The royal connection continues with the history of Cippenham Palace. Some people have said that Cippenham Palace was first built by Ethelred the Unready as a palace for the Mercian Kings. We defiantly know that the founding charter of Burnham Abbey was signed there and that Richard, Earl of Cornwall, regularly stayed at the Palace. Richard even chose to honeymoon there in 1231, with his new wife Isabella Marshall.
Nothing now remains of the Palace, though there are many arguments surrounding its possible location. It is possible that it was sited where Cippenham Place now stands, and that 'Place' was a derivative of 'Palace'. It is even possible that there were two manor houses which accounts for the confusion in pinpointing its exact location.
Another theory concerning the possible whereabouts of Cippenham Palace, is that it once stood around Cippenham Moat in Wood Lane. From this dry moat and earth mound encircled by it, archaeologists have unearthed fragments of roof tile and medieval pottery sherds. It has been argued that this may suggest a possible connection with Richard Earl of Cornwall, and his brother the King, because they are likely to have been familiar with the use of advanced continental building materials through the time they spent in Europe.
However, it is possible that close to this site, once known as Little Chapels, the Abbess of Burnham Abbey built a small chapel in the 14th century, and the earthworks may belong to that. Cippenham Court Farm, parts of which date back to the 16th century, is also near this site, and may have been the site of earlier buildings. Currently we just don't know for sure the exact location of the Palace, but it does make for some interesting speculation.