Fulham Palace
For over 1,200 years this riverside estate was the country-in-the-city home of the Bishops of London. Today you wander a patchwork: medieval traces, Tudor brick, Georgian elegance, and a restored walled garden rooted in one of Britain’s earliest botanic collections. It’s free, relaxed and family-friendly—allow 60–90 minutes plus time outdoors.
Opening Hours
What's not to miss inside?
Great Hall & Tudor Brickwork
Layers of power and hospitalityTimbers, brick, and later panelling show how bishops entertained—and how each era left its mark.
📍 Main house, central range
Walled Garden
A living archive of useful plantsLaid out for fruit, vegetables and exotics, the garden now revives historic beds and a Victorian vinery.
📍 North of the house
Botanic Beginnings
Early centre for plant introductionBishop Henry Compton (late 1600s) grew North American curiosities here—magnolias and other ‘new’ trees that Londoners had never seen.
📍 Garden displays & paths
The Moat Walk
Traces of one of England’s largest domestic moatsThe water once wrapped the palace like a private island; fragments remain in dips and lines of trees.
📍 Perimeter trail
Chapel & Museum Rooms
Faith, politics and daily life under one roofSmall displays link bishops to big events: civil wars, empire, and London’s growth.
📍 House interior, signposted
Inspire your Friends
- Fulham Palace was the Bishops of London’s residence from AD 704 until 1973—over twelve centuries of almost continuous occupation.
- Bishop Henry Compton turned the grounds into a pioneering botanic garden in the late 17th century, cultivating North American trees—some of the first grown in Britain.
- The estate once sat inside one of the largest domestic moats in England; traces of the circuit can still be walked today.
- A Victorian vinery in the walled garden revives the bishops’ taste for table grapes—heated walls and glass once pushed the London growing season.
