Thursday in London: Hampton Court
On Thursday we all trekked down to Hampton Court, which, really, isn't all that far from me here in the southwest. It was about a 20 minute train ride.
Hampton Court is an interesting Palace, and there is lots of information on the Wikepedia Page about it, should you be interested, but here are some of the basics:
"Thomas Wolsey, then Archbishop of York and Chief Minister to the King, took over the lease in 1514 and rebuilt the 14th century manor house over the next seven years (1515–1521) to form the nucleus of the present palace. Wolsey spent lavishly to build the finest palace in England at Hampton Court, which he was later forced to give to Henry as he began to fall from favour."
"Tudor sections of Hampton Court, which were later overhauled and rebuilt by Henry VIII, suggest that Wolsey intended it as an ideal Renaissance cardinal's palace in the style of Italian architects such as il Filarete and Leonardo da Vinci: rectilinear symmetrical planning, grand apartments on a raised piano nobile, classical detailing. Jonathan Foyle has suggested (see link) that it is likely that Wolsey had been inspired by Paolo Cortese's De Cardinalatu, a manual for cardinals that included advice on palatial architecture, published in 1510. Planning elements of long-lost structures at Hampton Court appear to have been based on Renaissance geometrical programs, an Italian influence more subtle than the famous terracotta busts of Roman emperors by Giovanni da Maiano that survive in the great courtyard (illustration, right above). Hampton Court remains the only one of 50 palaces built by Henry VIII financed from the Dissolution of the Monasteries."
The building itself is pretty neat since it's basically half and half. "During the reign of William and Mary, half the Tudor palace was replaced in a project that lasted from 1689–1694. New wings surrounding the Fountain Court were added, designed by Sir Christopher Wren."
This clock is an astronomical clock and it dates from Henry VIII's time. It was made in 1540-2 and shows the hour, day, month and number of days since the beginning of the year, as well as the time of high tide at London Bridge.
It represents the universe as the Tudors understood it, so the figure of the sun revolves around the Earth.
This blurry (sorry) picture shows the original wood stairs for this part of the palace. We're not allowed to walk on them.
We followed our indoor tour with a lovely stroll in the gardens.
By then it had started to get cold so I snapped a few photos before we headed to the maze!
Everyone was very excited about the gardens.
The white guy was pointing to some building that contained artwork, but he could've also been attacking Matt.
And here we are at the maze! It wasn't as big as I thought, and I was on in about 5 to 10 minutes, all thanks to continually turning right.
And I beat Matt and Mandy out, suckas.
Hampton Court is an interesting Palace, and there is lots of information on the Wikepedia Page about it, should you be interested, but here are some of the basics:"Thomas Wolsey, then Archbishop of York and Chief Minister to the King, took over the lease in 1514 and rebuilt the 14th century manor house over the next seven years (1515–1521) to form the nucleus of the present palace. Wolsey spent lavishly to build the finest palace in England at Hampton Court, which he was later forced to give to Henry as he began to fall from favour."
"Tudor sections of Hampton Court, which were later overhauled and rebuilt by Henry VIII, suggest that Wolsey intended it as an ideal Renaissance cardinal's palace in the style of Italian architects such as il Filarete and Leonardo da Vinci: rectilinear symmetrical planning, grand apartments on a raised piano nobile, classical detailing. Jonathan Foyle has suggested (see link) that it is likely that Wolsey had been inspired by Paolo Cortese's De Cardinalatu, a manual for cardinals that included advice on palatial architecture, published in 1510. Planning elements of long-lost structures at Hampton Court appear to have been based on Renaissance geometrical programs, an Italian influence more subtle than the famous terracotta busts of Roman emperors by Giovanni da Maiano that survive in the great courtyard (illustration, right above). Hampton Court remains the only one of 50 palaces built by Henry VIII financed from the Dissolution of the Monasteries."The building itself is pretty neat since it's basically half and half. "During the reign of William and Mary, half the Tudor palace was replaced in a project that lasted from 1689–1694. New wings surrounding the Fountain Court were added, designed by Sir Christopher Wren."This clock is an astronomical clock and it dates from Henry VIII's time. It was made in 1540-2 and shows the hour, day, month and number of days since the beginning of the year, as well as the time of high tide at London Bridge.
It represents the universe as the Tudors understood it, so the figure of the sun revolves around the Earth.
This blurry (sorry) picture shows the original wood stairs for this part of the palace. We're not allowed to walk on them.
We followed our indoor tour with a lovely stroll in the gardens.
By then it had started to get cold so I snapped a few photos before we headed to the maze!Everyone was very excited about the gardens.The white guy was pointing to some building that contained artwork, but he could've also been attacking Matt.And here we are at the maze! It wasn't as big as I thought, and I was on in about 5 to 10 minutes, all thanks to continually turning right.And I beat Matt and Mandy out, suckas.
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