Hampton Court Palace facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hampton Court Palace |
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The Tudor Great Gatehouse
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| General information | |
| Location | Hampton Court, Greater London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°24′12″N 0°20′15″W / 51.40333°N 0.33750°W |
| Current tenants | Historic Royal Palaces |
| Owner | Charles III in right of the Crown |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Official name | Hampton Court Palace |
| Designated | 2 September 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1193127 |
Hampton Court Palace is a famous royal palace in Greater London, England. It's about 12 miles (19 km) southwest of central London, right by the River Thames. Today, it's open to everyone and is looked after by Historic Royal Palaces, a charity that helps keep old royal buildings safe.
The palace started being built in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. He was a very important advisor to King Henry VIII. In 1529, when Wolsey lost the King's favour, he gave the palace to Henry VIII. The King loved Hampton Court and made it much bigger. He wanted it to fit his huge group of courtiers, which was over a thousand people!
Later, in the 1690s, King William III started a massive rebuilding project. He wanted a palace that could compete with the grand Palace of Versailles in France. This work changed much of the old Tudor palace. When he stopped building in 1694, the palace ended up with two very different styles: the older Tudor and the newer Baroque. Even with different styles, the palace looks connected because of its pink bricks and balanced design. King George II was the last king to live here.
Hampton Court Palace is a popular place to visit. You can get there by train from Waterloo station or by bus. An independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, takes care of the palace and its gardens. They don't get money from the government or the Royal Family. The palace also has many amazing artworks from the Royal Collection.
Besides the palace and its beautiful gardens, visitors can explore the famous maze. There's also a historic royal tennis court and a giant grape vine, which was the world's largest in 2005. The palace's Home Park hosts the yearly Hampton Court Palace Festival and Hampton Court Garden Festival.
Contents
History of Hampton Court Palace
Tudor Times: Henry VIII's Palace
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a powerful advisor to King Henry VIII, took over the Hampton Court site in 1514. It used to belong to the Knights Hospitaller. For the next seven years, Wolsey spent a lot of money to build the most impressive palace in England. Today, not much of Wolsey's original building looks the same.
The first courtyard, called the Base Court (B on plan), was his idea. So was the second gatehouse (C) that leads to the Clock Court (D). Wolsey's special seal can still be seen above the clock tower's entrance. The Base Court had 44 rooms for guests. The Clock Court had the best rooms, known as the state apartments, for the King and his family. Henry VIII stayed in these rooms as Wolsey's guest in 1525.
Wolsey wanted to build a palace that looked like the grand homes of cardinals in Italy. It was designed with a clear, balanced shape and important rooms on a raised floor. This palace is a great example of English architecture from the early 1500s. It mixed the old English Tudor style with new Italian Renaissance ideas. Italian artists helped add Renaissance decorations to the Tudor buildings. One of these artists, Giovanni da Maiano, made eight stone carvings of Roman emperors. These are still set into the brickwork.
Wolsey only enjoyed his palace for a few years. In 1529, he knew his enemies were trying to bring him down. So, he gave the palace to the King as a gift. Wolsey died in 1530.
Within six months, King Henry VIII started his own building work. His court had over a thousand people, and he owned more than sixty palaces. But few were big enough for everyone. So, one of the first things Henry did was build huge kitchens. He made them four times bigger in 1529. This allowed him to feed his entire court for free. Henry's new palace kept the same mixed style: Tudor with some Renaissance decorations.
Between 1532 and 1535, Henry added the Great Hall and the Royal Tennis Court. The Great Hall has a beautiful carved wooden roof. This was the most important room in the palace during Tudor times. The King would eat here, sitting at a special table on a raised platform. It took five years to build the hall. The King was so eager that the builders worked all night by candlelight.
In 1540, the gatehouse to the inner court got the Hampton Court astronomical clock. This early clock still works today! It shows the time, moon phases, month, season, date, and even the high tide at London Bridge. Knowing the tide was very important for people traveling by boat from London. This gatehouse is also called Anne Boleyn's Gate. This is because Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn, had apartments above it. Work was still happening on her rooms when she was executed.
Many important events happened at the palace during the Tudor period. In 1537, King Henry's son, Edward VI, was born here. His mother, Jane Seymour, died at the palace two weeks later. Four years after that, while attending church in the palace chapel, the King learned that his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, had been unfaithful. She was then kept in her room before being sent away. A legend says she briefly escaped her guards and ran through The Haunted Gallery, trying to beg Henry for her life. But she was caught again.
