Hampton Court Palace

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Hampton Court Palace is one of the former royal residences, and has been one of the London’s tourist attractions. The former royal residence possesses lovely grounds and the water garden has been used as a host for the flower show held in July.

As such, we decided to visit Hampton Court Palace on 26 July 2009. After buying the tickets, we walked to the picnic area in Wilderness Garden. As it was a very warm day, we chose to sit in the shady spot.

After the lunch, we started exploring the palace. I remembered the brick buildings of the Base Court, which include diamond patterns on the façade, mullions windows, ornate Tudor chimneys adorned on the roofs, and Victorian lamps, some of which were original designs of the Tudor period. On the way to Fountain Court, we came across a couple of men wearing Tudor costume with authentic musical instruments. We followed them and were taken to the Tudor kitchen and Dining Room. Four gentlemen in Tudor costume told us that they were acting as musicians for Henry VIII’s maids who didn’t have money to go to the concerts at that time. They carried various types of musical instruments which were made of wood, deer’s horns, and earthenware, and which were the origins of the recorder and flute.

We reached the Fountain Court, which was designed by Christopher Wren. Fountain Court was designed on the basis of English Baroque style, with features of the square silhouette, sash windows, and lines of columns and fountain.

We hired audio guides at the Clock Court. Hampton Court has two distinctive styles of architecture, the Tudor style around the Base Court and Henry VIII’s State Apartments, and Georgian style architecture around the wings which were enlarged and added by Christopher Wren between 17th and 18th century. Two types of clock represent those periods.

We began looking round Henry VIII’s State Apartments. We were impressed with the well-preserved 16th century ceilings with golden and gilt carvings and pendants and authentic tapestries in the Great Hall where the king dined on a daily basis. It was surprising to see numerous heads of deer with horns displayed in the Horn Room. While strolling through Henry VIII’s apartments, we saw dozens of crests, illustrations, and symbols representing monarchs on the stained glasses, curtains, and walls. The narrative stories on the audio guides gave us good pictures of the show rooms in Hampton Court Palace. It included the tragic episode of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s wife who was caught by the guards. The floor where she attempted to escape has been named Haunted Gallery, and the scene of her wanderings has said to have been haunted for a long time.

On arrival at Queen’s Apartments, we were shown the examples of royal family’s dresses and Anne Boleyn’s armchair. Queen’s rooms were decorated with scarlet wallpapers and intricate carvings, and hanging with scores of portraits and landscape paintings, and furnished with valuable pieces of furniture and numerous pieces of porcelain. There were a number of tapestries illustrating historical events and vases for tulips displayed in the Queen’s Gallery. There were a huge variety of mythological paintings displayed in the Hampton Court Palace. The best one is arguably “Verrio’s painting of the British Fleet at anchor”. The masterpiece included the details of white horses, a member of the big family and christened infant carried on the seashell floating on the water with the background of crowds of ships.

Next, we went to the Georgian rooms which George II and Lady Catherine used for their private life. In contrast with the elaborate decorations and valuable paintings in the Henry VIII and Queen’s State Apartments, Georgian rooms offered a peaceful and relaxed atmosphere. We looked at the private dining room for George II and Catherine which they used when they were off duty, and found it interesting to know that they were taking meals in a rather formal manner, i.e. they followed set menus separating two or three courses. Looking at the ornaments of Christ, candles, and praying stand, Catherine was evidently a very religious person who would regularly use the private chapel room.

After looking round three blocks of the former royal residence, we returned the audio guides and started exploring the Great Fountain Garden. Yew trees had been trimmed immaculately and positioned methodically on the semi-circular space. There were dozens of flowerbeds with colourful annuals, perennials, and evergreen plants. It wasn’t surprising to learn that the length of the borders is one of the longest in the world. We ambled through the 20th century Garden and Privy Garden. The 20th century garden seemed to have been discovered recently. Being at the northeast corner of Hampton Court Palace and surrounded by the moat, the green space offered a very peaceful and relaxing atmosphere with a huge variety of trees, conifers, shrubs, and an abundance of wildlife. Privy Garden was designed when William III and Mary II were jointly ruling the state, and it has been restored to their time, following the same or similar layout and collecting the similar types of small flowers and Italian statues and fountains. We looked at the Knot Garden, Lower Orangery Garden, Pond Garden, and dahlias in the Trial Garden. The Great Vine was planted by Capability Brown in 1769 and it is one of the most famous features of Hampton Court Palace. We saw many grapes on the branches and stems.

