Lambeth Palace: A History of the Archbishops of Canterbury and their Homes

As the foreword by the former Archbishop George Carey makes clear, it is `one of the greatest privileges for any Archbishop of Canterbury to be able to live at Lambeth Palace'. Lambeth Palace has served as a residence for over 900 years and it resonates with the history of the English Church, both Catholic and Anglian. This well-illustrated study, the result of extensive historical research as well as archaeological excavation, combines a survey of the building itself with a corresponding history of the Archbishops who have lived there, presented century by century. Figures such as Thomas Becket, Hubert Walter, Stephen Langton, Thomas Cranmer and William Laud not only played pivotal roles in the evolution of the Church in England but also in the wider history of the nation. The study is supported throughout by extracts from sources, reconstruction drawings of buildings and gardens and detailed descriptions of individual rooms and structures.