HAMPTON COURT PALACE

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The Royal Palace of Hampton Court was originally built as the residence of Cardinal Wolsey in 1514. The site was first owned by The Knights Hospitallers of St John Jerusalem in 1236 who built a grange. In 1494 the lands were leased to the royal courtier Giles Daubeney who built a private house. This house was transformed in 1514 by Wolsey into a grand palace and his official residence. However after his downfall the palace was acquired by Henry VIII in 1529. Between 1529 and 1540 Henry VIII made extensive alterations to the palace including rebuilding the great hall, remodelling the chapel and building the chapel court, adding side wings to the west façade and extending the kitchens. He also built tennis courts, a bowling alley and a tiltyard.

The privy kitchens were added by Queen Elizabeth I, but it was not until the reign of William III in 1689 when a large scale rebuilding programme was carried out (1689-94). Following designs by Christopher Wren the Fountain Court (replacing the earlier Tudor Cloister Court), the Green Court and the Colonnade in Clock Court were all built. Various alterations were carried out in the early 18th century including the redecoration of the old Tudor range between the Clock and Fountain Court and the completion of the King's and Queen's Apartments with the redecoration of the Queen's Staircase.

In 1760 George III abandoned Hampton Court as royal residence and the palace was split up into apartments. The state apartments were opened to the public in 1838 and a major restoration campaign was carried out from 1882 until the end of the 19th century. In the 1920s a restaurant was constructed and new gardens were laid out with areas dedicated to horticultural display with greenhouses and nurseries. In 1986 a fire severely damaged a large part of the King's Apartments and a restoration programme was carried out. Hampton Court and its gardens are open to the public and it remains one of the most iconic buildings of the Tudor period.

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[Centred TQ 15726847] Hampton Court Palace [T.U.] (1)

The original design appears to have been confined to the quadrangle now represented by Clock Court, together with the chapel and cloister to the E of the court, and the Kitchen. (now the Privy Kitchen) to the NE. Remains of this building survive in all former ranges of the Clock Court. Shortly before the fall of Wolsey the building passed to Henry VIII who acquired the freehold in 1531.

The King made extensive alterations from 1529 to 1540, the Great Hall was rebuilt (from 1530 onwards), the E & W ranges of Clock Court remodelled (in 1535) and the chapel in 1535-6, and new buildings erected. Little alteration seems to have been made to the main structure until 1689 when work was begun on a new building designed by Sir Christopher Wren, when it was proposed to rebuild the whole palace except the Great Hall. (2)

A growing shortage of money and Queen Mary's death in 1694 forced William to abandon the plan, and only Henry's state apartments were pulled down. With the destruction of the Cloister Court, Wren set out a new court, now known as the Fountain Court, on the old site, with great ranges of buildings on the south and east. By the time William died the structural work was complete on the new court and on the new colonnade on the south side of Clock Court, which formed the approach to the King's apartments. After this time the whole palace assumed very much the appearance it has now.

Under Queen Anne and the first two Georges the state rooms continued to be painted and furnished- the chapel was redecorated in 1711 and rooms on the north side of Fountain Court were decorated in c.1716. Further rooms followed in the remodelled range on the east side of Clock Court, together with the gateway from Clock Court to Fountain Court, dated 1732.
The state apartments were opened to the public in 1838 soon after Victoria had ascended to the throne. From then on there was a more energetic programme of repairs and renovation in a period of increasing interest in the architecture of the Tudor Period. From 1882 onwards there was a widespread reinstatement of mullioned windows and decorative chimneys. The 18th C. appearance of The Great Gatehouse (it had largely been rebuilt in 1771-2) was disguised by the lengthening of the octagonal buttresses to the outer gateway and the rebuilding of its vault. Among the most important transformations of this period were the rescue of the discarded gates and the astronomical clock, and finally the digging out of the Tudor bridge over the moat in 1909-10. (3-5)

A general spirit of improvement prevailed at Hampton Court during the 1920's. A restaurant was constructed and new gardens were laid out in the old Tiltyard. The Wilderness was informalised. Many of the gardens are now devoted to horticultural display and there are further large areas of glasshouses and nurseries. (6)

