8-1HamptonCourt

Hampton Court Palace: A History //Answer prepared by Michelle T//

Hampton Court Palace, built by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey on the north bank of the Thames River, was originally not meant to house royal residents. Sarah Schulenburg and Wade Hommerbocker, authors of “Hampton Court Palace” from //Elizabethan England// claim that this wish was destroyed after “Wolsey’s lands were declared forfeit to King Henry and King Henry VIII took up Hampton Court as his own residence.”

After the palace was placed in the ownership of King Henry VIII, Henry did endless construction on Hampton Court, starting in 1529 which took over ten years. After the reign of King Henry VIII, William III and Mary II rebuilt half of the palace from 1689 to 1694 when it was placed into their tenure. In “Hampton Court: The Lost Palace”, published on the //British History: Tudors// website, Jonathan Foyle states, “a long history of development…has heavily obscured its original form.” Due to mass construction on the building, many historians are puzzled in finding the first plans of the palace. Sidney Lee, writer of “Hampton Court Palace, Surrey” from //In Search of Shakespeare// says, “no drawings or plans of the original design have survived, leaving the Palace as something of an architectural mystery.”

Although the original palace cannot be recorded or described, historians feel that they have a great grasp on the structure of Hampton Court after the construction of the many royal residents. Outdoors, the palace was surrounded by various courts and gardens; Sarah Schulenburg and Wade Hommerbocker say some of the most famous gardens and courts included the Privy Garden, an orangery that stretched 157 feet long, and the Great Fountain Garden, which sported a massive semicircle lawn and flowers laid around the fountain. One of the palace’s most famous attraction that is still around today is the maze, which is located within the Lion’s Gate. Sarah Schulenburg and Wade Hommerbocker, writers of “Hampton Court Palace” from //Elizabethan England// claim that “the Maze is said to have been planted in Queen Anne's time, and it is the only surviving feature of the wilderness.” Though the outdoors flaunted breathtaking courts and gardens, the architecture inside the palace, which can still be visited today, is said to be even more beautiful.

The busiest area of the interior of Hampton Court Palace was the kitchen. Many of the larger palaces usually would have several kitchens, along with “kitchen offices” like pantries or cellars. Kathryn Hinds, author of //Life in Elizabethan England: Elizabeth and Her Court//, writes, “the kitchen complex had its own gatehouse, and the buildings were arranged around three courtyards. The offices included a spicery, where herbs and spices were kept; a chandlery, for the storage of candles and table linens; a confectionary, where desserts were prepared; a pastry house with four ovens; larders for the storage of meat, fish, nuts, and fried beans; a boiling house for boiling meats and making soup stock; a pheasant yard; and cellars for wine and ale.” The vastness of the kitchen employed over two-hundred people; most of them also slept and ate their meals in the kitchen complex. Unsurprisingly, even in Elizabethan times, the kitchen remained the “nucleus” of a household, or in this case, a palace.

Hampton Court Palace has not lost its popularity with travelers, seeing that palace officials estimated over one million visitors each year. Though the full palace cannot be described in one short sitting, this brief depiction gives an overall summary of Hampton Court.


 * [[image:http://www.klc.co.uk/About/Facilities/HamptonCourt.jpg]]



Works Cited: ** Foyle, Jonathan. “Hampton Court: The Lost Palace.” __British History: Tudors__ 2002 8 Mar 2009 .

Love, Mark. “Hampton Court Palace, Surrey.” __In Search of Shakespeare__ 2003 7 Mar 2009 .

Schulenburg, Sarah and Wade Hommerbocker. “Hampton Court Palace.” __Elizabethan England__ 1996 7 Mar 2009 .