Hampton Court; Kings, Cardinals and Queens plus the occasional ghost!
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Your first view of Hampton Court and what an impressive view!
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Why visit Hampton Court?
Why visit Hampton Court?
It is the most awesome Tudor palace that you will be able to see (many of Henry’s palaces have been partly or totally destroyed)
Henry VIII’s Great Hall is mind-blowing.
There are so many badges, emblems and physical references to Henry VIII’s life story that it would take a day to search them all out! It is exciting to find
Hampton Court Palace has been called, “history in colour”. The Chapel Royal will take your breath away. There are many things that stand out and are simply stunning.
The preservation of the building is remarkable. Unlike many well known places, Hampton Court Palace is not a romantic ruin!
Hampton Court is the centre of a fantastic period of history with fascinating characters like Thomas Wolsey, Anne Boleyn and of course Henry VIII. Most people know a few things about Henry and his six wives and here is the place where a lot of it took place.
What is there to see at Hampton Court?
Walking up the long drive you will see the centrepiece gateway which is what Henry VIII saw too, although he would have jumped off a boat on the Thames. To Henry, Hampton Court was his summer residence in the countryside, London being a lot smaller than the London of today.
On entering the “Base Court”, you are surrounded by Tudor architecture.
This is a modern recreation of a fountain that poured out wine not water! This was originally constructed in France at an event called “The Field of the Cloth of Gold” by Henry to show off to the King Francis I of France. Francis was slightly younger than Henry and his biggest rival. At this meeting Henry constructed a flat packed palace and numerous, huge marquees to give the impression that he was “the main man”, vastly superior to Francis in every way. Francis constructed 300 tents with many of them having golden thread which, whenever they caught the suns’s rays gave a golden shimmer and hence the name of the event. At Leeds Castle in Kent, there is a painting showing Henry’s embarkation to France. The painting is full of people , supplies and ships. In all, Henry took 6000 people to France and over 3000 horses! In this context, you can now see why the fountain was full of wine!
If you then go through “Anne Boleyn’s Gatehouse”, (named in the 19th century) you will enter the “Clock Court”. Turn around and you will see this magnificent construction.
A closeup of Henry VIII’s astronomical clock. It was made as long ago as 1540 and the first thing to note is the earth in the centre with the sun orbiting it! Not only does it tell the time, it also gives the date, the phase of the moon and the time of high tide for people travelling on the Thames.. An astounding piece of engineering.
In this court you can see the coat of arms of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the original owner of Hampton Court. Wolsey transformed it from a medieval manor house into a Tudor palace, although others have devised numerous and large alterations since Wolsey’s time. Having built the palace, Wolsey found his influence with Henry VIII declining and so, in a desperate bid to hold on to power and to court Henry’s favour, Wolsey handed it over to the king. Unfortunately for Wolsey, his plan failed and he fell out of favour because he could not deliver a divorce to Henry. Henry, was never able to deal with failure! As a consequence, Wolsey’s coat of arms was covered up by Henry’s coat of arms made of iron in 1531 (very quickly after Wolsey’s fall). They were rediscovered in the mid 19th century and uncovered.
When you walk around Hampton Court, you will see “HeraldicBeast” and odd animals all over the place
We noticed these crazy creatures sitting all over this gable when we were leaving! Wherever you look , both inside and out, there are little details to spot.
Sadly some of the stone badges have deteriorated since the Tudors and consequently, they have been carefully remade.
Anne Boleyn’s badge, a white falcon landing on a bed of roses. Apparently in heraldry , falcons symbolise people who do not rest until the deed is done. It has been suggested that Anne’s symbol is linked to not resting until Henry has a son with the crown on the falcon’s head representing her coronation.
The initials of Anne and Henry.
Four Roman Emperors out of ten on the gatehouses. Wolsey commissioned them to be a symbol showing his classical knowledge and background, a man of high culture.
Henry’s amazing Great Hall with his huge tapestries adorning all of the walls.
