King John's Palace is the remains of a former medieval royal residence in Kings Clipstone, north-west Nottinghamshire. The name "King John's Palace" has been used since the 18th century; prior to that the site was known as the "King's Houses". It is not known how or when the building became associated with King John as he only spent a total of nine days here. The site is standing on private land within Sherwood Forest.
Early History The earliest reference to the King's Houses dates back to 1164 during the reign of Henry II (1154–1189). The first period of significant building took place between 1176 and 1180, when Henry ordered £500 to be spent, and also created a deer park at Clipstone. Hunting game was the preserve of the aristocracy and deer parks provided a form of recreation, foodstuffs for feasting and an arena for crucial political and economic deals to be made. In 1194 Richard I arranged a meeting with William, King of Scots at Clipstone, and in 1290, Edward I convened Parliament here.Queen Eleanor the first wife of Edward I was taken ill at the palace and moved to Harby, Nottinghamshire.William Horner Groves, The History of Mansfield, (1894) retrieved on the 12 May 2025
The King's Houses were once very well-appointed. The ruins that are visible today are the remains of a Romanesque chamber dating from around 1180. The stone chamber was accessed through a large, buttressed central doorway and had a timber upper floor which allowed views over the deer park from ornately carved windows. However, the chamber was only a small part of a large, multiphased complex of buildings which is known to have existed at Clipstone from documents, geophysical survey and archaeological excavation. These included a gatehouse, tower, individual hall and chambers for the King and Queen, several chapels, kitchens, stables for 200 horses, and lodgings for many royal retainers. There was also a Great Pond which provided 100 pike and 1600 roach during Edward II's visit in December 1315.
Clipstone remained an important royal centre until the late fifteenth century when the English monarchy began to focus on other residences. In 1525 it was said of the King's Houses that "ther is great dekay & ruyne in stone-work tymber lede and plaster". By the mid-18th century, the site had been reduced to the ruin that stands today.
King John's Palace was consolidated during 2009 by Paul Mendham Stonemasons during a conservation project funded by English Heritage and Nottinghamshire County Council. The site is the focus of an ongoing archaeological project by Andy Gaunt of Mercian Archaeological Services and the buildings archaeologist James Wright.King Johns Palace, the official research|Mercian Archeological Services|URL = on https://www.mercian-as.co.uk/kjp_sfap.html| retrieved on 7 April 2025
The King's Houses Establishment of the palace and deer park
The establishment of the King's Houses was linked to Clipstone's location in the heart of the royal forest of Sherwood. In the Middle Ages, a forest was a defined geographic area subject to the forest law, which had been brought to England by the Normans. The law protected beasts of the chase, primarily deer, for the king. It also protected the woodland that formed their habitat. Forest law was enforced over the land regardless of who owned it. In the 13th century the forest stretched from the River Trent in the south to the River Meden in the north, and from Wellow in the east to Sutton-in-Ashfield to the west. In the 12th century it may have covered all of Nottinghamshire north and west of the Trent. A reference to the forest in Nottinghamshire made in 1155–56 early in the reign of Henry II (1154–1189) points to there being a forest in the reign of Henry I (1100–1135), however a dispute over the keepership of the forest in the early 13th century suggests a forest in Nottinghamshire dating back to the reign of William I. Sherwood Forest was therefore well established by 1164.Gaunt, A. (2011) Clipstone Park and the King's Houses: Reconstructing and interpreting a medieval landscape through non-invasive techniques
Wright is of the opinion that the extant building dates from the period of Henry II given that it bears several Romanesque architectural features which were phased out by the end of the 12th century.Mower, J. & Wright, J., (2011) Proposed Archaeological Evaluation — Clipstone, Nottinghamshire
History of the King's Houses and Clipstone Park
Clipstone became a favoured residence of the monarchy for over two hundred years. The historian David Crook listed the following visits: Henry II in 1181 and 1185, Richard I in 1194, John in 1200, 1201, 1205, 1210 and 1215, Henry III in 1244, 1251 and 1255, Edward I in 1279, 1280, 1284, 1290 and 1300, Edward II in 1307, 1315, 1316, 1317, 1318 and 1320, Edward III in 1327, 1328, 1330, 1331, 1332, 1334, 1335, 1345 and 1363, and Richard II in 1387 and 1393Crook (1976), p. 44. Such visits could be brief, such as John's overnight stay on 19 March 1200.The Itinerary of King John Project
The reign of King John saw the endowment of the chapel of St Edwin in 1205.The Sherwood Forest Book, ed. H. E. Boulton, Thoroton Society Record Series xxiii (1964), 57 He is also said to have held a parliament at the nearby Parliament Oak during one of his visits.