The Chapel Royal, which was closed for the wedding service earlier on 26 July, had been opened in the late afternoon. We popped in the chapel. We were amazed with eccentric features of interior, e.g. Tudor pendant-vaulted ceiling, the floor containing the Jewish symbol of the Star of David, the red Laudian “throw-over” altar frontier, etc. The Chapel Royal was used for the wedding of Henry VIII and Catherine Parr and baptism of Edward VI, and the Chapel has been in use for 450 years.

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When I was in Tokyo in May 2010, I met two Japanese ladies who were travelling to England with the package tour between June and July. After the discussion, we agreed to visit Hampton Court Palace in the morning on 1 July 2010.

My sister-in-law works for the historic palaces in London and kindly bought three tickets for us to visit Hampton Court Palace on 1 July. The Japanese ladies were staying at the hotel in the north edge of London. I had bought 3 of one day tickets (anytime) for zone 1-6 early in the morning and picked them up at Edgeware.

We arrived at Hampton Court Palace at 9:30, and showed the tickets at the reception. As we had planned going to the Kew Garden in the afternoon, I decided not to have audio guides, even though there are Japanese audio guides.

While waiting for the entrance to be opened, I showed Japanese ladies the façade of the Base Court pointing at mullioned windows, diamond shaped patterns on the façade, etc which were originally designed in the Tudor period.
Henry VIII is arguably the most famous king in the English history, and is known for his brutal personality. The Japanese ladies had heard about him, and they were interested in my commentary regarding Henry VIII and Tudor history. We started looking round Henry VIII’s apartments. The staircases led us to the Great Hall where Henry VIII entertained the diplomats and minsters with sumptuous meals. There were series of tapestries of the banqueting scenes. Then, we walked past Horn Gallery, Great Watching Chamber, and Hall etc.

While strolling through the Haunted Gallery, I explained to the Japanese ladies that this was the corridor where Catherine Howard (Henry VIII’s 5th wife), tried to escape after being treated as a treason, but was caught by his guards, and it has therefore been said that the event resulted in the frequent appearance of her ghost. There were portraits of Henry VIII, his parents, Catherine Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Edward VI, and Catherine Parr, all of whom had direct connections with Henry VIII. We looked down the Chapel Royal from the 1st floor, and I told them that this chapel is where Henry VIII and Catherine married and the christening service for Edward VI was held.

We then entered Mary II’s Apartments where ceremonial events and royal entertainments were often staged. As the name suggests, all of the rooms with decorations were designed for Mary II. There were dozens of feminine style ornaments and artworks, e.g. mythological pictures on the tapestries, marble statues, and blue white vases for tulips.

Next, we went to the William III’s Apartments. We climbed on the staircase looking at the series of grand painting of Endymion and Selene painted by Antonio Verrio. In contrast to the Mary II’s Apartments, all rooms were decorated with items in a manly style, e.g. coat of arms and crests on the beds, curtains, and wall, and the collections of rifles and pistols were displayed on the wall. Christopher Wren designed the interiors and furniture for William III, as well as Fountain Court. We noted crimson coloured poster bed, sofas, and carpet.

After that, I took them to the Tudor Kitchen near the Base Court. As expected, there were quite a few tourists in that block. The staff was rolling lumps of meats in front of the fire to demonstrate how the meats were cooked in the old days like Henry VIII’s time. There were numerous models of puddings and pastries, fish, and vegetables displayed on the table. I explained to the Japanese ladies that this kitchen was where the banqueting meals were cooked for Henry VIII, Edward VI, and Elizabeth I and their guests in the Tudor period, and probably the idea of the roast beef was born, telling the fact that roasting the meats is a very uneconomical and time-consuming job and only rich people could afford it, and the majority of people used to eat boiled meats in those days.

It was nearly lunch time after looking round the Tudor Kitchen. I took them to the Great Fountain Garden. They were impressed with immaculately trimmed yew trees, a beautiful fountain, and colourful borders. The horse carriage appeared while strolling through the garden. The Japanese ladies were interested in the horse carriage and suggested riding it. Except for myself, most of the passengers were elderly people. The horse carriage was running on a quarter of the semi circular shaped ground of the Great Fountain Garden, and it allowed us to see the different periods of the architecture of Hampton Court when the carriage was running on the outer path. After getting off the horse carriage, I took them to the Privy Garden, Pond Garden, Knot Garden, and Great Vine.

Afterwards, we went the Tiltyard Café to have lunch. The Japanese people were impressed with a wide variety of salads, meats, fruits and cold and hot meals and took quite a few items from the buffet menu. Unfortunately, they had had only certain types of meals, e.g. chicken, potatoes, and peas for the dinners during the tour, and had longed for more variety of meals. They found the dishes very delicious, refreshing, and satisfying.

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