Hampton Court Palace London, England, UK
Begun by Cardinal Wolsey in 1514, Hampton Court Palace became the favored residence of King Henry VIII after 1529 and was expanded by Sir Christopher Wren for William III after 1689. It is now a museum owned by Historic Royal Palaces.
Listed Building Description
Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
1514 onwards. Walls of brick, with freestone dressings. Roofs covered with lead, tiles and slates. Begun by Cardinal Wolsey, much of whose work survives particularly the ranges around the Base Court, the Clock Court and the Kitchen Court.
King Henry VIII made extensive alterations between 1529-40, including the rebuilding of the Great Hall from 1532, the remodelling of the Chapel (1535-6) and building of Chapel Court, the extension of the kitchens and the addition of the projecting, turretted side wings to the west facade.
Queen Elizabeth made some changes including the building of the privy kitchen but in 1689 William III began a major building campaign with Sir Christopher Wren as architect. This consists chiefly of the Fountain Court, to the south-east corner of the old palace, on site of Tudor Cloister Green Court, and the Colonnade in Clock Court.
A little work was done under George II, including the remodelling of the Tudor range, between Clock and Fountain Court by William Kent who also completed the decorations of Queen's Staircase.
The Tudor ranges are generally 2-3 storeys with mullioned windows usually of 2-4-lights. Those by Wren have 4 storeys with arched windows or arcades to the ground floors, tall, square headed windows with moulded surrounds and sometimes pediments to the first floors, round windows to the second and almost square windows to top storey, treated as an attic above a stone cornice. Further cornice and balustraded parapet above.
Many surviving interiors, Tudor and later.
Listing NGR: TQ1573968461