Please refer to these sources for a complete history of the palace and its grounds. (7-8)

Cardinal Wolsey began the building in 1514 and much of the original building survives, especially the ranges around the Base court, the Clock court and the Kitchen court.
King Henry VIII made extensive alterations between 1529-40 including the rebuilding of the Great Hall from 1532, the remodelling of the chapel (1535-6) and building Chapel Court, the extension of the Kitchens and the addition of the turretted side wings to the west facade.
Queen Elizabeth made some changes including the building of the privy kitchens.
William III in 1689 began a major building campaign with Sir Christopher Wren as architect. This mainly consisted of the Fountain Court, to the south-east corner of the old palace, the Green Court and the Colonnade in Clock Court.
George II remodelled the Tudor range, between the Clock and Fountain Court and completed the decorations of the Queen's staircase.

The walls of the building are of brick with freestone dressings and the roofs are covered with lead, tiles and slate. The Tudor ranges are generally two-three storeys and the ranges built by Wren have four storeys.
Please see the source for further architectural details. (9)

The first building on the site of Hampton Court was a large barn or hall which was built by The Knights Hospitallers of St John Jerusalem when they acquired the manor of Hampton in 1236 . Hampton Court was a grange, where the produce was stored and accounts kept of their agricultural estates. In 1494 the site was leased to the courtier Giles Daubeney who built a house there. King Henry VII even stayed there on various occasions as a favoured retreat. In 1514 Wolsey transformed the private house into a grand palace complex.
Please see the Historic Royal Palaces website for a full description of Hampton Court's history and architecture. (10)

Please refer to this source for a full description including plans and photographs of Hampton Court Palace. (11)

The remains of the tiltyard tower dating to the early 16th century with later alterations. It is three storeys with a castellated parapet. It was built by Henry VIII and is the only surviving tower of five originals built.
Please refer to this source for a description of the Tudor Palace and later alterations. (12)

For a full description, time lines, photographs, maps and interactive content please visit this source. (13)

The Time Team investigated two areas of the palace; the tiltyard, to the north of the main building, where jousting and mock battles would take place and to the west a bowling alley built by Henry VIII soon after the birth of his son, Edward. The excavations revealed the position of three of the original five tiltyard towers or viewing platforms. The position of the bowling alley building was also located and even part of the surface that Henry would have bowled on. It was at least 60 metres long, much longer than a modern bowling alley. (14)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 6" 1934-8

( 2) Royal Commission on Historical Monuments, England 1937 An inventory of the historical monuments in Middlesex

Page(s)30-2

( 3) BEN WEINREB AND CHRISTOPHER HIBBERT (ED.) 1983 THE LONDON ENCYCLOPAEDIA

Page(s)361

( 4) edited by William Page 1911 The Victoria history of the county of Middlesex, volume two

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)358,374

( 5) by Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner 1983 London, 2 : South

The buildings of England Page(s)484-6

( 6) Travers Morgan Planning for the Department of the Environment 1982 Royal Parks Historical Survey: Hampton Court and Bushy Park

(7) English Heritage Register of parks and gardens of special historic interest in England

Greater London Part 17

(8) by H M Colvin ... [et al] 1982 The history of the King's Works, volume 4 : 1485-1660 (Part 2)

Page(s)126-147

(9) Scheduled Monument Notification

Scheduled Monument LO83

(10) World Wide Web page

Historic Royal Palaces. 2009. Hampton Court Palace, http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/ [Accessed 07-MAY-2009]

(11) Simon Thurley 1993 The royal palaces of Tudor England : architecture and court life

Page(s)51-56

(12) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

02-SEP-1952

(13) World Wide Web page

Historic Royal Palaces. 2009. Hampton Court Palace, http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/sightsandstories/timelineofHamptonCourtPalace.aspx [Accessed 21-MAY-2009]

(14) World Wide Web page

Time Team. 2009. Hampton Court, http://www.channel4.com/programmes/time-team-specials/articles/hampton-court-palace [Accessed 22-MAY-2009]

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