History of Hampton Court Palace
Hampton Court Place is a former royal palace located on the north bank of the River Thames near Hampton in Greater London, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, and the historic county of Middlesex.[a]
The palace sits on the site of a former Manor House and chapel owned by the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem
The Manor of Hampton Court
editThe Knights Hospitaller
editThe name Hampton Court[b] originally referred to the manor house and chapel maintained on the site of the palace by the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (known as the Knights Hospitaller)[c]. Having been established in Hampton since the 12th century, the Order developed their manor house at Hampton Court into one of their largest and best-appointed in England. The manor was frequently used by the court of Edward III as alternative accommodation to Sheen Palace (the royal palace on the Thames at Richmond),[d] a waystation for visitors en route upriver to the royal manor at Byfleet (constructed by Edward II in the early 14th century), and a guest house for royal pensioners.[2]
After the manor at Byfleet was dismantled in 1414 by Henry V, the importance of Hampton Court as a royal venue diminished. The Knights Hospitallers leased the property for a time,[e] before retaining it as a country estate for the prior of the Order, James Kendall. In 1494 Kendall leased the property to Giles Daubeney, a fellow member of the Privy Council. A favourite of Henry VII,[f] Daubeney sought to establish a seat near London and the new palace constructed by Henry downriver at Richmond.[3]
Giles Daubeney
editDaubeney signed an 80-year lease for Hampton Court in 1494, and was made Lord Chamberlain the following year.
[T 5, 7-9; R 20-21, THOP 150]
Daubeney spent a considerable amount between 1495 and 1500 expanding the manor. Hosted royalty from 1500 onwards. Built facing the river, with the entrance to a grand courtyard on the south front, a great hall and kitchens which survive. Daubeney established a 'brick-built, moated courtyard house (compare Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk; Elsynge at Enfield plus others). T14
Henry VII favoured Westminster, Sheen, Greenwich and Windsor, in that order. [4]
Elizabeth of York travelled to Hampton Court in December 1502 - pregnant with Katherine. T17 56-7 citing Okerlund A N, Elizabeth of York (Basingstoke, 2009) and Ford. Before she retired to the Tower to give birth and die of postpartum infection.
[ ]
Cardinal Wolsey
edit1522-1539
Transfer to Henry VIII household 1509
1510 built mansion at Bridewell
1514 appointed Archbishop of York which came with York Place, Westminster and Brigge Court, Battersea.
Note HCP was personally owned by Wolsey and his private residence - T16
construction office based at Bridge Court, Battersea to oversee work at Hampton Court and York Place - T16
The Tudor Palace
editHenry VIII
editKatherine
editAnne
editJane
editAnne
editCatherine H
editCatherine P
editEdward
editMary
editElizabeth
editElizabeth moved court at regular intervals due to the stench that would eventually develop over time from the presence of the hundreds of people etc. [5]
The early Stuarts
editJames I
Charles I
Charles sent to Hampton Court from 24 August 1647. Free movement around the house and parks plus attendants. Children visited several times a week. Royalist supporters came to visit. TPOR 236
Charles I's escape from Hampton Court Palace
edit11 November 1647
Prompted by a letter
Russell ch 14 205-
Fraser 221-2
TPOR 237
The Palace during the Protectorate
editCouncil of State sought to recoup the cost of the war by selling royal properties palace and residences. TPOR 253-256
HCP retained along with Whitehall, St James, Greenwich, Theobalds, Windsor and Denmark House (Somerset House) TPOR 255
16 December 1653 Oliver Cromwell took the oath of office (beginning of the Protectorate) and HCP + others put at his disposal. TPOR 257
Crowell spent weekends at HCP moving family court and officials on Friday and returning to Whitehall on Monday in a heavily guarded barge or coach. TPOR 257
1659 inventory details Cromwell's life at HCP. TPOR 262
Cromwell took the Queens rooms
Fraser (1973) makes an analogy to the use of Chequers by modern Prime Ministers. Used it as a weekend retreat before the weekend had been invented. (F 460)
Betty given three rooms as nurseries for her children Cromwell, Henry and Martha. F 662
Cromwell liked to undertake hawking and hunting with bloodhounds. Properties that had been sold were bought back. Tapestries were installed in the bedrooms of Cromwell, Lady Frances, and in the Long Gallery. F 460, TPOR 262-63
Household established and £16,000 a year budgeted for expenses, plus guards and security. F 461
Ambassdors (who had returned to London) became annoyed that O's preference for weekends at HCP meant they spent their weekends trapped in London. It was only Dutch ambassador Nieupoort and Swedish ambassador Bonde who were allowed to visit HCP (Bond played bowls, killed a stag in the park, and listened to music). F 545; TPOR 263-264
September 1655 son of the governor who preached Cromwell was ruling with tyranny and die in infamy was imprisoned. TPOR 260
Summer 1657 Cromwell illness. Visited HCP in August 1657 to recover. 619, F 670
19 November 1657 Mary Cromwell married in private at HCP to Thomas Belasyse, 1st Earl Fauconberg. (Was he gay?) Pastorals written by Andrew Marvell - see F 642-43.
