Lambeth Palace

Lambeth Palace on the south bank of the Thames has been the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury for around eight centuries. Behind its red-brick Tudor gatehouse lie a medieval great hall, a crypt chapel, and one of the oldest libraries in the country, rich in manuscripts and early printed books. A fig tree in the courtyard is said to descend from one planted in the sixteenth century. Open for guided tours and events, it remains a working seat of the Church opposite the Houses of Parliament.