A Day Trip to Hampton Court Palace (Sunday, August 2, 2015)

We knew that we wanted to take a day trip outside of London on Sunday, because most of the sightseeing destinations are closed that day (and we wanted to avoid all of the congestion from the big bike race). We debated between Hampton Court Palace and Windsor Castle.  Dan and I had already been to Windsor on a previous trip, and our whole family is fascinated by Henry VIII, so we chose Hampton Court Palace.  We took the Tube to Waterloo Station and were able to take a 25 minute train ride from there.  Hampton Court is a lovely little town in its own right, and the Palace is  definitely worth the trip.  It was situated on the banks of the Thames River. You can see a bit of it peeking through the trees as you cross the river.  Dan remarked to the kids that Henry VIII was able to load up a "traitorous" wife and have them shipped directly up the river to Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London.

Here is a pic of the 500-year-old palace from the entry walk.

The kids noticed the flag over the entrance and commented that the Queen must not be here.  It is funny what they pick up on.

Henry VIII claimed the Palace from Cardinal Wolsey and made it the site of his Court.  The first courtyard had a replica of a wine fountain commissioned by Henry VIII.  In his day, one of the levels spouted white wine and one spouted red on festive occasions.  I wonder if we could talk Mayor Clark into setting up one of these bad boys on the square in Lexington?

Hadley found a friend in the courtyard...  He didn't want to share his drink.

There were free audio guides available, so we grabbed one and began our tour.  The first stop was the Kitchen area.  It was really interesting to hear how they prepared food for so many courtesans during Henry VIII's time while ensuring that no one got food poisoning before the days of refrigeration.  They had men roasting meat in the same manner as they did 500 years ago, and it smelled delicious!

There was also a man giving everyone a chance to write their name with a quill pen.  We all took turns.  (I  helped Jack.)

Dan has notoriously bad handwriting, usually, but he won the contest in our family.  He actually has beautiful penmanship with a quill.  Who knew that he missed his calling as a scrivener?

The next part of the tour led us to Henry VIII's State Rooms.  The Great Hall was enormous with amazingly restored tapestries dating back to Henry VIII.  There were small details in each room that revealed monograms or crests of former wives as he continued to add on the palace and get new wives.  Dan took his seat at the head of the banquet table.  Let the feast begin!

After a bit of walking, we took a break for Jack to play Nine Men's Morris, a game similar to checkers and tic-tac-toe, and for Hadley to stretch out.

The Royal Chapel was exquisite, but we weren't able to take pictures.  It was really the birthplace of Anglicanism, since Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church and established the Church of England during his time at this palace.  

Our favorite part of the tour was the Haunted Gallery.  It is a small art gallery leading to the King's private rooms in the Chapel balcony.  Here is a portrait of Henry VIII.  Our audio guide said he was the first King to have himself painted with his shoulders squared to the front in order to make himself seem more imposing.  

The gallery is said to be haunted by the ghost of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII's wife accused of treason due to suspected infidelity.  She escaped from her room at the Palace and ran down this gallery to try to gain access to King Henry VIII while he was saying prayers.  She thought if she could just see him and plead with him, he would remove the charges.  She was apprehended just outside the Chapel doors and was dragged back through this gallery, screaming the entire time.  She was beheaded soon thereafter.  Supposedly, her ghost has been seen re-enacting those final anguished moments in the gallery.  No recent ghost sightings have occurred, but many people get chills in the room (Lyndon and myself included).  Also, in all of the huge grounds of the Palace, over half of the faintings on property occur in this one room.  Our group was a happy bunch, though.

Before we took the third section of our tour, we passed through the Fountain Courtyard.  It was so pretty, I had to take a picture.  

The third section displayed the State Rooms in the manner in which they would have appeared during King William III and Queen Mary II's time at the Palace.  The most impressive room, in my opinion, was the holding room where one would wait to attempt to be received by the King.  In order to intimidate, the room is decorated in intricate designs made entirely of weaponry.  

Next, we headed out to the beautiful gardens.  I will let the pictures do the descriptions for me.  We were lucky to have beautiful weather that day.

We finished our trip to Hampton Court with an attempt at the Hedgerow Maze.  It was lots of fun, and I am happy to say we only took a few dead ends turns.

On our way back out of the Palace, the kids hopped into a carriage for a photo opportunity.  Hadley is doing her royal wave.