One of the large tapestries that Henry would bring out from his large collection (2000 plus) and hang on the wall whenever important guest were to be entertained. It was expected of a king to have the biggest residence with the most expensive and numerous wall-hangings whilst entertaining guests with numerous courses of the best food in the land. This would help to maintain his status which had to be well above the next person in the social hierarchy.
This is one of the famous set of Abraham tapestries and shows the story in Genesis of Abraham meeting King Melchizedek of Salem (probably Jerusalem). Apparently, in a battle, Abraham’s nephew Lot, is captured and held prisoner by the Mesopotamian king, Chedorlamer. When Abraham hears of this, he creates an army, defeats Chedorlamer, frees Lot and takes a load of treasure. On his return he meets the “priest-king” Melchizedek who blesses him and offers Abraham bread and wine. In return Abraham gives Melchizedek 10% of his treasure. Some scholars have written that this is the precursor of the Eucharist or Holy Communion, where bread and wine represent the body and blood of Christ.
The stunning “hammer beam roof”. The arrows point to the “Eavesdroppers”.
Look out for the “Eavesdroppers” high up in the ceiling amongst Henry’s symbols.
When you enter the Great Hall, turn around and look up a little. You should then be able to find a couple of Henry and Anne badges. They were all meant to be removed when Anne was executed but the carpenters failed to complete the job!
The “High Table”.
In the top corner of the Great Hall is a beautiful example of fan vaulting. You would usually see this in a cathedral.
Royal badges appear all over the place.
The “Great Watching Chamber where the “Yoemen of the Guard “ were stationed to keep an eye on people in the Great Hall and guard access to the royal apartments that formed the next series of rooms.
Here you can see Jane Seymour’s badge. Jane was Henry VIII’s third wife and her badge was a phoenix rising from a castle. Jane, Henry’s only wife to produce a son, gave birth to Prince Edward at Hampton Court and sadly, died there a few days later.
Next to the Great Watching Chamber is the “Processional Gallery” and “the Haunted Gallery”. Henry would “process” along here to the chapel whilst members of his court would try to “catch his eye”.
There is a story that after being charged with adultery in 1541, Henry’s fifth wife, Catherine Howard ran along these galleries hoping to find Henry and profess her innocence. She failed in her quest but supposedly haunts the gallery to this day looking for the king!
There are several fascinating rooms to see in the kitchen area. These were the kitchens that fed the household staff. Henry and his various queens were fed from a private kitchens elsewhere.
You can imagine roast meat burning cooked on this fire.
With Covid restrictions on when these photos were taken there were no live demonstrations but post-Covid there will be numerous things taking place.
Moving away from the Tudor section of Hampton Court, you will move into William III and Queen Mary II’s part of the palace. Wanting to create their own baroque style of palace, they replaced a large section of the Tudor palace with a contemporary design.
People would be received here by Queen Mary
You can see a very different style of room from those of the earlier Tudors.
A view from a Georgian window.
Henry loved jousting and although his “Tilt Yard” has disappeared, it is commemorated in these two sculptures.
The only part of the tilt yard that exists is a viewing tower. Originally, Henry had five towers built but now only one remains.
Go around the outside of the building and you will find some beautiful gardens.
So, as you can see there is plenty to see at Hampton Court.
What is the history of Hampton Court?
How did it all begin?
The first major house here was created in 1338 and was the centre of a large farm estate. Henry VIII’s chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey, bought it in 1514 with the aim of turning it into a palace that he could use to entertain King Henry and Queen Catherine of Aragon as well as major foreign dignitaries.
Who was Cardinal Wolsey and how did he get his money?
