Words on Wednesday: Hampton Court Palace

On the last day of our holiday, we were fortunate to have the time to visit Hampton Court Palace, somewhere I had wanted to visit since I was a child and could recite the names of Henry VIII’s wives. The palace was originally owned by Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor and Henry VIII’s chief adviser until he fell out of favour in 1529, when he gave the palace to the king. The palace was one of Henry’s most favoured residences; and it was enlarged to accommodate his sizeable group of courtiers. Below you can see the walk up to the palace.

In the early 1690s, William III undertook a massive rebuilding, and when work stopped in 1694, the palace was left with two distinct architectural styles. George II was the last monarch to live at the palace, and in 1838, Queen Victoria opened the palace to the public.

The entrance ticket includes both the gardens and the interior of the palace. There were loads of school parties, so we did our best to avoid them, with great difficulty at times! Below you can see the impressive windows of the dining hall, the Fountain Court, the walk way around the court and the floral display marking the accession of Charles III.

I was eager to see the kitchens, and which apparently employed 200 cooks, sergeants, grooms and pages during the time of Henry VIII. There were a considerable number of plaster pies on display, which begged the question….who ate all the pies in Henry’s court?*

The kitchens were indeed huge, with massive spits, ovens and large storage areas. Below is part of the serving area, which as you can see, is also of a decent size.

Apart from the palace itself and the wonderful gardens, part of which I will include in Saturday’s post, there is of course the famous maze (extra cost), the royal tennis court and a large grape vine, supposed to be the world’s largest. And of course there are the ghosts…everyone who has worked there has apparently seen one…including my second cousin’s husband….

The palace sits beside the Thames, and we took a short walk along the river bank, and what an idyllic and quintessentially English scene was presented to us.

I would highly recommend Hampton Court Palace as a place to visit, but watch out for large groups of school parties! There is a good cafe too with a great choice of food and delicious ice-cream.

*UK readers will understand this reference….it is a cry often heard at football (soccer) matches and which even has its own Wikipedia page.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer, good food and pretends to garden.

You can find Thistles and Kiwis on Facebook, and also on Instagram @thistlesandkiwis. If you want to get in touch, email me on thistlesandkiwis@gmail.com or lofgren@thistlesandkiwis.com