During the reigns of Edward II and Edward III an extension to the park led to petitions lodged by the men of Clipstone, Warsop and Mansfield Woodhouse over their loss of their rights to husbote (timber for building), haybote (timber for hedging), collection of ferns and leaves (for compost and manure) as well as pastureland.Crook (2005)
There are only three recorded visits to the King's Houses by Henry III. Philip Rahtz attributes the standing ruin to this phase of building,Rahtz (1960), p. 29. however J. Wright considers that the presence of Romanesque features associated with the extant structure which have been identified subsequent to Rahtz's fieldwork may push back the dating to Henry II's construction of 1176–80.Wright, J., (2004) 'A Survey of King John's Palace, King's Clipstone, Nottinghamshire' in Transactions of the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire Vol. 108, 109
In 1282, Edward I ordered the construction of a stable capable of accommodating 200 horses, and John Steane is of the opinion that it was intended to provide for the entire entourage of the Household, or possibly even act as a royal stud.Steane, J. M., (1999) The Archaeology Of Power, 269
Edward II constructed a peel at the castle, which has been viewed by Crook in the light of the pressures on the need for more agricultural land during the early 14th century coupled with the political background of Edward I's problems with Scotland and internally with Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster.
The early years of Edward III's reign saw a number of visits to the palace and the subsequent petitions by the local communities led to the reversal of most of Edward II's changes to the park.Crook (1976), pp. 41–43. Edward III also maintained the administration of the deer park. In 1340 Robert de Mauley was granted custody of the manor and park.Stapleton, A., (1890) A History of the Lordship of King's Clipstone or Clipstone in Sherwood, Nottinghamshire In 1341 the men of Clipstone and Warsop were granted permission to utilise the woodland resources within the park.Crook (1976), p.
Colvin describes work in the late 1340s: "Works carried out in 1348-9 included the rebuilding of the knight's chamber and the repair of the great hall, the king's kitchen, the queen's hall, the king's kitchen, the queen's kitchen, the great chamber, Rosamund's Chamber, Robert de Mauley's Chamber, the treasurer's chamber, the chamber of Lionel the king's son, the great chapel, the chapel next to the king's chamber, the king's long stable, and the great gateway. The knight's chamber was a timber-framed building standing on a 'groundwall' of stone, but the more important buildings were of stone. The roofing material was Mansfield slate. In 1360-3 over £140 were spent on general repairs to the hall, king's chamber, Earl of March's chamber, pantry, buttery, gateway and other buildings, including the chapel of St. Edwin at Birkland which was served by the chaplain of Clipstone. Further considerable repairs were carried out between 1367 and 1375 by William Elmeley, who in 1360 had been appointed clerk of the works at the manor of Clipstone and the lodge of Bestwood."Colvin (1963), p. 920
The Patent Rolls of this period also help to populate the King's Houses with recognisable historical characters. Robert de Mauley is almost certainly Robert de Morley, 2nd Baron Rodyn, who fought at the battles of Boroughbridge, Halidon Hill, Sluys (where he was captain of the English flagship) and Crecy. De Morley finished his career as Constable of the Tower of London between 1355 and 1359.Sir Robert DE MORLEY 2nd Baron Morley of Roydon
A map of Sherwood Forest dating to c.1400 survives in the archive at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire, and shows Clipstone Park as a clearly defined emparked area circled by a pale fence. There are several place names marked relating to the medieval infrastructure such as "ye pele" (Clipston Peel), "Clipston ye dam" (the dam at the head of the Great Pond) and Clipston Parke; and the River Maun is shown flowing through the park.Barley, M. W. 'Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire', in Skelton, R. A. and Harvey, P. D. A., eds., Local Maps and Plans from Medieval England (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1986), 131–139
The manor passed to George, Duke of Clarence, until his execution in 1478 when once again Clipstone reverted to the crown.Colvin (1963), p. 921.
Decline
The decline of royal interest in the King's Houses throughout the 15th century fits an overall national pattern. Steane has pointed out that the residences of the monarchy in the later Middle Ages focussed on south-east England. Additionally the numbers of palaces and castles under direct royal control dwindled, and as the size of the Household increased from c.120 in the reign of Henry I to 800 under Henry VI fewer but more grandiose palaces were the preference.Steane, J. M., (2001) The Archaeology Of Power, 43
A survey of "the dekayes of the manner of Clippeston" dated to 1525 records that:
"First the southeast end of the hie Chamber ther is in great dekay & ruyne in stonework tymber lede and plaster & the gavell ende of the same is flede outwarde so that a part of the rove and of flour of the said Chymber is fallen doune. Also ther was sume tyme begone a stone grees & yet is not fynyshed the which hath been the cause of the Ruyne of the said Chambre. Also the Chappell ther is in dekay and hath no cuverying upon it. Also the kechyn ther was new plasterid and the rof therof wantith poyntyng and amedyng of the slate, also on the said kechyn were ij chymnays begon and not fynishyd."National Archives SC 11/12
The post-Medieval period
Sale of the estate The manor and park of Clipstone finally passed out of royal ownership for the last time on 11 October 1603 when James I granted it to Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy. This was promptly sold on to Gilbert Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, the following year.Crook (1976), pp. 41–42.
William Cavendish