Battersea Palace - Excavations at Price's Candle Factory, Wandsworth, London
Excavations in Wandsworth, London, on the site of the Archbishop of York's Battersea Palace, a late 15th century moated house, were conducted between May and July 2002. The house was modified and extended throughout the Post-Medieval period. The site was also occupied by the innovative Battersea Enamel Works between 1753 and 1756 and by the late 19th century it was home to Price's Patent Candle Factory.
The site itself lies on a spur of gravel on the south-eastern bank of the Thames which was overlain by a layer of brickearth, much of which had been removed, possibly to make bricks for the original palace.
The limited evidence for activity on the site prior to the construction of the medieval palace was limited to a ditch and a layer of reworked brickearth which produced flint tempered pottery provisionally dated to the Bronze Age period.
The substantial remains of Battersea Palace comprised many of the external walls which included architectural details such as niches, alcoves, windows and doors. The walls were externally faced in brick, while internally the facing was a combination of brick chalk and Kentish ragstone with a chalk and stone core. Floor surfaces and a staircase were excavated internally and at least 6 rooms were identified including the base of a tower in the south-western corner of the site. A large moat was excavated to the south of the building.
During the early reign of Elizabeth I the building was used as a prison for papists and alterations to the windows may date from that usage. Further more extensive rebuilds in the 17th century were also undertaken with new rooms and yard areas being added to the south of the original building over the backfilled and culverted moat. Internally the majority of the floors were relaid and windows blocked or knocked through to make doors as the external ground level was raised.
During the 18th century, much of the Palace was demolished and rebuilt, while other parts were modified as the site became used for an Enamel Works established in 1753. A complex of drains, sluices and silt traps were probably associated with this development.
A rectangular building, dating to the later part of the 18th century represented the remains of York House, which also occupied the site at this time. A number of outbuildings, yards, drains, wells and soakaways were found to be associated with this building. An external staircase was found descending into main building, the floor of which was well below the external ground level which had been raised considerably by this period. These stairs were subsequently blocked and a new staircase and entrance was added.
In the mid 19th century the house became incorporated into the candle factory which was already established between it and the river. This reuse also resulted in major structural changes with brick bases being constructed from the basement floors to support the heavy machinery on the ground floor. A number of these bases also housed mountings for horizontal rods which transferred power from engines to the machinery. The races for the drive belts often required the old house walls to be rebuilt.
Eventually the surviving old buildings were totally demolished and the basements backfilled. This made way for the construction of new the candle factory buildings which had been completed by the 1870s. These buildings were surveyed and recorded by CgMs Consulting prior to demolition and their facades are to be preserved as part of the redevelopment of the site by George Wimpy Central London.
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