Otford, in North West Kent, was one of the largest houses in England, and Knole, though less up-to-date, was a very handsome house in a beautiful setting. In the summer of 1537 Henry suggested to Archbishop Cranmer that he might like to exchange Otford for a fairly motley group of former monastic and church lands in Kent. Cranmer, fearing that the king would also ask for Knole, talked Knole down telling him that it was far too small for the royal court. This was a mistake. Henry, flexing his all-mighty muscles, told Cranmer that he would rather have Knole than Otford ‘for it stands on better soil. This house (Otford) stands low and is rheumatic… and as for Knole it stands on a sound, perfect, handsome ground. And if I should make my abode here, as I do surely mind to do now and then, I myself will lie at Knole and most of my household shall lie at Otford’, thus, on a royal whim, Cranmer lost both houses in return for lands with a fraction of the value of his mansions.
The site became a scheduled ancient monument in the 1920s and its management and restoration was taken on by the Archbishop’s Palace Conservation Trust in 2017.