Palace Street

Palace Court stood on the northern side of Palace Street, or Catte Street as it then was, and, despite a vigorous campaign for its retention, it was pulled down in 1880 to make way for Palace Court Board School.

The original Palace Court is thought to have once belonged to the Priors of Plympton, the theory being that this was the "convent in Katt Street" that they disposed of in 1539. This would at least account for the name, as it was quite common for prominent religious figures to call their residences "Palaces".

An alternative suggestion however has it that Palace Court was the residence of five times mayor of Plymouth, John Paynter who in 1501 is said to have played host to the sixteen year-old Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon when she first came into this country on her way to marry Henry VII's eldest son Arthur.

Certainly whoever owned the property at that time it would indeed appear that the princess spent sometime there after attending a service in St Andrews.

EH 31 August 1996