions.com/the_royal_connection.htm Oxford inscriptions]