Day 8- Hampton Court Palace (Sept 23)

Of all the things to do in London (and there are soooo many) the top two on mine and my sister's bucket list were visits to Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London. We decided to visit Hampton Court on Sunday and our adventure started off with a ride on the Tube followed by a ride on the train as 
Hampton Court is located almost 12 miles outside of Central London in Richmond Upon Thames. Like many royal palaces, it is situated along the banks of the Thames River. 

We caught the Tube at Paddington Station (closest to our hotel) and headed toward Waterloo Station where we would hop on the South Western Railway to Hampton Court. The trip takes about 40 minutes one way. 

I have to say that I am super impressed with the public transportation in and around Greater London. Let's face it, when you are moving millions of people day in and day out, you better be good at it. Did we ever get frustrated, get on the wrong tube line, get squished on an overly crowded tube? You bet we did, but that's actually part of the fun of a big city. The Tube map looks overwhelming at first glance, but once you ride a few times and get the system down, it makes quite a bit of sense.

London Tube map

One of my favorite things about riding the Tube was listening to the audio announcement "Mind the Gap" every time the doors opened!! Back in 1968, after Tube officials realized it would be impractical to have drivers and attendants warn passengers every time the doors opened, a digital recording was made. And trust me, after you have ridden several times, this saying will be stuck in your head, FOREVER!!  MIND THE GAP

Once we departed the train, it was just a short walk over the Thames and we arrived at Hampton Court Palace. No Tudorphile (not sure if that's a word, but it sounds good to me) would ever visit London and not go to Hampton Court. Having originally been built Thomas Wolsey (Archbishop of York) in 1514, this palace was later gifted to King Henry VIII by Wolsey (in 1528) when Wolsey knew that his enemies and the King were engineering his downfall. Within six months, Henry began his own rebuilding and expansion, including the Great Hall and the Royal Tennis Court.

When we arrived at the gates of the palace it was still a bit drizzly out, but the overcast skies did nothing to darken the magnificence of this palace. It was everything I had always imagined it to be, and more.

Heraldic animal statues

We entered through the front gates, into the first courtyard (The Base) and  proceeded to the inner gatehouse which leads to the Clock Court (Wolseys seal still remains visible over the entrance arch of the clock tower).The clocktower is home for an astronomical clock that still functions today. It shows the time of day, phases of the moon, the month, the quarter of the year, the date, the sun and star sign and the high water at London Bridge. The high water reading was especially important to those visiting by barge via the Thames as the low water could create very dangerous rapids on the river. 

The gatehouse to this second, inner courtyard is today called "The Anne Boleyn Gatehouse". Of course, since my sister and I are related to Anne Boleyn in our genealogy, we had to get a picture together under the gate.  This second court contained the very best rooms "the state apartments" reserved for the King and his family.

As we entered the King's apartments, we walked into the Great Hall. This is by far one of the most impressive room at the Palace and the largest. After Henry was given Hampton Court, one of the first things he did was to renovate this hall. This is one of the last remaining and greatest of medieval halls.

The Great Hall

The Great Hall was the most important room at Hampton Court during the Tudor era. It's the place were the King would dine, while seated up on a raised dais, surrounded by members of the Court. The Hall took five years to build and the carpenters worked round the clock, seeing by candlelight at night.

Great halls were places that were used for not only eating, but for hosting a variety of entertaining. It was amazing to sit in this Great Hall and imagine what it have been like to see Henry and Anne sitting together overseeing the court. 

Lining the walls of the Great Hall are tapestries showing the life of Abraham from the Bible. These tapestries have been restored and are so incredibly beautiful. I can only imagine what they would have looked like in their full glory. They were made in Brussels from wool, silk, gold and silver thread and in 1649 were valued at over 8,000bp. Check out more about these tapestries here
tapestries

Hampton Court is so large and we wandered around so much, that I can even begin to share everything that I loved about it, but here are some of the highlights from all the amazing pictures that we took.

My sister and I were so excited to see this piece of stone that displays the badge of our ancestor, Anne Boleyn. It is a falcon resting on roses. In heraldry, it is commonly accepted that the falcon symbolized "one who does not rest until the objective is achieved". This was a perfect symbol for Anne considering all that she endured to reach the throne. Sadly, after Anne's execution, Henry had all references to Anne removed from the palace, so we are thankful that this remains. 

