Brill Palace was a medieval English royal residence located in the village of

Brill Brill may refer to: Places * Brielle (sometimes "Den Briel"), a town in the western Netherlands * Brill, Buckinghamshire, a village in England * Brill, Cornwall, a small village to the west of Constantine, Cornwall, UK * Brill, Wisconsin, an un ...

in the

Aylesbury Vale The Aylesbury Vale (or Vale of Aylesbury) is a geographical region in Buckinghamshire, England, which is bounded by the Borough of Milton Keynes and South Northamptonshire to the north, Central Bedfordshire and the Borough of Dacorum ( Hertfor ...

. It was within the jurisdiction of the former Ashendon Hundred. Brill Palace was founded during the

Heptarchy The Heptarchy were the seven petty kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England that flourished from the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain in the 5th century until they were consolidated in the 8th century into the four kingdoms of Mercia, Northumbria, Wess ...

and was used by

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

. Henry II visited it at least twice, in 1160 and 1162. In 1203,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

granted the manor of Brill to Walter Borstard, his chaplain, at the same time naming Borstard keeper of the palace. Henry III was in residence during 1224; he stayed at

Missenden Abbey Missenden Abbey (also referred to as Great Missenden Abbey) is a former Arrouasian (Augustinian) monastery, founded in 1133 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. The abbey was dissolved in 1538, and the abbey church demolished. I ...

several times while en route to Brill and is recorded as having rewarded the monks for their hospitality with presents of timber. The manor subsequently passed to Hugh de Neville in 1226 and

Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall Richard (5 January 1209 – 2 April 1272) was an English prince who was King of the Romans from 1257 until his death in 1272. He was the second son of John, King of England, and Isabella, Countess of Angoulême. Richard was nominal Count of Poi ...

by 1233. In 1252, a hermitage dedicated to

Saint Werburgh Werburgh (also ''Wærburh'', ''Werburh'', ''Werburga'', meaning "true city"; ; c. AD 650 – 3 February 699/700) was an Anglo-Saxon princess who became the patron saint of the city of Chester in Cheshire. Her feast day is 3 February. Life Wer ...

was established by Henry III, with the condition that the canons of

Chetwode Chetwode is a village and civil parish about southwest of Buckingham in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire. The parish is bounded to the southwest and southeast by a brook called The Birne, which here also forms part of the county b ...

, who were responsible for the endowment, should supply chaplains not only for the hermitage but also for the chapel of Brill Palace. During the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

, a royal garrison held the palace from November 1642 to April 1643, repulsing an attack by parliamentary forces under the command of

John Hampden John Hampden (24 June 1643) was an English landowner and politician whose opposition to arbitrary taxes imposed by Charles I made him a national figure. An ally of Parliamentarian leader John Pym, and cousin to Oliver Cromwell, he was one of th ...

. The ruins of the palace were still visible in 1885, and the site remains a scheduled ancient monument.

References

{{Authority control Palaces in England Royal residences in England Former palaces in England Demolished buildings and structures in England

See also

References