Betty brought to HCP [summer] 1657 died 6 August. Body borne by barge from HCP to Westminster Abbey. Body interred in Henry VII chapel. F661-665
The Restoration
editCharles II
editOnly HCP would be fit for the return of the King, everything else was trashed. - T129
John Evelyn diarist and gardener, and Andre Mollet garden designer to Charles I and II - L-G 13
James II
editThe rebuilding of the Palace by Christopher Wren
editThe Palace rebuilt: Christopher Wren's [ ] for William and Mary
editArchitects
John Rose and George London - nurserymen L-G 13
Hendrick Quellingburgh, Samuel van Staden, Casper Gamperle, and Hendrick Flores assisted with garden management and exotic plants L-G13
William Bentinck - which one?
Anne
editRefurbished the Great Fountain Garden and planted the yews in 1707 - L-G 16
[The Hanovers]
editGeorge I
editPreferred to lavish attention on his gardens at Herrhausen L-G 16
Replanted the Lower Wilderness in Home Park, replaced the decayed bower in the Privy Garden L-G 16
After 1737 the Court stopped visiting on a regular basis. L-G 16
The end of Royal occupation
The era of 'grace and favour'
editGeorge III
editThe public Palace
editQueen Victoria and the opening of the Palace
editMass tourism
The restoration of the palace / Edward Jesse and the display of the Royal Collection
editThe Palace restored
editThe Palace in the Modern era
editWWI and return from austerity
1932 cafe built next to surviving Tiltyard tower
1969 government classes Hampton Court as 'ancient monument'
1986 fire through apartments overlooking Fountain Court
A Historic Royal Palace
editCeased to be run by government department 1989. Run by Historic Royal Palaces Agency. 1998 HRPA gained independent charity status and became HRP. L-G 28
Hampton Court Palace pictures of inspired buildings
edit1860-1930 - Thurley p 308-309, 361
References
editNotes
edit- ^ Despite lying on the Middlesex north bank of the Thames, Hampton Court shares a KT8 postcode with East Molesey and West Molesey on the Surrey south bank. The palace's postal address is confusingly given as "East Molesey, Surrey KT8".
- ^ The earliest reference to the name is the manor house referred to as 'Hampton Court' in the 1399 will of Richard Weynel, Vicar of Hampton.[1]
- ^ Precursor to the modern Order of St John.
- ^ In 1353 Edward III had paid for the Order's manor at Hampton Court to be repaired after his servants accidentally set fire to the roof.
- ^ The first recorded lease of the manor was to John Wode, the Yorkist Speaker of the House of Commons under Edward IV and vice-admiral for Richard III. The date of Wode’s lease is not known, only its re-granting on the same terms to Giles Daubeney in 1494.
- ^ Originally an esquire of Edward IV (and knighted in 1478), Daubeney formed part of the failed Buckingham's rebellion against Richard III, before escaping to Brittany with Henry Tudor and later fighting bravely at the Battle of Bosworth. Daubeney was rewarded by Henry VII, becoming a Privy Councillor, co-Master of the Mint and Lieutenant of Calais.
Citations
edit- ^ Garside 1951, p. 8; Heath 2000, p. 13.
- ^ Thurley 2003, p. 4; Russell 2023, p. 19; Osborne 1990, pp. 13–15.
- ^ Thurley 2003, pp. 5, 7–9; Russell 2023, pp. 20–21; Thurley 2017, p. 150.
- ^ Thurley (2007, p. 36) citing Ford (2007, p. Appendix 1)
- ^ Somerset 1991, p. 364.
- ^ Thurley 2003, p. FIX THIS.
Sources
editGeneral histories
editBorman, Tracy (2016). The Private Lives of the Tudors: Uncovering the secrets of Britain's greatest dynasty. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 9781444782899.