Wolsey was born in 1475, the son of a butcher who received a good education mainly due to the generosity of his uncle. He went on to study theology at Magdalene College Oxford and gained his degree at the age of only 15! The only way to make it to the top in life if a man was born to “lowly parents” is via the church and so he was ordained as a priest and rapidly rose through the ranks to be chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury and then on to being the chaplain for Henry VII. His administrative ability was second to none and he was soon on diplomatic missions for the king. When Henry VIII became king, Wolsey developed a rapport with him to the extent that Henry soon left all business to Wolsey so that he could enjoy more pleasurable things such as hunting, hawking, jousting and music. Wolsey became Henry’s Lord Chancellor ie his chief adviser and “fixer”. Henry had a short attention span, hated dealing with his council and loathed administration. Wolsey acted as the “go-between between the them and was soon telling the council what he thought Henry wanted and telling Henry too what he should want. Abroad he was often called “the other King”! With power came money and a requirement to live a lavish lifestyle to affirm his status. In 1514 Wolsey was made archbishop of York and in 1515 the pope made him cardinal which meant he was in charge of religion and religious appointments in England. It was this last area where Wolsey made his vast fortune, selling jobs to churchmen, even as high as a year’s salary for some of the higher jobs. Certain jobs were left vacant for a while so that Wolsey himself would get the income that went with the unfilled job!
Cardinal and Lord Chancellor Thomas Wolsey, the original owner of Hampton Court Palace.
3. Why did he give Hampton Court Palace away to Henry VIII?
Henry was desperate for a son and sadly Catherine of Aragon had not provided him with one and by the late 1520s was not able to become pregnant. Henry was desperate for a son because he sincerely believed that a daughter only had three options, all of which were bad. Either marry an Englishman and then possibly see another civil war like the Wars of the Roses. This would mean also that the Tudor line was at an abrupt end. The second option was to marry a foreigner but this would mean being taken over by another country in his view. The last one was to try to rule but be pushed aside like one of Henry’s ancestors, Matilda, the only surviving child of Henry I who ended up seeing Henry I’s nephew, Stephen being crowned despite the fact that she was in Henry I’s mind, his rightful heir! England had never had a “crowned queen”, ie a queen that ruled the country. Queens were only ever queen because they had married a king hence “queen consort”. Henry therefore required a new wife and his eyes fell on Anne Boleyn. Anne Boleyn had an ambitious father, Thomas Boleyn and brother George Boleyn. As Henry became infatuated with Anne, the Boleyn males gained a great deal of influence over Henry and so to maintain his own power and influence over Henry, Wolsey gave him a present, his beloved Hampton Court Palace.
Anne Boleyn
4. Why did Wolsey lose his position?
Henry VIII never accepted failure and unfortunately for Wolsey he failed to get Henry a divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Henry had to get a divorce from the head of the Church, the Pope and the Pope steadfastly refused! Wolsey’s religious boss was the Pope and so he could not challenge his judgement despite having Henry as his secular boss. It didn’t help that the Pope was under the influence of “the Holy Roman Emperor”, Charles V (he ruled Spain, Germany, Austria, Holland and Belgium) and he was not going to allow his Auntie Catherine (of Aragon) to be cast aside. Henry was stating that his marriage had never been legal and thus Catherine had simply lived with him “in sin”! Wolsey therefore failed and lost his position of Lord Chancellor. Charges were brought against him but he died before reaching London to face trial.
A painting of Henry VIII hanging in the Processional Gallery.
Henry VIII, his six wives and Hampton Court Palace.
1. Catherine of Aragon.
Catherine was married to Henry’s elder brother in November 1501 but sadly Arthur died April 1502! Henry VII, keen to hold onto Catherine’s large dowry (payment on marriage from the bride’s father) and also to maintain good relations with Spain (Aragon being part of Spain) called for Catherine to marry his second son Henry. They had to get permission from the Pope because the Bible and church laws forbade a man to marry his brother’s widow. However in another part of the Bible, it suggests that the man should marry his brother’s widow! Permission was granted but the marriage only resulted in one short lived son. In January 1511, she gave birth to a boy who was christened Henry but after 52 days he died! She did produce a daughter, Mary who went on to become Queen Mary I but Henry’s wish to have a legitimate son was never fulfilled in this marriage. Henry blamed Catherine for this especially as he had acknowledged the birth of an illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy (Fitz means son of and roy stands for “roe” or king). Henry, therefore needed a divorce and, as the Pope would not grant one despite Wolsey’s efforts, Henry created his own Church or denomination, “The Church of England” and was able to grant himself a divorce. Catherine had links to Hampton Court Palace. She was entertained and stayed at the Palace several times for example, in 1516, 1528 and 1529. Her powerful nephew, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V was also entertained there in 1522.
