Lambeth Palace

Lambeth Palace, principal residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, located in the borough of Lambeth, on the south side of the Thames River in London. Erected between 1829 and 1833, the residential portion of the palace reflects the Gothic style of architecture that originated in the 12th century (see Gothic Art and Architecture). The entrance to the palace leads through Morton's Tower, a massive structure built for a cardinal by that name in 1490. Besides the chapel, the palace contains a great hall that houses a library of some 40,000 volumes. In 1867 the palace became the site of the Lambeth Conference, a periodic meeting of the bishops of the Anglican Communion under the presidency of the Archbishop of Canterbury.