The existing Grade I listed building is a part of a former palace of the Bishops of Lincoln, later used as an almshouse.

The medieval Diocese of Lincoln was the largest bishopric in England,[1] extending from the River Thames to the Humber Estuary.

[2] Lyddington lay on a north–south road and the estate here was a convenient place for the bishop's entourage to stop when traversing the diocese.

By 1600 it had passed to Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, son of Lord Burghley, who converted it into an almshouse for twelve poor bedesmen and it continued in this use until 1930.

[4] The Bede House is a Grade I listed building,[5] and the wider site is a Scheduled monument.