King Henry died in 1547. His son Edward VI became king, followed by his two daughters. Queen Mary I (Henry's older daughter) came to Hampton Court with King Philip for their honeymoon. Mary wanted to give birth to her first child here, but it turned out to be a false pregnancy. She stayed at the palace for over five months waiting. Her half-sister, Elizabeth I, became queen after Mary. Elizabeth had the eastern kitchen built, which is now the palace's public tea room.
Stuarts and Early Hanoverians: Royal Changes
When Queen Elizabeth I died in 1603, the Tudor period ended. King James I of the House of Stuart became the new ruler.
In 1604, two plays were performed for the Stuart court in the Great Hall. Later that year, the palace hosted the Hampton Court Conference. This was a meeting between King James and English Puritans. They didn't agree on everything, but the meeting led to the creation of the King James Version of the Bible.
King James's son, Charles I, became king in 1625. Hampton Court was where he spent his honeymoon with his young wife, Henrietta Maria. Later, it became his prison. After King Charles was executed in 1649, the palace belonged to the Commonwealth, led by Oliver Cromwell. Unlike some other royal homes, Hampton Court was mostly unharmed.
After the monarchy was restored, King Charles II and King James II visited Hampton Court but preferred to live elsewhere. By the late 1600s, Hampton Court seemed old-fashioned compared to palaces like Versailles. In 1689, King William III and Queen Mary II decided to make big changes. They planned to knock down parts of the Tudor palace and replace them with a huge, modern Baroque palace. They only wanted to keep Henry VIII's Great Hall.
The famous architect Sir Christopher Wren was hired to design the new palace. His design included a dome and looked similar to parts of Versailles. The new palace was built around two courtyards. The outside walls used pink brick with pale stone details, which created a nice contrast. The inner Fountain Court (E on plan) was designed to be even more striking.
During this work, half of the Tudor palace was replaced. Henry VIII's old state rooms were gone. The new wings around the Fountain Court had new state apartments and private rooms for both the King and the Queen. Each set of rooms had its own grand staircase. The King's rooms faced south over the Privy Garden, and the Queen's faced east over the Fountain Garden. A long gallery connected their rooms, similar to the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Artists like Antonio Verrio and Grinling Gibbons decorated the rooms.
After Queen Mary died, King William lost interest in the renovations, and work stopped. He later died in 1702 after falling from his horse in Hampton Court Park. His sister-in-law, Queen Anne, continued decorating the state apartments. When Queen Anne died in 1714, the Stuart family's rule ended.
King George I and his son King George II were the last monarchs to live at Hampton Court. Under George I, six rooms were finished in 1717. Under George II and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach, more updates were made. Architect William Kent designed new furniture and decorations, including the Queen's Staircase. Today, the Queen's Private Apartments are open to visitors.
Later Use: Public Access and Modern Times
Since King George II, no monarch has lived at Hampton Court. King George III never even visited the palace. He associated it with a bad memory from his childhood. However, he did have the Great Vine planted here in 1763.
From the 1760s, the palace was used to house "grace and favour" residents. These were people who were given free apartments in the palace as a reward for their service to the Crown. The famous scientist Michael Faraday lived here from 1862 until his death in 1867. By 2017, there were no more "grace and favour" residents.
In 1796, the Great Hall was restored. In 1838, during the reign of Queen Victoria, the palace was fully restored and opened to the public. It quickly became a popular tourist spot. By 1881, over ten million people had visited.
On September 2, 1952, the palace was given special protection as a Grade I listed building. Other buildings and walls in the grounds also have this protection.
In 1986, a big fire damaged the palace, especially the King's Apartments. A resident, Lady Daphne Gale, sadly died in the fire. It's thought she accidentally started it with a lit candle. This fire led to a new restoration project that finished in 1990. The Royal School of Needlework moved into the palace in 1987. The palace also houses the main office of Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that manages it.
21st Century Events
In 2009, rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman performed his album The Six Wives of Henry VIII at the palace.
Hampton Court was a venue for the Road Cycling Time Trial during the 2012 Summer Olympics. Temporary structures, including thrones for medal winners, were set up in the grounds.
In 2015, Hampton Court celebrated its 500th anniversary. The palace's construction began on February 12, 1515. The celebrations included daily historical re-enactments.
On February 9, 2016, Vincent Nichols, the Catholic archbishop of Westminster, held a special church service in the Chapel Royal. This was the first Catholic service at the palace in 450 years. It was also the first since Protestantism became the main religion in England.
