London 2 - Hampton Court

Today we took a bus to Waterloo Station and a train to Hampton Court.

Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, started Hampton Court Palace’s upgrade from an ordinary country house to a palace. Wolsey wanted to be able to host the King, his royal court and monarchs from across Europe. Investing huge sums of money, he created a palace fit for the King. Wolsey was so successful in his work that Henry eventually took Hampton Court for himself.

We had very good commentary by way of free audio guide. The size of the palace and grounds is immense, with massive tapestries and artwork. The kitchens were huge with really high ceilings and you could see how it would have worked from bringing goods in the side of the palace, the counting house, fish alley larders, boiling rooms to speed up the roasting of meat, bakery, and serving rooms. It was quite the conveyor belt feeding up to 1,000 people.

It was surprising to see the public nature of the King and Queens bedrooms; no corridors as such, you just walk through rooms. They were housed in separate wings of the palace, a queen could probably not be found if she wished.

Henry V111 and his multiple wives, some of whom weren’t very good at hiding, lived here. When William III and Mary II took the throne in 1689 they commissioned Christopher Wren to design a new baroque palace for them. The cost scared them off and they did an add on instead.

The gardens also are huge, including the kitchen garden, maze, formal wilderness (strange contradiction, it just looks unkempt), fountains and a canal. Lots of little walled gardens and an orangerie.

We spent over four hours here – a fascinating walk back in time and really well presented. A great day out.

NB: too many photo’s to add, I have added to OneDrive if anybody is interested. Europe 2023 - OneDrive (sharepoint.com)