John of Gaunt's Palace

John of Gaunt's Palace was a late 14th-century merchant's house which stood in the lower part of Lincoln High Street, opposite the St Mary Guildhall. It was progressively demolished from the late 18th century until the 1960s. The very fine oriel window from the building has been preserved in the gatehouse of Lincoln Castle.

The palace was initially built by a member of the wealthy Sutton family of Lincoln merchants in the latter years of the 14th century, on land immediately to the north of St Andrew's church. Research into the history of the building by Sir Francis Hill greatly clarified its early ownership. More recently the study of early drawings and maps by David Stocker has made it possible to reconstruct the layout of the building. Stocker suggested the building was probably built by John of Gaunt's vassal John de Sutton, a wealthy merchant and mayor of Lincoln in 1386. However S.H. Rigby has made out a case that the palace was originally built by Robert Sutton, the brother of John, also a mayor of Lincoln and vassal of Gaunt, who is known to have built a house on the land to the north of St Andrew's Church before 1386.

Wikipedia