Palace Contents and Art
The palace is home to many artworks and furnishings from the Royal Collection. Most of these date from the early Tudor period or the late Stuart to early Georgian period. In 2015, there were 542 works recorded at Hampton Court, including paintings, furniture, ceramics, and sculptures.
The most important artwork is Mantegna's Triumphs of Caesar, which is in the Lower Orangery. The palace used to have the famous Raphael Cartoons, but they are now at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Copies painted in the 1690s are displayed in their place in the Cartoon Gallery. You can also see important collections of ceramics, like blue and white porcelain collected by Queen Mary II.
Much of the original furniture is from the late 1600s and early 1700s. This includes tables, walnut chairs, and clocks. Several royal beds are still in their original spots. The King's Privy Chamber has a crystal chandelier from around 1700, which might be the first of its kind in England.
The King's Guard Chamber has a large display of weapons. Muskets, pistols, swords, and armor are arranged in decorative patterns on the walls. This arrangement is believed to be from 1699.
Hampton Court also holds most of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection. This collection has over 10,000 items, including clothing, sketches, letters, and photographs.
The Chapel Royal
The chapel's wooden and plaster ceiling is considered "the most important and magnificent in Britain." It's the only part of the Tudor decoration that remains after Sir Christopher Wren's changes. The altar has a large, plain oak screen with carvings by Grinling Gibbons. Across from the altar, on the first floor, is the royal pew. The royal family would sit here for services, separate from the general public below.
The term Chapel Royal refers to the clergy, musicians, and other church officers who work for the monarch at Hampton Court and other royal places. It doesn't just mean the building itself.
Gardens and Grounds
The palace grounds you see today were designed in a grand style in the late 1600s. There are no original parts left from Henry VIII's gardens, except for a small knot garden planted in 1924. This garden gives a hint of what the 16th-century gardens might have looked like.
The most striking part of the grounds is the huge landscape design made for Sir Christopher Wren's new palace. From a semi-circular garden area, three avenues spread out like a crow's foot. The middle avenue is not a path but a long canal called the Long Water. This canal was dug in 1662. The design was very new for its time and was inspired by the gardens at Versailles. It was even laid out by students of André Le Nôtre, who was Louis XIV's landscape gardener.
On the south side of the palace is the Privy Garden. It's enclosed by beautiful wrought iron gates made by Jean Tijou. This garden was originally William III's private garden. In 1992, it was replanted to look like it did in that period, with carefully shaped hollies and yews.
Overlooking the Thames is a small building called the Banqueting House. It was built around 1700 for informal meals and parties in the gardens. A nearby greenhouse holds the "Great Vine," planted in 1769. By 1968, its trunk was 81 inches (206 cm) thick, and it was 100 feet (30 m) long. It still produces grapes every year.
A famous part of the palace grounds is the Hampton Court Maze. It was planted in the 1690s for William III. It was originally made of hornbeam hedges, but now it has different types of hedges.
A new "Tudor Garden" was created in Chapel Court to celebrate the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII becoming king. It was inspired by old paintings of Tudor gardens. This garden has 16th-century flowers and herbs, gilded animal statues, and green and white fences.
The formal gardens and park are listed as Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
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Flowers and trees in the Great Fountain Garden -
Shaped trees in the Great Fountain Garden -
Rose garden of the Palace
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King's Beasts
There are ten statues of heraldic animals, called the King's Beasts, on the bridge over the moat. These statues represent the family history of King Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. The animals include the lion of England, the royal dragon, the black bull, and the unicorn.
In 2009, for the 500th anniversary of King Henry VIII's rule, a new "Tudor Garden" was made. Eight smaller wooden King's Beasts were carved and painted in bright colors for this garden. These animals, carved from English oak, include the golden lion of England and the red dragon of Wales. They are based on old drawings from the College of Arms.
Getting There
The palace is served by Hampton Court railway station, which is just south of Hampton Court Bridge. You can also reach it by London bus routes 111, 216, 411, and R68 from Kingston and Richmond.
Hampton Court in Pop Culture
Florham, United States
The American Vanderbilt family built their estate called Florham in New Jersey, USA. They designed it to look like Christopher Wren's work at Hampton Court. It was built in 1893.
Filming Location
Hampton Court Palace has been used as a location for many films and TV shows. These include The Private Life of Henry VIII, A Man For All Seasons, Vanity Fair, The Young Victoria, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Theory of Everything, Cinderella, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again!, The Favourite, Belgravia, The Great, and Bridgerton. Some scenes from the spin-off series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, were also filmed here.
See also
In Spanish: Hampton Court para niños
- List of works of art at Hampton Court Palace
- Hampton Court ghost
