Well today was a fun day. I finally went to Hampton Court. I've been wanting to visit for so long, but never actually did it. And then Wednesday afternoon I just decided to book my train tickets for the next day and just go. Another thing I can tick off my to do list :)
Getting up bright and early
Well, not that bright and early. Just my regular time I'd get up if I were to go to work. My train left at 9.06am from London Waterloo and I got there in plenty of time. I even managed to buy a christmas present that was on my list for ever, but never got around to actually buying it.
As Hampton Court is only a 36min train ride away, I got there at 9.45am, 15min before the palace would actually open. Probably one of the most relaxed mornings ever :)
Going back in time
Once I got my ticket and made my way to the palace, it soon became clear that I wasn't going to be able to visit everything and that not all areas were open to the public. This weekend there is some sort of food festival so the Base Court, the court where you arrive when you enter the palace wasn't open to the public. No 16th century experience for me then as Henry's guests would have gone through the exact same doors. But aah well. The audio guide was included in the ticket, so I'm going to complain :)
The audio guide contained 4 tours and 2 galleries. I managed to do all 4 tours! I started at 10.15am with the first tour, I finished with the last at 2pm, with a little lunch break in between. And I even managed to walk through one of the galleries, the Georgian story. Reason why I just walked through it was because of time limits but I really wanted to see it, because it featured Royals of the Jacobite era, which I'm also facinated by.
It is a beautiful palace. You have this mixture in styles: the 16th century Tudor style and then a 17th century William III style. 2 completely different worlds, but equally facinating. Besides the audio guide, I also listened to the Secrets of... (fill in the blank) episode just like I did at Chatsworth House.
The palace was originally built for Wolsey, king Henry VIII's almoner. When Henry wanted to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon and Wolsey failed to get the divorce through with the Pope, Wolsey gifted Hampton Court in the hope to spare his life, but it was a gift in vain. Wolsey died, however, prior to being executed. From then Henry VIII lived at Hampton Court a few weeks or months a year before moving on to the next palace. It really was his play ground. Various rooms were dedicated to various wifes, which you can still find evidence of today.
After king Henry died, Hampton Court wasn't used any longer, until a few decades later and William of Orange became King of England. His wife and he had their eye on Hampton Court as a permanent residents and hired Christopher Wren to rebuilt the place. The original plan was to rebuilt the entire palace. However, William and his wife died before the entire palace was remodeled, so that is why you have this mixture of two completely different styles, with almost a century in between.
As the place is so grand, I couldn't get an overview shot, but before I left I managed to get one of these, without the cars and vans that were parked in front.
And so it happened that I spent another day happily in the past. In the afternoon I wandered around the gardens a bit. Tried to see the tennis court Henry would have used, but unfortunately it was closed.
I had my train back to London at 24 past 4, so I didn't get home too late. Once I got home, I started editing the above video, which took the entire evening... In the meantime I watch the final episodes of The Crown and when I saw the season finale, I decided to watch the first episode of the Tudors. I know, I'm incredibly late to that party, but better late than never, hein? And after my visit to his palace, it only seemed right to watch a first episode :)
So that is basically it for my visit to Hampton Court.
As always, thanks for reading!
xo - Sara
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