Here are some beautiful examples of Tudor Roses that can be found in the palace. 

 Wolsey's Closet is the only room known to have been one of Cardinal Wolsey's personal rooms so Jennifer and I definitely had to get a picture of us touching a piece of this amazing history.

Of course, a Tudor palace would not be complete without portraits of King Henry VIII and his family.

King Henry VIII by Hans Holbein

Queen Anne Boleyn

It was a chilly day and after wandering around for a bit, we were a bit hungry and cold so we decided to stop for a bite to eat at "The Privy Kitchen". The food was delicious. Chris, Jen and I ordered the vegetarian pie of the day and Austin and Eric ordered a meat pie. Yum! From the Privy Kitchen, we continued our exploration.  

After visiting the Tudor sections of the court, we proceeded to the Stuart/Georgian section. Many people consider Hampton Court to be two palaces forming one large estate. When Queen Mary II and her husband, William of Orange took the throne in 1689, Hampton Court underwent an almost full restoration, changing it from a Gothic style to a Baroque style in keeping with the court of French rival, King Louis XIV and the Palace of Versailles. Thankfully, due to a lack of funds, their original plan was revised and some of the Tudor palace was saved.

 While still very beautiful, enchanting and full of history, I have to say that this wasn't my favorite part of the Palace because, well, because it wasn't Tudor. 

Baroque section of of the Palace.

While still very beautiful, enchanting and full of history, I have to say that this wasn't my favorite part of the Palace because, well, because it wasn't Tudor. 

The kitchens at Hampton Court Palace are massive and impressive. They would have to be to have fed all those courtiers and servants of the court! Here is a great video that shows a re-enactment of the kitchen in action.  Hampton Court Kitchens

No visit to Hampton Court would be complete without a stroll through the magnificent gardens. Bordering the River Thames, these world famous gardens fill more than 60 acres surrounded by 750 acres of parklands. I would love be able to visit these gardens during all four seasons, though the Fall was definitely beautiful. Check out this short video to see more about these gardens. Hampton Court Gardens

The garden is separated into several different sections.. It seemed as though each one was more impressive than the last. Immediately exiting the back of the Georgian section of the palace, we entered The Great Fountain Garden. This garden is filled with beautiful Yew trees and a lovely fountain in the center. 

Photo credit to Google

The Privy (Private) Garden has existed since the reign of Henry VIII. It has been restored using original plant varieties that were part of the King's design. 

Used to house Queen Mary II's exoctic plant collection, this Lower Orangery Garden has been restored in all its former glory.

Lower Orangery Garden

Of course, my favorite of all the gardens was The Kitchen Garden. This amazing garden has been restored as it would have looked in the 18th century. This garden was originally built by William and Mary on the sides of King Henry VIII's tiltyard (used for jousting). During the Georgian era, Grand Sallats were a favorite recipe at the court. Some items in the sallat were lettuce, endive, cucumbers and parsley. These items are grown in the Kitchen garden today, along with many other vegetable crops, and fruits such as peaches, apricots, nectarines, cherries and plums. I could have spent all day in this garden!
See more about this amazing garden here Kitchen Garden

I have to admit, there was one thing about the gardens that I didn't enjoy and it was the Maze. This mazed has survived since the late 17th century and is now listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's oldest hedge maze. It was created as entertainment for the court of William III and Mary II. Well, they might have found it entertaining, but I didn't like it one bit. It was hard and Jennifer and I got completely lost. I imagine that we could have been stuck in there for hours. We could hear the guys but couldn't get to them. Continual dead ends and retracing our steps over and over. Finally we made it back to the place we came in (which wasn't really the exit) and we just wanted out!

Photo found on Google

Photo found on Google

By the end of our day, we had spent hours at Hampton Court. The sun had finally come out and it was beautiful to walk around the gardens enjoying the sunshine, but our feet were tired and we were ready to catch the train and head back to London. 

Time to rest up for our next big adventure...The Tower of London!!