England is synonymous with castles. Today we plan to visit Hampton Court, one of only two remaining castles of Henry VIII. We took the underground to Waterloo and as we exited, saw the palace across the Thames. The size of the complex was incredible – the palace has over 1000 rooms, a large kitchen complex and extensive gardens. Construction was begun in 1515 by Cardinal Wolsey, but in 1529 Wolsey ‘gave’ the palace to Henry VIII as a way to regain favor after failing to procure an annulment from the Pope for Henry’s first marriage.
A short five minute walk across a bridge over the Thames led us to the palace welcome center, ticket booth and entrance grounds. We retrieved the tickets we had purchased online and had a few minutes to walk the grounds before the palace opened. It was another gorgeous spring day – sunny and warm with greening grass and budding trees.
The scale of Hampton Court is hard to fathom, over 515,000 square feet of interior space, with 60 acres of formal gardens and 750 acres of parkland. We entered the castle complex along a wide boulevard through the outer gatehouse.
The gate led into a large courtyard. A key feature of the courtyard is the replica of the wine fountain that Henry VIII had installed to entertain and impress Francis I, King of France. It was common during Tudor times for wine to be run through fountains for special occasions; one such occasion was Henry’s wedding to his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Today, the fountain is used to dispense wine for special events in the castle.
Hampton Court uses reenactors to tell its story. We encountered Henry in full regalia with his red Mary Janes wandering the palace.
He was accompanied by his courtier who often waited patiently as the king conducted business with his nobles.
Five of Henry’s six wives lived at Hampton Court. Henry was married to Ann Boleyn when he first took the palace from Cardinal Wolsey and the couple continued to rebuild and expand the rooms and grounds. His third queen, Jane Seymour died in the palace giving birth to their son, Edward. Henry’s six month marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, was so short that she did not spend much time at Hampton Court. His fifth wife, Catherine Howard was arrested here and later executed at the Tower for adultery. His wedding to Catherine Parr, wife number six, took place in the castle.
The palace was lavish with hundreds of beautifully painted apartments, bed chambers, dining rooms, parlors and offices. As the Tudor dynasty ended and the Stuarts assumed the monarchy, Hampton Court underwent considerable change.
William and Mary commissioned Sir Christoper Wren to build a new contemporary Baroque wing to the palace. It was during this time that the grand King’s Staircase was designed and constructed in the palace.
Later Georgian kings and princes continued to refurbish the interior with beautiful art and furniture. George II was the last monarch to occupy the castle. It was reopened by Queen Victoria in 1838 as a tourist destination.
The kitchens were an important part of castle life. The size and scale of operations required to prepare food and feed four hundred people twice per day was quite complex.
Over 200 people worked in the kitchen which was divided into a number of departments, each managed by a Sergeant and a team of yeoman, usually sons of landed nobles and grooms. Meat was roasted under the supervisions of three different Master Cooks, one for the King, the Queen and the rest of the Court. Working in the kitchen could be a hot and sweaty job with fires continuously roasting, baking and boiling!
It required large numbers of people just to constantly wash and chop vegetables. Additionally, there were hundreds of servers, dish washers and servants. Employees in the kitchens were all men and those who worked in the kitchens often lived and slept in the kitchen. Henry VIII’s kitchens continued to be used for another two hundred years, feeding the Tudor, Stuart and Georgian monarchs and their courtiers.
The palace gardens were in full spring bloom with row upon row of tulips, daffodils, iris and crocus. During Henry’s reign in Hampton Court, a privvy or private garden with fountain was developed on the property.
William and Mary significantly improved and expanded the privvy gardens to complement the Baroque addition to the palace. Hampton’s current garden accurately represents this early 18th century design. Unfortunately, William did not get to enjoy this natural beauty for long – two weeks after the garden was completed, he fell from his horse and died.
As we left the gardens, we passed a carriage with shire horses. Shires are one of the oldest horse breeds in England and were used in Henry’s time as work animals to pull carts; in fact, shires are often referred to as draught horses since they frequently pulled wagons laden with beer kegs! Today these carriages transport tourists to the farther edges of the gardens and surrounding parks.
Had we had more time, we would have explored the gardens and surrounding parkland more extensively, but we had to hurry to catch a shuttle to Windsor Castle. Travelling between the two castles by underground and public bus would have taken 90 minutes – the shuttle would take us to Windsor directly in about 30 mins. So off we ran to catch the shuttle and visit another magnificent English castle!