Teresa came back in town to visit me for a few days and we took a little trip out to Hampton Court Palace. It is one of two surviving palaces of Henry VIII.
View of the gates
Front of Hampton Court Palace
It was originally built for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, Henry's chaplain, but it was eventually turned over to the king. In the 17th century, King William III and Mary II (of "William and Mary" fame) decided to expand it to compete with Versailles and employed Christopher Wren to do the work. For the architectural geeks like me, Wren rebuilt a number of churches in London after the Great Fire in 1666, most notably St. Paul's. He was also responsible for the expansion of Kensington Palace.
I digress...William and Mary were keen to expand Hampton Court Palace, but were forced to stop work halfway through. As a result, the palace is now half Tudor and half Baroque. One would think this would make the building seem disconnected, but it doesn't. It was really pretty.
The tour of the Palace has an audio tour that takes you through the kitchens and serving quarters, up through the apartments and the Chapel Royal. The detail on the audio tour was sometimes a bit much. There was a point in the kitchens where the audio guide went on for 3 minutes about making bread. I really don't need to know that much detail about making bread. It's bread. Anyway, it was at this point that I learned how to make the audio guide skip to the next section. I complain, but it was really nice to have the detail.
The Chapel Royal is still open and active today. It was really beautiful, especially the ceiling. It was quite stunning and it is amazing to me how much detail they employ. It took 2 years to complete the ceiling and it contains 60 gilded winged angels. Of course, you couldn't take pictures (and I don't break the rules!), but I was able to find this one online.
Hampton Court Palace is also home to the Great Vine. This claims to be the oldest (and at one point, the largest) vine in the world. At over 240 years old and 120 feet long, it is pretty impressive.
I digress...William and Mary were keen to expand Hampton Court Palace, but were forced to stop work halfway through. As a result, the palace is now half Tudor and half Baroque. One would think this would make the building seem disconnected, but it doesn't. It was really pretty.
View of Palace from the back
The tour of the Palace has an audio tour that takes you through the kitchens and serving quarters, up through the apartments and the Chapel Royal. The detail on the audio tour was sometimes a bit much. There was a point in the kitchens where the audio guide went on for 3 minutes about making bread. I really don't need to know that much detail about making bread. It's bread. Anyway, it was at this point that I learned how to make the audio guide skip to the next section. I complain, but it was really nice to have the detail.
The Chapel Royal is still open and active today. It was really beautiful, especially the ceiling. It was quite stunning and it is amazing to me how much detail they employ. It took 2 years to complete the ceiling and it contains 60 gilded winged angels. Of course, you couldn't take pictures (and I don't break the rules!), but I was able to find this one online.
Ceiling in Chapel Royal
In addition to the building itself, which led you through the sordid history of Henry VIII and his wives (most notably Katherine), you could tour the grounds. Now, I'm sure that they are all the more stunning in the spring when everything is flowering, but they were really beautiful. When Teresa and I walked out the back of the Palace, we were greeted with this view.
My pictures don't really do it justice, but it was breathtaking. Taking the path up above leads you to this lake.
There are all sorts of water fowl that have taken up residence in the lake. To the right of the lake is some land with deer and other animals. There was some light-haired animal that was out there, but neither Teresa nor I could figure out what it was. I think we just decided they were either really big goats or really blond deer.
There are a number of gardens covering over 60 acres. Again, probably even more beautiful in the spring, but very beautiful even in early December, plus we didn't have the insane crowds of the spring/summer. Other than a few school groups, the Palace was pretty empty.
Privy Garden
One of the sunken gardens
Another sunken garden
The Great Vine
Planted in 1768 by gardener Lancelot "Capability" Brown (how great of a name is that?!?), it still produces grapes. If you are there around harvest time, you can purchase some of the grapes in late August/early September. They are sweet grapes, so they are just used for eating --- no wine coming out of them.
All in all, Hampton Court Palace was pretty cool. I liked the combination of the two styles - Tudor and Baroque. I loved the history of Henry VIII and all of his Jerry Springer-like problems. (Seriously, when your history of your spouses reads: divorced, executed, died, divorced, executed, widowed, you've got problems.) I liked the subtle tributes to the history of England:
The Tudor dragon
A Panther - considered a royal beast
And, of course, the Lion of England
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