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The Guard Room
The Guard Room is thought to date from the 14th Century. It was the Great Chamber in Medieval and Tudor times, one of the most important rooms in The Palace in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries.
The Guard Room
Initially it would have been the Archbishop's principle audience room and meetings and ceremonies would have taken place here.
The name Guard Room is a more recent term and derives from the time when the office of Archbishop warranted an army. This is where his armed soldiers would have gathered and where their weapons would have been stored.
In 1490 the 12 year old Thomas More was sent to Lambeth to be educated in a gentleman's household. He served as one of Cardinal Morton's pages and took part in household entertainments. He returned to Lambeth as Sir Thomas More on April 12th 1534 and it is said to have been in this room that he was summoned by Thomas Cromwell to swear an Oath of Supremacy declaring Henry VIII as head of the Church in England. By refusing to deny the authority of the Pope, Thomas More was led away from Lambeth to the Tower of London, where he was executed in 1535.
The magnificent arch-braced roof, a contemporary of that in Westminster Hall (across the river in the Palace of Westminster), predates the walls by some 400 years. When William Blore rebuilt the main Palace in 1830 he retained the roof, supporting it whilst rebuilding the walls.
The collection of paintings that can be found on display in this room are of Archbishops of Canterbury dating from 1602 to 1783, from the reigns of Elizabeth I to George III, respectively. Collectively they demonstrate the changing style of clerical dress during this period.
The first Lambeth Conference was held here in 1867, when 75 bishops were called by Archbishop Charles Longley for a meeting that marked the start of a tradition that continues today.
One of the more unusual artefacts on display at Lambeth Palace is the shell of a tortoise that once belonged to Archbishop William Laud. Laud brought the tortoise to Lambeth in 1633 as a pet, given to him as a gift from his college at Oxford. Ultimately the tortoise outlived Laud by over 100 years. It was accidentally killed at the age of 120, when in 1753 it was dug up out of hibernation in the Palace garden by a careless labourer and subsequently died of frost exposure.
The Guard Room is still used today for meetings, receptions and dinners.