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Published: August 20th 2007
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Hampton Court
The western entrance Yesterday was one of those rainy Sunday days when you might stay in, read, and eat comfort food. But if you stayed indoors every time it rains in England, you wouldn't do very much. We drove to Hampton Court Palace in Richmond, just outside of London. The palace is most famously associated with Henry VIII, but it was first owned by Cardinal Wolsey, who took it over in 1514 when it was a country manor house. Wolsey spent a lot of money expanding to house to look an Italian Renaissance villa fit for man on a meteoric career rise as a favorite of the king. Henry VIII was a frequent guest and liked Hampton Court so much that he took it over in 1525, when Wolsey began losing favor. Henry added the great Medieval style hall and the Royal tennis court, which is still used today. The king's only surviving son, Edward VI, was born here. Edward's mother, Jane Seymour, died here.
Henry's fourth wife Catherine Howard, was unfaithful to King Henry with Thomas Culpepper and was placed under house arrest here before being charged with adultery and later executed at the Tower of London. After Henry's children, Edward VI,
Hampton Court2
The western entrance closer view Mary I, and Elizabeth I ruled and died, James I, the first Stuart king, held a conference at Hampton Court and commissioned the King James Version Bible here.
During the reign of William and Mary in the 17th century, Christopher Wren (famous for St. Paul's Cathedral in London) demolished some of the Tudor apartments that Henry VII had built and installed a new wing. The entrance to this wing is a white colonnade with Roman style columns (see photo). Talk about an architectural hodgepodge! Although this is on a much grander scale, I am reminded of people in St. Louis who used to put huge glass chandeliers in the tiny dining rooms of post-WWII bungalows- and just to make everything really grand, they would install two large cement lions on the lawn. In fact, there are statues of lions, unicorns and other mythical creatures at the entrance to Hampton Court.
The Christopher Wren colonnade leads to the entrance of the state apartments of William and Mary. They have huge murals. mirrors, chandeliers, silk drapery, canopies over thrones - all to show royal power and impress visitors. William actually lived in small rooms below. He liked to read, hunt
Courtyard
with the Union Jack flying overhead and loved his gardens. He was Willam of Orange in Holland before he became king of England, so of course he had to have a orange tree orchard in the back. There is a long hallway in the palace that was made just to store the orange trees during the winter.
William and Mary had commissioned the most beautiful gardens, which are still there. Walking around them was the most enjoyable part of the visit. You can see the topiary and canals. There are all kinds of exotic flowers. I even saw a pineapple plant outside. William also commissioned a huge maze, created from shrubbery. We decided not to find our way through the maze. Instead we looked at the the water, geese and swans. There is a big flower show in the summer (that all too frequent rain makes England a wonderful place to grow flowers) and ice skating in the winter.
We strolled through the Tudor kitchens and the wine cellar. It was a huge task to feed King Henry's court. It wasn't uncommon for the chefs to feed 800 for dinner. There are chefs whose speciality is to recreate a dinner here just like they
Roundel
This roundel is one of several which Cardinal Wolsey had installed in imitation of Italian Renaissance style villas ate during the 16th century. The grape juice from vineyards which date back to that time, is sold in the shops.
King George I and II lived here, but George III (the king at the time of the American Revolution) hated it and wouldn't live there. No king or queen has lived there since and it is no longer a royal palace. Queen Victoria had Henry VIII's great hall restored in the 19th century and opened the palace to the public. There are still a few people who actually live in the palace. They are commoners who have found favor with the nobility and are rewarded with a place to live out their lives.
Our guide, the handsome gentleman in the photo wearing the black Tudor costume, told us that the remaining residents hate the tourists because they peek in the windows!
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Tracey
non-member comment
I'm back, somewhat
Good Morning :) Thank you for the history lesson. You're right, hodge podge is a great term for this place. But, when I opened the first garden picture I went , "Oh, beautiful." I set the one with the Canada geese as my background. I will hopefully get to the past blogs this week. Love ya... Tracey