Catherine of Aragon
2. Anne Boleyn.
Henry spent a fortune on updating the palace for his new bride Anne Boleyn. In July 1533, she visited to see how the building work was progressing and again visited it in 1534 and 1535. She may well have delivered a still born child there in the summer of 1535 but unfortunately, never gave birth to the son that Henry prayed for. Henry now concluded that this marriage was wrong and his chief agent, Thomas Cromwell concocted charges of adultery against Anne, charges which resulted in her execution. She had provided Henry with another daughter, Elizabeth, but she did not satisfy Henry’s quest for a son.
Jane Seymour
3. Jane Seymour.
Henry fell in and out of love very easily and his next wife was Jane Seymour. In May 1537 Jane visited Hampton Court Palace with Henry and on October 12th made Henry the happiest man in the kingdom by giving birth to a son, Edward there. Poor Jane had to endure “labour” for over 2 days! As was the custom in Tudor times, Edward was baptised only three days later in a very lavish ceremony but sadly on the 24th October Jane died there of puerperal fever. You can see Jane’s badge of a phoenix rising from a castle in the “Great Watching Chamber”.
Anne of Cleves
4. Anne of of Cleves
Although Henry was happy at last that he had a son, his advisers, principally Thomas Cromwell, Wolsey’s protege and successor, argued for England to have foreign allies which would be cemented with a marriage. This would also provide Henry with, in theory, a second son, commonly called a “spare” if the first son dies as did Henry’s elder brother Arthur. The lady suggested by Cromwell was to be Anne of Cleves, which would lead to Henry being associated with Protestants in some Germanic states, very desirable at a time when England was in a perilous state with Catholic France and the Catholic Holy Roman Empire considering an alliance which could possibly result in a combined invasion from the strongest powers in Europe. Cleves was a small state of the Holy Roman Empire and was situated in the Rhineland, a part of modern day Germany. To know about his potential bride, Henry sent the top artist in the land, Hans Holbein the Younger to paint Anne and for good measure, her younger sister Amalia. Henry instructed Holbein to be accurate and not flatter the princesses and was pleased when he saw the end product. However, on meeting Anne, Henry was very disappointed, he believed he had been misled by Holbein and Cromwell. Her appearance was not to Henry’s liking and she allegedly had body odour problems. Henry had been used to educated and sophisticated wives but unfortunately Anne had no formal education. She could read and write, but only in German and was considered rather plain. Henry had to go through with the wedding ceremony in January 1540 but on their first night of being newly weds, there was no attempt made to begin the process of creating an heir ie it was not “consummated”! According to Henry, the marriage was never consummated and thus he was able get a divorce on those grounds. In the eyes of the Church, marriage is all about producing the next generation and if it is not attempted, there are sufficient grounds for granting an annulment or divorce. By July 1540 the marriage was annulled. Anne’s links to Hampton Court Palace began in October 1539 with the “Treaty of Marriage’ being signed in the Council Chamber which was to be found along the “Processional Chamber”and in 1540 their divorce was also signed there. Anne however was not cut off from Henry however and in January 1541 she visited him and his new wife, Catherine Howard and New Year’s gifts with them. Anne did not openly challenge Henry’s wishes and as a consequence, was richly rewarded in property. She was also given the title of “The King’s Sister. and was able to maintain good relations with Henry’s two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. When she died in 1557, she was given a royal funeral and was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey.
