YOU can see even more of Bishop’s Waltham Palace as work to remove the ivy continues.

Contractors for English Heritage have been on-site removing the overgrowth.

The palace was once home to the Bishop of Winchester and can now been seen in all its glory.

A spokesperson for English Heritage said: “Rope access specialists for English Heritage have scaled the four-storey-high Bishop’s Waltham Palace in Hampshire to remove harmful vegetation like ivy which had obscured the medieval palace and taken root on its ancient walls.

“Once one of the greatest residences of the richest bishop in medieval England, the palace is just one of the charity’s properties undergoing vital conservation work so the historic places in its care can be enjoyed for generations to come.”

Bishop’s Waltham Palace burned down during the English Civil War and most of the site has remained a picturesque ruin ever since.

The palace was built by Bishop Henry of Blois, brother of King Stephen, and rebuilt by William of Wykeham between 1378 and 1401.

Popular with royalty it was visited by Henry V and was also used by Mary Tudor just before her marriage to Philip II at Winchester Cathedral. Henry VIII met Emperor Charles V at the palace in 1522.

During the Civil War (1642-1651) the site was occupied by forces loyal to Charles 1.

But the palace was surrendered to a Parliamentarian commander, Major General Sir Thomas Browne, on April 9 1644 after the king’s forces were defeated at the Battle of Cheriton nearby. Two days later the building burned down.

The ruins eventually passed to Admiral Cunningham, later Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope, who was one of Britain’s most distinguished naval commanders during the Second World War.

He lived at neighbouring Palace House and returned there when on leave, but Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered a special telephone line be installed to ensure he could be summoned at short notice.

In 1952 Lord Cunningham transferred the ruins to the Ministry of Works, which stabilised the palace and also uncovered several previously buried structures.