Mrs Barlow came to give a talk with slides entitled "I Went to School in a Palace."
The palace was Croydon Place, the first residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury which was built in the 9th century by the Saxons. It was built on a large island formed by two rivers, consequently making it rather a damp place to live, and surrounded by forests. A village quickly grew up around the palace as many people visited the palace and it became an ideal place for traders. When William the Conqueror came over he installed a Norman archbishop and it was used until the 18th century when Lambeth Palace became the residence for the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Over the centuries many monarchs stayed there and the widowed Catherine of Aragon lived there for several years before marrying Henry VIII. When Elizabeth I and her large entourage visited there was not enough room in the palace to accommodate everyone and some of the villagers took guests in. We saw slides of the bedroom used by Queen Elizabeth and her chair in the chapel.
Changes took place over the centuries and many buildings were demolished and in the 19th century it was bought by nuns who made alterations and turned it into a school. It is still a school today but very little of the original grounds remain as houses have now been built on them.
Skittles Evening
Once again our annual skittles evening at the Lobster Pot was a resounding success. We were pleased to see so many husbands accompanying their wives. After all the hectic activity we were more than ready for our fish and chip supper by the time it turned up in mid-evening. Many prizes were available and the proceeds of our raffle went to our charity.
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page last updated 8 JUNE 1997