Catherine Howard
5. Catherine Howard
As noted earlier, Henry VIII could not cope with failure and disappointment and so the architect of his recent marriage to Anne of Cleves, Thomas Cromwell had to go. As a consequence he lost both his job and his head (on the same day that Henry married Catherine Howard.) ! The void he left was partly filled by the duke of Norfolk who had already influenced the King to marry Anne Boleyn, Norfolk’s niece and now he put forward the young and beautiful Catherine Howard. Her date of birth is unknown and her early life, likewise, is a bit of a mystery. Her mother died young and so she was brought up by her step-grandmother and whilst in her household, Anne, according to witnesses who may well have spoken whilst under torture, was “romantically involved” with two young men. Less than 3 weeks after Henry’s divorce from Anne of Cleves, Henry married Catherine Howard. The newly weds were to spend their first Christmas and New Year at Hampton Court Palace, with Henry head over heels again in love again! It wasn’t long however, before Catherine began to have a relationship with Thomas Culpepper. In the summer of 1541, Henry and Catherine went on a massive tour of England with the aim of getting to the north of the realm with a show of force to let rebels who participated in an uprising called “The Pilgrimage of Grace”, that Henry was still in charge and was in no way to be challenged. Whilst away, Catherine continued to have “liaisons” with Culpepper allegedly at Lincoln, Hatfield, Pontefract and York! When he was back in Hampton Court Palace, Henry came across a letter left for him to find from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. He was informed of the various infidelities of his wife and along with Culpepper, the two men she had liaisons with whilst living with her step grandmother were also named. Confessions were then obtained, probably under torture, and witnesses offered addition stories to make sure that they were not implicated in any of these dealings. Once he had heard of this news, Henry cut himself off from Catherine and at Hampton she allegedly ran down what became the “Haunted Gallery” to seek an audience with him. On her death, this has turned into a ghost story whereby Catherine is seen and heard screaming whilst running along the gallery seeking a meeting with Henry and pleading for her life!
Katherine Parr
6. Katherine Parr
In July 1543, Henry married for the last time. This time it was to the twice widowed, Catherine Parr but with the marriage ceremony taking place at Hampton Court Palace in front of just 19 people! In the summer of 1544 Queen Katherine and all three of Henry’s children spend time at Hampton Court palace whilst Henry was away in France. The following Christmas and New Year, the whole family enjoyed the festive celebrations at the Palace. Henry was to die in January 1547 in his palace at Whitehall, his main residence.
Hanging in the “Haunted Gallery” is this fictitious painting dating from when Henry was married to Katherine Parr. It shows Henry united with his three children and Jane Seymour to his left.(Obviously she was not alive when the children were this age). At either end are the “Court Fools”, Jane (called ‘Jane the Fool’) and Will (probably Will Somer).
Essential information.
Getting there.
By rail
Hampton Court train station is located a five-minute walk from the palace. National Rail train services run from London Waterloo every 30 minutes. There is no London Underground station at Hampton Court. The nearest Underground stations are in Wimbledon and Richmond, where connecting bus routes are available.
By bus
Bus services run from Kingston and Richmond. From Kingston - 111*, 216*, 411*, 461, 513. From Richmond - R68*
By Car
For your Sat Nav;
Hampton Court Palace
East Molesey
Surrey
KT8 9AU
The palace is on the A308 and is well signposted from all major local roads.
Please follow the brown tourist attraction road signs:
From the M25, take either exit 10 (onto the A307) or exit 12 (onto the A308).
From the A3, take the A309.
Car parking;Limited parking is available. During our busy periods it is advisable to consider other means of travel.
On-site
£1.60 per hour (car parking bays fit a standard car only). Pay for your parking with card only. Please note the parking machines are touch screen and sanitiser dispensers are next to machines. Alternatively, you can use theGilde app.
Accessible parking
There are nine disabled parking bays available on site. Parking on site is free for Blue Badge holders.
Nearby
Hampton Court Green is located 500m from the entrance of the palace and is charged at £1.50 per hour.
Please note, the overflow area will be locked at 18:45.
Hampton Court Train Station (200 metres from entrance): for information about prices, please visit the National Rail website.
Bushy Park (15 minute walk): for more information, please visit the Royal Parks website.
Kingston upon Thames: multiple public car parks are located nearby in Kingston upon Thames. Hampton Court Palace is a short bus journey via routes 111 or 216, which can be picked up from stop P2 or R in Kingston town centre. Options include:
Rose Car Park (417 spaces)
Seven Kings Car Park (1062 spaces)
The Bittoms Car Park (303 spaces)
Tickets
There are now restrictions on entry numbers with tickets having to be purchased in advance. There are no tickets available at the entrance. See https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/#gs.im50nj for booking details
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