Garside, Bernard (1951). The Manor Lordship and Great Parks of Hampton Court during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (with a description of Hampton Wick Fields and the Thames Islands). Richmond: Dimblebys of Richmond.
Heath, Gerald (2000). Hampton Court: the story of a village. Hampton Court Association. ISBN 978-0953870004.
Law, Ernest (1885). The History of Hampton Court Palace: Tudor Times. Vol. 1. London: George Bell and Sons.
Law, Ernest (1898). The History of Hampton Court Palace: Stuart Times. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). London: George Bell and Sons.
Law, Ernest (1891). The History of Hampton Court Palace: Orange and Guelph Times. Vol. 3. London: George Bell and Sons.
Longstaffe-Gowan, Todd (2005). The Gardens and Parks at Hampton Court Palace. London: Francis Lincoln. ISBN 0711223688.
Osborne, June (1990). Hampton Court Palace. London: HMSO. ISBN 011290484X.
Russell, Gareth (2023). The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors - 500 Years of History at Hampton Court. London: William Collins. ISBN 9780008436988.
Thurley, Simon (1993). The Royal Palaces of Tudor England. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300054203.
Thurley, Simon (2003). Hampton Court: A Social and Architectural History. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 0300102232.
Thurley, Simon (2017). Houses of Power: the Palaces that Shaped the Tudor World. London: Bantam Press. ISBN 9781784160494.
Thurley, Simon (2021). Palaces of Revolution: Life, Death & Art at the Stuart Court. London: William Collins. ISBN 9780008389994.
Worsley, Lucy; Souden, David (2005). Hampton Court Palace: the official illustrated history. London: Merrell. ISBN 9781858942827.
Articles and theses
editDolman, Brett (July 2017). "Curating the Royal Collection at Hampton Court Palace in the nineteenth century". Journal of the History of Collections. 29 (2): 271–290.
Dolman, Brett (July 2018). "From a royal residence to a royal collection: the state apartments at Hampton Court Palace, 1737–1838". Journal of the History of Collections. 30 (2): 217–233.
Ford, Lisa (2001). Conciliar politics and administration in the reign of Henry VII (PhD thesis). University of St Andrews.
Chapman, Llewella (2017). Representing Henry’s Royal Palace: The Relationship between Film, Television and Hampton Court Palace (PhD thesis). University of East Anglia, School of Art, Media and American Studies.
Davis, John R. (2024). "An Act of 'Queenly Beneficence'? A Historical Investigation of the Opening of Hampton Court Palace to the Public in the Nineteenth Century". The Court Historian. 29 (1): 17–32.
Lipscomb, Suzannah (Summer 2010). "Historical Authenticity and Interpretative Strategy at Hampton Court Palace". The Public Historian. 32 (3): 98–119 – via JSTOR.
Parker, Julia (2009). Reinvention and continuity in the making of an historic visitor attraction: control access and display at Hampton Court Palace,1838-1938 (PhD thesis). Kingston University, London.
Biographies
editWeir, Alison (2001). Henry VIII: King and Court. London: Vintage. ISBN 9780099532422.
Fraser, Antonia (1973). Cromwell: Our Chief of Men. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson. ISBN 0297765566.
Russell, Gareth (2017). Young and Damned and Fair: The Life and Tragedy of Catherine Howard at the Court of Henry VIII. London: William Collins. ISBN 9780008128272.
Somerset, Anne (1991). Elizabeth I. London: Phoenix. ISBN 1857998855.
Tallis, Nicola (2024). Young Elizabeth: Princess. Prisoner. Queen. London: Michael O'Mara. ISBN 9781789295191.
Wilkinson, Josephine (2016). Katherine Howard: The Tragic Story of Henry VIII's Fifth Queen. London: John Murray. ISBN 9781444796261.
Select guide books (chronological order)
editJesse, Edward (1841). A Summer's Day at Hampton Court (4th ed.). London: John Murray, Albemarle Street.
Jesse, Edward (1842). A Summer's Day at Hampton Court (5th ed.). London: John Murray, Albemarle Street.
Summerly, Felix (1843). A Handbook for the Architecture, Tapestries, Paintings, Gardens and Grounds of Hampton Court (2nd ed.). London: Bell and Daldy.
Thurley, Simon (1996). Murphy, Clare; Fletcher, Anne (eds.). Hampton Court Palace: the Official Guide Book (1st ed.). London: Historic Royal Palaces.