Coordinates: 50°57′13″N 1°12′42″W / 50.9536°N 1.2118°W / 50.9536; -1.2118

Bishop's Waltham is a small town in Hampshire, England situated in the Hamble Valley at the head of the River Hamble. It is home to the ruins of Bishop's Waltham Palace, an English Heritage monument.

History

The town's name comprises three parts 'walt' - forest; 'ham' - settlement'; and 'Bishop's'. It started off as an Anglo-Saxon village, and steadily grew to become one of Hampshire's largest villages, despite being burnt to the ground by Danes in 1001 AD. By the time of the Domesday book (1086 AD), it had a population of around 450. In 904, it was given by the king to the Bishop of Winchester. In 1136 Henry de Blois, a later bishop, built the now-ruined Bishop's Waltham Palace. It was destroyed on the orders of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War. Much of the old Palace is still in the town. Apart from the ruins, which are open to the public, material from the Palace was used as building materials in town buildings still standing to this day.