Cheddar Palace
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name =Cheddar Palace
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| image =Kings of Wessex School chapel.jpg
| caption =The ruined St Columbanus Chapel
| locmapin =Somerset
| coordinates = {{coord|51|16|29|N|2|46|44|W|display=inline,title}}
| location =Cheddar, Somerset, England
| area =
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| designation1 =Ancient monument
| designation1_offname =Roman settlement site, Anglo-Saxon and Norman royal palace, and St Columbanus' Chapel
| designation1_date =16 December 1999{{National Heritage List for England |num=1017290 |desc=Roman settlement site, Anglo-Saxon and Norman royal palace, and St Columbanus' Chapel|accessdate=7 July 2015}}
| designation1_number =1017290
| designation2 =Grade II listed building
| designation2_offname =Former chapel dedicated to St Columbanus
| designation2_date =29 January 1985
| designation2_number =1173737
}}
The Cheddar Palace was established in the 9th century,{{cite book|last=Emery|first=Anthony|title=Discovering Medieval Houses|year=2007|publisher=Osprey Publishing|isbn=9780747806554|page=21|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=41NtEXE71u8C&pg=PA21}} in Cheddar, Somerset, England. It was a royal hunting lodge in the Anglo-Saxon and medieval periods and hosted the Witenagemot in the 10th century.
Nearby are the ruins of the 14th-century St Columbanus Chapel. Roman artifacts and a burial have also been discovered. The site of the palace is now marked by concrete slabs within the grounds of The Kings of Wessex Academy.
History
File:Saxon palace at Cheddar.jpg
A wooden "great hall" was constructed around the reign of King Alfred the Great (died 899 AD) and the "community at Cheddar" received a special mention in his will.{{Cite book|last=Atthill |first=Robin |title=Mendip: A new study |year=1976 |pages=77 |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbott |isbn= 0-7153-7297-1 }} At this time the building served as a minster. It was rebuilt around 930 and a chapel and other buildings were added, becoming a royal hunting lodge.
During the Saxon period, it was used on three occasions in the 10th century to host the Witenagemot, an assembly of powerful figures, in 941, 956 and 968, probably for Æthelstan and Edgar the Peaceful. There is documentary evidence that Henry I visited the palace in 1121 and 1130 and Henry II in 1158.{{cite book|last=Dunning|first=Robert|title=Somerset & Avon|year=1980|publisher=Bartholomew|isbn=0702883808|page=63}} Several expansions of the site took place between the Saxon and medieval eras.{{cite journal|last=Blair|first=John|title=Palaces or minsters? Northampton and Cheddar reconsidered|journal=Anglo-Saxon England|date=December 1996|volume=25|pages=97–121|doi=10.1017/S0263675100001964}}
Fragments of Ham Green Pottery found at the site were dated to 1200-1220.{{cite journal|last1=Barton|first1=Kenneth James|title=A Medieval Pottery Kiln at Ham Green, Bristol|journal=Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society|date=1963|volume=82|pages=95–126|url=http://www2.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v082/bg082095.pdf}}
In 1230 the site was given to the Dean and Chapter of Wells Cathedral. In 1548, when William Barlow was the Bishop of Bath and Wells, it was sold to Edward VI.{{cite web|title=Medieval royal and episcopal palace, Cheddar|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/11442|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=South West Heritage Trust|accessdate=26 May 2014}}
The remains were excavated during the construction of the school, but have since been re-buried.{{cite book|last1=Rahtz|first1=Philip A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P5RnAAAAMAAJ|title=The Saxon and medieval palaces at Cheddar: excavations, 1960–62|last2=Anderson|first2=Frederick William|last3=Hirst|first3=S.M.|publisher=British Archaeological Reports|year=1979|isbn=9780860540557|doi=10.30861/9781407310596|authorlink1=Philip Rahtz}} The layout is marked with concrete plinths.{{cite web|url=http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/Somerset_EUS_Cheddar.pdf|title=Cheddar Archaeological Assessment|last=Richardson|first=Miranda|year=2003|work=Somerset Extensive Urban Survey|publisher=South West Heritage Trust|format=PDF|accessdate=26 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528005952/http://www1.somerset.gov.uk/archives/hes/downloads/Somerset_EUS_Cheddar.pdf|archive-date=2014-05-28|url-status=dead}}
St Columbanus Chapel
Next to the site are ruins of a 14th-century chapel dedicated to St. Columbanus.{{cite web| url= https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1173737 | work= historicengland.org.uk | publisher=Historic England | title= Former chapel dedicated to St Columbanus | accessdate=31 March 2008}} It stands on a site originally built on in the 10th century and enlarged in the 11th. In the 17th century it became a private dwelling that survived until 1910.{{cite web|title=Cheddar Palace excavation (1960, 1961, 1962), Cheddar|url=http://www.somersetheritage.org.uk/record/12760|work=Somerset Historic Environment Record|publisher=South West Heritage Trust|accessdate=26 May 2014}}
The building was octagonal in plan. End walls remain standing and are supported by diagonal corner buttresses; however the north and south walls are now only approximately {{convert|1|m}} high.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1173737 |desc=Former chapel dedicated to St Columbanus, now ruin, in the grounds of Kings of Wessex School|accessdate=5 April 2015}}
Roman remains
File:Kings of Wessex School entrance.jpg mark out the location of the Saxon palace]]
In January 2006, during the building of a new languages block at the school, a grave, believed to be Roman, was uncovered.{{cite news | title=School dig uncovers Roman grave |
publisher= BBC News | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4630806.stm |
date=20 January 2006 | accessdate=26 May 2014}} The grave contained the skeleton of a man, believed to be around 50 years old and pagan rather than Christian due to the north-south orientation of the grave.
Various Roman artifacts, including wall plaster and tesserae, dating from the 1st to the 4th centuries have also been found. It has been suggested that this may be linked with the settlement of Iscalis, whose location is unknown.
References
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{{Commons category|Cheddar Palace}}
Category:Scheduled monuments in Sedgemoor
Category:Grade II listed buildings in Sedgemoor