Woking Palace - History

History

The first mention of a house on the site is in 1272. There is also later recorded use by Lady Margaret Beaufort, her son Henry VII and her grandson Henry VIII. Woking Manor House was converted into a palace by Henry VII in 1485 and was subsequently remodelled by both Henry VIII and Eizabeth I. Sparse ruins of the site remain today

The palace was moated and can be separated into four parts: north east quadrant; the medieval barrel vault and the King's Hall, built by Henry VII in 1508, in the south east; the King’s Garden on the south west; and the Copse to the north west, once the orchard. Woking Borough Council, as custodians, have built a protective roof over the barrel vault, installed a lockable door and carried out protective repairs to the remaining Tudor wall. The King’s Garden was originally a formal kitchen garden but is now a rough meadow. The Copse contains two large linear fish ponds and a smaller round pond. The moat is partly filled in on three sides whilst the River Wey enclosed the site on the fourth side.