Tick Tock
18/3/24
Visiting Hampton Court
Hampton Court is a royal palace in Richmond in south west London. It is right next to the River Thames. I decided on visiting Hampton Court because I wanted to learn more about King Henry VIII. You can find out more about visiting yourself by looking at the Hampton Court Palace website, I’d definitely recommend going, I had a great day!
The History of Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court started being built in 1514. It a country house before and was converted into a grand palace. It was not built for King Henry VIII but actually a man called Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who was the chief minister of the king.
Cardinal Wolsey however ended up giving the palace to the King in 1529. At one time Cardinal Wolsey was very close to the king. When he fell out of favour Wolsey gave the Hampton Court Palace to the king to try and get back on Henry VIII’s good side. This didn’t work and Henry VIII ended up accusing him of treason anyway. Wolsey was on the way to stand trial for this when he died of natural causes in 1530.
Hampton Court became one of King Henry VIII’s most favourite places to live. He wanted it to be even bigger and even more special so the palace was improved even more.
King Henry VIII was not the only king to own Hampton Court Palace. It was a royal household so whoever was king or queen owned it. When William III was king he rebuilt a lot of the palace and wanted to make it bigger again. When he had this done big parts of the Tudor palace were destroyed. The last king to own the palace was King George II.
Now Hampton Court Palace is looked after by the Royal Palaces, along with the Tower of London and isn’t a place you would find the royal family living or entertaining in now!
Henry VIII
Henry VIII is Hampton Courts most famous owner. He was king for 36 years but he was never actually meant to be king! His father was Henry VII. His eldest brother Arthur was the heir to the throne but he sadly died when he was just 15 years old suddenly making Henry the heir instead. When Henry was just 17 years old his father died and he became king in 1509.
The wives of Henry VIII
Henry VIII famously had six wives. His first wife was Katherine of Aragon who he married the year he became king. They struggled to have children and despite having a daughter called Mary (who later became Queen) Henry was desperate to have a son and heir to the throne. Henry eventually divorced Katherine but it wasn’t easy. He had to break away from the Catholic church to do so and created the Church of England.
When he finally divorced Katherine Henry married Anne Boleyn. She also had a daughter who was called Elizabeth. (who also became Queen, after Mary I’s death and reigned very successfully for 45 years!) Henry was furious to once again not have a son, as at the time it was very much felt that only a male heir would do. Incredibly he had her executed for treason at the Tower of London!
Jane Seymour was Henry’s third wife and he married her only 10 days after Anne had been killed. A year later Jane did give birth to a son and Henry finally he had the heir he had always wanted but shortly after Jane died. Their son was named Edward and he did indeed become king at the age of 9 years old but only for 6 short years as he became ill and died too.
Henry married again after Jane Seymour’s death to Anne of Cleves but this was an arranged marriage and Henry did not like her. He quickly divorced her after only six months and married Catherine Howard instead. This marriage was incredibly short too, only lasting a year and a half. Henry quickly wanted to get rid of her, having her arrested at Hampton Court and executed at the Tower of London.
Katherine Parr was Henry’s last wife and actually survived him. Henry died 3 and a half years after marrying her.
Henry VIII's Reign
Henry VIII was king for a long time. He became king when he was very young. He was a very tall fit man, he enjoyed sports and was a very good on horse back and jousting.
He enjoyed the finer things in life, wanting to show off how important and wealthy he was. He made changes to many royal castles and palaces, not just Hampton Court, to make them grander and more comfortable. He liked wearing fancy clothes, covered in jewels and enjoyed eating fabulous feasts with his important guests.
He was ruthless in what he wanted and did not let anyone stand in his way. Not only did he have two of his wives executed, he was thought to have had many more executed too.
When Henry broke away from the Catholic Church it created great change. It was the beginning of the Church of England. It also made Henry VIII very rich as he took over the wealth of the Catholic Church in England.
While he was king he increased the size of the Royal Navy, fearing wars between England and France or Spain. One famous ship he is well know for is the Mary Rose, the remains of which can be seen at the Royal Dockyard in Portsmouth.
When Henry died at the age of 55 he was unfit and unwell. Very unlike how he had been in his youth. He was succeeded as he wished by his male heir and then by his two daughters.
Things to see at Hampton Court Palace
There were a lot changes and improvements made to Hampton Court over the years. A lot of the Tudor palace does not exist anymore, especially on the inside. However there are lots of examples to show you what it would have been like. I could show you the photos I took, but instead have a look at the interactive pictures from Google Arts and Culture. It is like you are actually there! Click on the photos to take you to the website and look around for yourself, make sure you look out for the details…what can you spot? And then don’t forget to come back here!
Base Court
When you walk through the gatehouse of the palace you enter the Base Court. This courtyard has changed over the years but parts of Wolsey’s original palace and Henry VIII’s changes still remain.
The Great Hall
The Great Hall was designed to be grand and to show off Henry’s wealth. On the wooden roof you can see Anne Boleyn’s coat of arms as it was built while Henry was married to her. The Great Hall would have been used for entertaining Henry’s guests but when not being used by the king, members of the household would have used it to eat in, a bit like a canteen. It wouldn’t have been nearly as grand when the king and his guests would eat there though!
The Great Watching Chamber
The Great Watching Chamber was part of Henry VIII’s state apartments. It was a room guests would have been allowed into only if they were very important. There were then further rooms that led on from this, the further you were allowed to go the more important you were! On the ceiling of this room you can see Henry’s coat of arms as well as symbol from Jane Seymour’s family, a phoenix rising from a flaming tower.
The Chapel Royal
The Chapel Royal has been redesigned since Henry VIII’s time, however the ceiling is still the Tudor ceiling. In the chapel you can see a replica of Henry VIII’s crown!
The Kitchens
The kitchens at Hampton Court are impressive, it isn’t just 1 room but 55! 200 people would have worked in the kitchens to produce food for those who worked there as well as providing food for the King and his guests.
Other Amazing things to see...
It was amazing to see glimpses of what the palace would have been like when Henry VIII was there. The following areas don’t have an interactive photo to view, but they are part of the Virtual Tour below. Just click the down arrow at the bottom of the screen to view all the photos and use the forward, right and left arrows to move around to view different parts of the rooms.
The Gate House
The Gate House is the entrance at the front of the palace and looks very similar to a castle gatehouse. Is there anything else you can spot that reminds you of a castle when you look at the Virtual Tour?
The Council Chamber
The Council Chamber was one of the first rooms that Henry VIII built when he took over the palace. It was a room that Henry and the Privy Council made very important decisions in.
Haunted Gallery
Katherine Howard’s ghost is said to haunt this corridor in the palace!
All photos and illustrations in this blog post are Whizzbots, Shutterstock and Google Arts and Culture Images.
Other images on the site may be Public Domain or Creative Commons Images, which are credited appropriately.