Cuddesdon Palace[1] was theepiscopal palace for theBishop of Oxford, located near the village ofCuddesdon,Oxfordshire,England.
Cuddesdon Palace was completed by 1634 forJohn Bancroft, who wasBishop of Oxford from 1632 until 1641.[2] In 1644 during theEnglish Civil WarRoyalist forces burned the palace to render it unusable by theParliamentarian forces besieging Oxford.[2] In 1676John Fell was made Bishop of Oxford and in 1679 he commissioned the complete rebuilding of the palace.[2][3] This was under the control of a builder named Richard Frogley who subcontracted the sculptorThomas Wood ofOxford for the ornamentation.[4]
In 1846 BishopSamuel Wilberforce had the chapel of Saints Peter and Paul added to the Palace.[2] It was designed by theGothic Revival architectBenjamin Ferrey.[2]
Successive Bishops of Oxford resided at the palace untilThomas Banks Strong retired in 1937.[2] For the duration of theSecond World WarQueen Anne's Bounty was evacuated from London and occupied the palace.[2] Thereafter, The Society of the Salutation of Mary the Virgin occupied the palace from 1946 until 1949.[2] In the 1960s the palace was in private use for a few years, but it burnt down before the end of that decade. The bishop's chapel escaped the fire and survives today.[5]Ripon College Cuddesdon is in the grounds of the palace, which is now a private residence.
The Bishop of Oxford now resides inNorth Oxford.