Bishops Palace

Halling Historical Scociety committee is delighted to announce full success in its long-running (three years!) campaign to get Medway Council to properly conserve the 900-year old Halling Bishop's Palace and the adjacent Halling Lime and Brick Works railway embankment.

Both had been allowed to deteriorate over several years, even being enclosed for many years by ugly Heras fencing. Stonework had fallen from the Palace and a lot of vegetation was growing out of the mortar, causing significant damage. On the church side of the wall, mourners had planted rose bushes, even nailing supports in to the wall - damaging a National Monument is a criminal matter. The railway embankment was overgrown and the brickwork had been declared dangerous. See photos from Sept 2021 when the Society first complained to the Council. The Palace is a listed Grade 2 National Monument supposedly under the protection of Medway Council on behalf of Historic England.

The pity was that £1.5m of National Lottery money had been spent twenty years previously by the Council, with attractive landscaping and historical information boards. It has taken three years of steadfast pressure on the Council, with 132 e-mails backwards and forwards, including to Historic England, ward councillors and the Leader of Medway Council, three meetings with Council officers, and five telephone conferences.

At last, a senior officer took interest, for which the committee is very grateful and she has pushed through the necessary works, including an application to Historic England for a scheduled monument works permit. The Palace stonework has been repaired, along with the brickwork of the railway embankment. The damaging foliage is being removed and a programme of preventative spraying instituted. The church will prevent further damage on its side.

The committee is proud that the Historical Society has been able to achieve proper conservation of this National Monument in our village, hopefully for it to stand for a further 900 years.