Winchester Palace

The most striking feature of Winchester Palace is a high, jagged wall of Kentish ragstone on Clink Street, punctuated by the stone tracery of a fourteenth-century rose window. Built in the twelfth century by Bishop Henry de Blois, this complex served as the luxurious London residence for the powerful Bishops of Winchester. Because these bishops often functioned as the king’s royal treasurers, they required a prestigious base near Westminster to manage state business.