In November of 2010, we drove down to Hampton Court Palace with the Gilberts. I've been interested in seeing if because it was one of Henry VIII's favorite palaces, so it's mentioned a lot in the historical fiction I've read. It's also prominent in the show The Tudors, which we've enjoyed. It was part of our Historical Royal Palaces membership, so we made a trip down to see it. It's surprisingly far from London (2 hours by ferry down the Thames), so we drove. It only took us about an hour to get there.
Henry VIII acquired it (ha, demanded it) from Cardinal Wolsey, then he built it up even more.
Meridian got a picture of us walking from the garden area to the palace.
We asked someone to take a picture of our group. Clearly they were zoom challenged. LOL
Ginormous doors in the doorway into the palace courtyard.
Ceiling of the breezeway. The only thing I recognized was the Tudor rose (red and white to represent the joining of the houses of York and Lancaster, accomplished by Henry's father, Henry VII)
The Undercroft is where it's at. The beer, that is. :)
Neat chimneys. Each guest room had its own fireplace, so there are a lot of chimneys.
See all the chimneys? There are maybe 10 in this picture?
This palace was built to have lots of long term guests.
The courtyard, with what was a fountain in the middle.
These are the kitchens. This is where the food would be delivered to - there was a separate entrance, and enough room for a horse and cart to turn around.
I just love the cool chimneys!
Food would be stored in the rooms off this alley - the walls are built high so the sun doesn't get in, to keep the temperature down. Old school refrigeration.
In one room of the massive kitchens.
The ceiling was very high.
Cambria stands in a fireplace. Massive.
Looking up the huge chimney.
Rows of post set over fireplaces to cook. They fed a crowd every day!
Cambria and Scott in front of one of the meat roasting fires. The crossbars would have meats speared on them, and some poor kid would stand there and turn all the roasts all day. Note the open fire - that would not happen in the U.S.! But it was warm and lovely. :)
Behind Meridian, you can see the notches for the meat rods.
So meat served would have a squarish hole through the middle.
A tour group checks out the massive roasting fire... it's good for perspective anyway.
Someone had the job of accounting for every single piece of silver.
Massive amounts were needed to feed the 1000 people at the palace every day.
So we took a break from the tour to grab something to eat in the cafe. Have I mentioned how much they like their serve-yourself cafeterias here? Seems like everywhere we visit, I end up with a tray in my hand, balancing it as I add things to it and make my way to the register. But they also sell wine at all these cafeterias, so that makes up for it. :)
We decided to hit the hedge maze before going back to see the inside rooms of the house.
Meridian in the maze, she and I stuck together.
Outside the palace entry
Another fancy ceiling
Anne Boleyn lived here with Henry, before she lost her head.
Hey! Hadrian! We've seen his wall in England and his arch in Greece, now here's his bust! I'm starting to think he may have been of some historical significance. :)
Astrological clock.
The clock is over Anne Boleyn's gate.
The dining hall. So much history here. This is where I felt like I was actually walking where all those famous historical figures walked. Wolsey, Anne, Henry, Cranmer, Jane, Mary, Elizabeth... wow.
One of the stained glass windows
Henry at the center of course, and the red and white roses coming together through Henry the 7th (left, red) and Elizabeth of York (right, white), Henry VIII's parents.
Henry was not much for plain surroundings. There is decoration everywhere. These panels at the back of the dining hall have some detailing at the top (Meridian's getting a picture of them on the right).
So when Henry had Anne executed, he ordered all references to her removed from the palace. Lucky for us, the workers missed one - this is an H and A intertwined, for Henry and Anne.
Another stained glass window in the dining hall.
Henry in the middle again, of course.
One of the tapestries on the wall of the dining hall.
It would have been very colorful back then, but it IS 500 years old.
King and Queen for a minute. :)
The tablecloths on the hall tables had interesting facts on them. Neat.
Another old wall tapestry. They covered the walls ~ very large.
More pretty stained glass, in the waiting area outside the king's chambers.
Back then they had games set up and pillows to rest on, while the court waited to see if the king would want them for anything.
Jane Seymour's badge. A crowned phoenix rising from a Castle, between two red & white Tudor Roses. Her motto was Bound to Obey and Serve.
The ceiling of the waiting area, with lots of badges, including Jane's and the Tudor Rose, which was Henry's.
Cambria got a chance to sit on the throne on the dias, where the king would listen to petitions.
Meridian took this picture of us listening to our audio guides along the tour.
Portrait of Elizabeth of York, Henry VIII's mom. White rose for the house of York.
Henry, with Edward, his son by Jane Seymour, and Jane herself. This could never have actually taken place, since Jane died less than two weeks after Edward was born.
The full portrait includes Mary on the left and Elizabeth on the right, with servants Mother Jak (Edward's nurse?) and Will Somers (the fool) seen through the doorways.
Edward, in his father's pose. Details below. Makes me think of the Horrible Histories song that says "Little Eddie was ill and soon got deady". LOL
Check it out:
Cambria on a cool back staircase. Can you picture Henry bounding up the steps? Wow.
Purty.
The palace had windows looking into the courtyard. Meridian liked the window seat.
Another audience chamber. One was for counsels and the other for petitioners... I forget which was which.
Maggie and Cam look out on the back gardens.
We agreed the trees were Seussical.
Bed chamber. Not sure whose. I'm finding conflicting info online, so let's just call it a royal bed.
The girls on the courtyard.
I thought this lamp post was interesting, with the little glass globes inside.
Wonder what it'd look like at night...
The girls wait for their ice skating session.
The river Thames.
This is how the court would have traveled to Hampton Court Palace from London.
Riverfront
Ice skating rink.
Meridian on ice!
My back was bugging me, so Scott took Cambria.
Cam and Scott, palace entry in the background.
Meridian takes a break
As darkness fell, they were lighting up the front of the palace in changing colors. It was hard to get a decent picture without a tripod, these were the best.
That's it, Hampton Court Palace. :)
