Charing is one of the earliest possessions of the See of Canterbury recorded in the 11th Century. After the Norman conquest, Archbishop Lanfranc (1070-1093) is thought to have been the first to have built a house on the manor. The Archbishop’s registers indicate that a palace at Charing was in regular use from the time of Archbishop Peckham (1279 - 1292).  Later both Henry VII and Henry VIII stayed at the Palace, the latter on his way to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. The property was seized by the Crown after the Dissolution in 1545 and was subsequently leased to and later owned by local farming gentry, notably the Honywoods and the Whelers. The present owner’s family acquired the complex in the 1950s. The buildings are listed by English Heritage as Grade I and are a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Project proposal

The Trust proposes the Palace precinct be opened to the public and, in response to the former owner’s wishes, use be made of the buildings to provide community benefits and preserve the buildings for prosperity.  The Archbishop's Palace was a finalist in the national competition for the best restoration project in the second series of the BBC Television series "Restoration".