Before we move on to our next Wednesday series, here’a quick look back at the last…
Specials
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 10. The Old Deanery…
Containing a residence for the Bishop of London (although, it has to be said, certainly not traditionally a bishop’s palace), the Old Deanery is located in Dean’s Court, to the south-east of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Subscribe for just £3 a month to access all of Exploring London’s content – and support our work!
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 9. Croydon Palace…
A former summer residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury for centuries, Croydon Palace has in more recent times been used as a school.
Subscribe for £3 a month to access all of Exploring London’s articles…
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 8. Bishop of Ely’s palace…
Once a significant estate on the northern outskirts of London, the palace of the Bishops of Ely was used for some 500 years as their London residence.
Subscribe for £3 a month to access all of Exploring London’s content – and help us find our work…
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 7. Archbishop’s House, Westminster…
Archbishop’s House, located next to the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Westminster, is the official residence of the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.
Subscribe for just £3 a month to see all of Exploring London’s content.
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 6. Fulham Palace…
The former residence of the Bishops of London for more than 1,300 years, Fulham Palace is today a museum surrounded by 13 acres of gardens on the north bank of the Thames.
Get access to all of Exploring London’s articles for just £3 a month…
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 5. Durham House…
Now long gone, this central London property was once the residence of the, you guessed it, bishops of Durham.
Subscribe for just £3 a month to access all of Exploring London’s articles…
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 4. Bromley Palace…
This building, which dates from 1775, is the former palace of the Bishops of Rochester and the latest incarnation of the palace which the bishops used for centuries.
The land, which came to be known as the Manor of Bromley, was initially granted to the bishops of Rochester by Saxon kings of Kent over a couple of centuries. Following the Norman Conquest, an attempt by Odo, the Earl of Kent, to claim it failed thanks to the efforts of Bishop Gundulf (1075-1108) and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc.
Subscribe for just £3 a month to access all of Exploring London’s articles…
12 most popular posts of 2025…3 to 1…
The final three in our most read posts countdown (and apologies for being a day late!)….
2. London Explained – Lord Mayor or Mayor?
1. London Explained – Red phone boxes…
12 most popular posts of 2025…6 to 4…
12 most popular posts of 2025…9 to 7…
12 most popular posts of 2025…
This year we’ve expanded our annual list of our most read posts (this time for those published in 2025) to include 12 – that’s three a day with the final three to be released on New Year’s Day!
So without further ado…
12. 10 historic London docks…10. East India Docks…
11. 10 London mysteries – 8. The Ceremony of the Rendering of the Quit Rents…
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 3. Winchester Palace…
Now a few scant ruins located in Southwark, this was once the opulent palace of one of the most powerful clergymen in the country.
We’ve written about Winchester Palace before but we thought it was worth a second look in our current series.
Subscribe for just £3 a month to access all of our content…
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 2. York Place…
The precursor to Whitehall Palace, York Place was the London residence of the Archbishops of York between the 13th and 16th centuries.
Subscribe for just £3 a month to access all of Exploring London’s content…
10 London bishop’s palaces, past and present – 1. Lambeth Palace…
Dame Sarah Mullally, Bishop of London since 2018, was named as the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury in October so we thought it a good time to explore some of the grand palaces which served as bishop’s palaces, some of them still standing and others not.
And what more appropriate place to start than Lambeth Palace, the official Thames-side residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Subscribe for just £3 a month to access all of Exploring London’s content…
10 places to encounter London’s animal life…A recap…
Before we move on to our next Wednesday series, here’s a recap…
10 places to encounter London’s animal life…10.. Hanwell Zoo…
Hanwell Zoo in London’s west is, like Golder’s Hill Zoo, one of the city’s smaller zoos.
Subscribe for £3 a month to access all of our content (and support our work!)
10 places to encounter London’s animal life…9. Walthamstow Wetlands…
This 211 hectare site in east London, managed by Thames Water, is one of the largest urban wetland in Europe.
Subscribe for just £3 a month to access all of our content (and support our work!)
10 places to encounter London’s animal life…8. Epping Forest…
This 6,000 acre woodland and pasture habitat, located on the north-eastern outskirts of London, is famous for its ancient and veteran trees – numbering almost 55,000 – but is also home to a range of wildlife.
Subscribe for £3 a month to access all of our articles (and support our work!)…
10 places to encounter London’s animal life…7. Kew Gardens…
Famous for it’s flora, Kew Gardens is also home to some unusual animal life including Chinese water dragons who live in the warm environments of the glasshouses.
See all of our content (and support our work) for just £3 a month…
Other animals in the gardens include foxes, hedgehogs and birds including green and great-spotted woodpeckers, mute swans, Canada geese, mallards, ring-necked parakeets, kingfishers, tawny owls, moorhens, and stock doves.
And, of course, the gardens are home to a myriad of insects including bees, butterflies and dragonflies as well as aquatic life including frogs, newts and fish.
WHERE: Kew Gardens (nearest Tube station is Kew Gardens); WHEN: 10am to 7pm (last entry 6pm) daily; COST: £25 adults/£8 children 16 and under (children under four free) (cheaper tickets for online bookings and during off-peak period from 1st November to 31st January); WEBSITE: www.kew.org.
Exploring London 