Hampton Court – two royal palaces in one!
If you want to see the best of the royal palaces in London, in my mind there’s only one choice. Ignore Buckingham Palace, don’t bother with St James’s – take a trip out of town and spend the day at Hampton Court.
Hampton Court is practically two palaces in one. First of all, there’s the fine red brick Tudor palace started by Cardinal Wolsey – the last flush of the Gothic style. And secondly, there’s the fine baroque palace by Sir Christopher Wren – an English rival to Versailles.
Wolsey began the palace in 1514. It wasn’t just his private residence – he often entertained foreign diplomats here, so his palace had to reflect the wealth and importance of the King, too. But Wolsey went a bit too far – it wasn’t a good idea to have a palace better than Henry VIII’s. When in 1529 Wolsey found himself on the wrong side of his master, who was at the time trying to get his marriage to Katharine of Aragon (the first of his six wives) annulled, practically the first thing Henry did was to confiscate the palace, and move in.
Base Court was Wolsey’s huge outer courtyard, with guest lodgings for his diplomatic visitors. It’s impressive on its own, but Hery expanded the palace further, building the Great Hall – the last medieval hall built in England – with its fine wooden hammerbeam roof and tapestries hanging on the walls.
While St James’s and Whitehall remained important palaces, Hampton Court had a unique place. Monarchs could come here to hunt in the countryside, or escape the heat of a London summer. The palace became stuffed with art works. Charles I bought a set of tapestries by the Italian artist Mantegna showing the triumphs of Caesar, which you can still see today. There are also works by Holbein, Titian, Cranach, and many other artists.
When William III came to the throne in 1688, he decided to add a new classical range. In fact, originally, he wanted to demolish the whole palace and replace it a new, up to date range. Christopher Wren was hired to design the impressive, serene façade, replacing a number of the old Tudor buildings.
At the same time, William had the gardens brought up to date in the formal French style, with trimmed hedges and fine lawns. He also laid out the famous maze. Actually, it’s quite a simple maze – if in doubt, always keep your hand on the wall on your right, and you won’t get lost.
Entrance to the palace is not cheap; tickets cost GBP 13 for adults and GBP 6.50 for children (though there is a family ticket that works out cheaper if you for two adults and two or three children). Entry does include an audio tour, though, which is well worth taking.
The palace is open from 10 till 1630, every day of the week
The easiest way to get to Hampton Court is to take a train from Waterloo. They run every 30 minutes, but this is a commuter stopping train so it can be a bit slow.
That’s the easiest way – but the nicest way, in summer, is to take a river launch. They run from April to October from Westminster – but it’s a three hour trip, and there are only a few services a day.
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