Picture, if you will, a grand London town house, Durham House, the historic residence of the Bishop of Durham in the Strand. Durham House’s gardens stretched down to the River Thames. Let’s uncover its rich history together.
Bishop Thomas Hatfield built Durham House around 1345. Durham House boasted a large chapel and a great hall. Marble pillars supported the hall’s high ceiling. The Strand side featured a gatehouse leading to a large courtyard. The hall and chapel faced the entrance. Private apartments overlooked the river. People described Durham House as a noble palace fit for a prince.
King Henry IV, his son Henry, Prince of Wales, and their retinues stayed at Durham House. While still an episcopal palace, Catherine of Aragon lived here almost as a prisoner. This was between her marriages to Arthur, Prince of Wales, and King Henry VIII.
Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall eventually gave Durham House to King Henry VIII. Henry promised to give the bishop Coldharbour and other residences, but he never kept that promise. Henry FitzRoy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, lived in Durham House in his youth after being granted it in 1525. Anne Boleyn resided in Durham House in 1532. She lived here while Henry courted her before their marriage in 1533.
Henry gave Durham House to his daughter Lady Elizabeth. Later Queen Mary removed the house from Lady Elizabeth’s possession. Mary restored Durham House to Tunstall.
Lady Jane Grey married Guilford Dudley at Durham House on May 21 or 25, 1553. On the same day, Guildford’s sister Katherine married Henry Hastings. Jane’s sister Katherine married Lord Herbert here, too.
Upon becoming queen, Elizabeth seized Durham House again. She kept it until 1583 when she granted it to Sir Walter Raleigh. Raleigh spent a lot of money on repairs. He lived there until Elizabeth’s death. John Aubrey remembered Raleigh’s study. It was in a little turret overlooking the Thames with views of Westminster and Whitehall Palace.
Raleigh hosted Manteo and Wanchese at Durham House. They were the first Native American Algonquin Indians to visit England from the New World. Sir Walter Raleigh sent expeditions to Roanoke Island in 1584. They explored and settled Virginia. The explorers persuaded Manteo and Wanchese to return with them to London. The two Indians made a big impression at the royal court. Raleigh focused on intelligence about Virginia. He assigned Thomas Harriot to decipher and learn the Carolina Algonquian language.
After Elizabeth’s death, Tobias Matthew reclaimed Durham House for the see. He offered it for use by the Privy Council. King James I approved.
Neither Matthew nor his successors lived at Durham House. It became run-down. The stables were demolished for the New Exchange’s construction. The New Exchange was a market occupied by milliners and seamstresses.
In the 1630s, the Durham House Group met here. This group included Richard Neile and William Laud. Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry, lived in the best part of Durham House. He died there in 1640. Philip Herbert, 5th Earl of Pembroke, later obtained what remained of the house. He rented it but never built a fine house on the site.
The last of the ruins were cleared away during King George III’s reign. Robert Adam and James Adam built the Adelphi Buildings. They raised the whole level on arches. Today, little remains of the once grand Durham House. Its legacy lives on in historical accounts and the echoes of those who once walked its halls.