The south bank of the Thames along this reach, not part of historic London, developed slowly because the land was low and sodden: it was called Lambeth Marsh, as far downriver as the present Blackfriars Road.

The origins of the name of Lambeth come from its first record in 1062 as Lambehitha, meaning 'landing place for lambs' ('hitha' or 'hithe' referring to a landing on the river): archbishops came and went by water, as did John Wycliffe, who was tried here for heresy in 1378.

[4] The palace was ransacked and partially demolished by the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War of the 1640s, necessitating major reconstruction, especially of the great hall, in 1660-63.

New construction was added to the building in 1829–1834 by Edward Blore (1787–1879), who rebuilt much of Buckingham Palace later, in neo-Gothic style and it fronts a spacious quadrangle.

[3] Blore's large extensions to house the archbishop meant that the original buildings could be converted to the archdiocese's library, record office and secretariat.

[3] The unusual inclusion of a cloister may be because Archbishop Hubert Walter initially intended to found a Premonstratensian abbey on the site, before settling on a palace.

The massive five-storey brick gatehouse was built by Cardinal John Morton and completed in 1495 and housed eight lodgings for the Archbishop's household.

The choice of a hammerbeam roof was evocative, as it reflected the High-Church Anglican continuity with the Old Faith (the King's (Charles II) brother was an avowed Catholic) and served as a visual statement that the Interregnum was over.

Major work was done by Blore in 1829-33, with large parts of the medieval palace being rebuilt, and an extensive new wing in Gothic revival style added.

Among the portraits of the archbishops in the palace are works by Hans Holbein, Anthony van Dyck, William Hogarth and Sir Joshua Reynolds.

In 1786,[6] there were three ancient figs, two "nailed against the wall" and still noted in 1826 as "two uncommonly fine... traditionally reported to have been planted by Cardinal Pole, and fixed against that part of the palace believed to have been founded by him.

[12] The library contains an extensive collection of material relating to ecclesiastical history, including the archives of the archbishops dating back to the 12th century, and those of other church bodies and of various Anglican missionary and charitable societies.

Notable items in the collections include: Immediately outside the gatehouse stands the former parish church of St Mary-at-Lambeth which was preserved by a campaign led by John and Rosemary Nicholson.

[9] Older monuments were preserved, including the tombs of some of the gardeners and plantsmen John Tradescant the elder and his son of the same name, and of Admiral William Bligh.