Winchester Palace

Ruins

Ruins · London, United Kingdom 51.5064°N 0.0906°W

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Winchester Palace

Time needed

15 minutesViewed from the pavement

Best time

Any hourOpen to view at any time

Cost

FreeNo ticket, no booking

Access

No interiorSeen from Clink Street

Guide

Not neededGo on your own

hours

What are the opening hours of Winchester Palace?

None apply. The ruin is open to view at any time of day or night, from the pavement on Clink Street. There is no access to the interior and nothing to book, so a Bankside walk can take it in at any hour.

cost

Is Winchester Palace free?

Yes, it is free. The ruin is viewed from the street, with no ticket and no timed slot, which makes it an easy addition to a walk between Southwark Cathedral and the river.

where

Where is Winchester Palace in London?

On Clink Street in Southwark, postcode SE1 9DG, beside the Golden Hinde replica and the Clink Prison Museum. The nearest main-line station is London Bridge, and several bus routes stop close by.

what

What is left of Winchester Palace?

Part of the Great Hall survives, chiefly its west gable with the rose window and the three service doorways beneath it. Below the hall there was once a vaulted cellar, and a garden now fills the old floor area.

who

Who built Winchester Palace?

The Bishops of Winchester, who kept it as their London home. Bishop Henry of Blois, brother of King Stephen, founded the palace in the 12th century, and the hall that survives was built in the early 13th century.

inside

Can you go inside Winchester Palace?

No. The interior is closed to visitors, so the ruin is a pavement stop rather than a building to walk through. Plan on looking up at the gable from across Clink Street.

Stop on Clink Street to look up at the rose window in the last standing gable of the bishops' Great Hall. You see it from the pavement, free and at any hour.

What makes it special

What stands on Clink Street is the west gable wall of the Great Hall of the Bishops of Winchester, once one of the largest and most important buildings in medieval London. A round rose window is set high in it, and below the window are the doorways that led to the buttery, pantry and kitchen.

Beneath the hall ran a vaulted cellar for wine and other goods, with a passage to the river wharf. King James of Scotland and Joan Beaufort held their wedding feast in the hall in 1424.

A fire in 1814 destroyed most of the palace, and the remains were fully revealed only in the 1980s. Behind the wall, a medieval-style garden has been planted in what is left of the hall.

Visiting

Between the Golden Hinde replica ship and the Clink Prison Museum, just east of the corner with Stoney Street, the ruin stands on Clink Street. There is no way inside, so the whole visit happens on the pavement.

Stand opposite the wall and look at the rose window first, then drop your eye to the three doorways at the foot of the wall.

The ruin sits on the Thames Path, so fold it into a walk along Bankside from the Southbank Centre. Pair it with Southwark Cathedral, then with Borough Market.

Tips

Come by train or bus. London Bridge station is very close and several bus routes pass nearby, while there is no car park and only very limited metered street parking.

The nearest public toilets are at Borough Market, so plan any break around the market rather than the ruin.