How valuable is a field trip to the Tudor part of the Palace for finding out about how henry V111 used Hampton Court.

Authors Avatar
How valuable is a field trip to the Tudor part of the Palace for finding out about how henry V111 used Hampton Court.

There are three ways in which we can find out how Henry V111 would have used Hampton Court:

* Written sources both primary and secondary

* Remaining Tudor palaces other than Hampton Court

* Hampton Court itself.

How was the Palace used?

Hampton Court was like a small town. There was enough room for more than 1,000 people to eat, sleep and worship. A Tudor palace was not just the King's home. It was the centre of the government of the country when the king stayed there. It had to impress people by its size and splendour. Source 20 tells us that Hampton Court was one of the greater houses, one of the buildings where the King and hid court kept full estate, where he was seen in all his magnificence.

Sources 21 and 22 show that Henry wanted to make his palace even more spectacular after the departure of Wolsey. Source 22 states that £62,000 was spent in building works over a decade, which is equivalent to £2,000,000 these days, which is an awful lot. Henry wasn't worried about the cost of making the palace the best as long as it was made the best. Once Henry had spent his lavish amount of money, he had created at Hampton Court what was universally regarded as his most magnificent house after Whitehall. Source 22 goes on to show how many were employed at the Palace. This is the list from a modern pamphlet about the Palace:

49 masons

52 bricklayers

52 carpenters

3 joiners

9 plumbers

2 sawyers

4 plasterers

41 labourers

This to me shows that Henry wanted the best. He employed lots and lots of people to decorate and change the court. Henry didn't want any trace of Wolsey in his new glamorous palace.

Source 23 shows how much was eaten in one year at the palace. These are the statistics:

,240 oxen

8,200 sheep

2,330 deer

760 calf's

,870 pigs and

53 wild boar.

The kitchens, which remain in the palace today, have been reconstructed to look as realistic as possible and as they may have done during the sixteenth century. Some parts of the original kitchens have been knocked down so that the kitchens we see are on a much smaller scale.

It is a common fact that Henry enjoyed his food, and this source can back up that statement. Henry had a lot of time to eat and host fancy dinner parties as the country was in a state of peace and not at war or under threat of war. I feel this is a major factor on the way that Hampton Court was used as Henry had money to spend and time to spend the money. This is why Henry built up such a wonderful and beautiful palace. As the country was peaceful, Henry had more time to socialise as King of England, and did this by impressing foreigner's with his palace that had had an awful amount of money spent on it as the money was present and not having to spent on wars. Henry was a naturally competitive person and took part in many sporting and leisure activities in Hampton Court and the grounds surrounding it. 'If it was fine then he would go riding or practice his archery, and it if it was wet he might play bowls' (Source 27). It seems from the information available about Henry that he did not really enjoy just relaxing, he liked to be kept busy and amused at all times. Source 28 tells us that after he had eaten 'there might be dancing, a concert, a masque or other diversions.' This suggests that Henry enjoyed various different after-dinner activities and what he may have used the palace for. Henrys favourite sports included tennis and jousting, both of which he had areas built to play in, as stated in sources 30 and 31. Even a simple jousting match would be turned into a huge event at Hampton Court. Source 31 says that 'when he did take part himself, a grand and colourful procession was formed.' This Source and also various others including those featuring maps of Hampton Court, show us that Henry used much of the 'ideal setting' of nine acres for sporting use. The poem written by Henry VIII himself in Source 38 also indicates his interest in sport; 'For my pastance, Hunt sing and dance, My heart is set all goodly sport to my comfort, who shall me let?'

When Henry V111 took over Hampton Court, he pulled down Wolsey's Great Hall, and had a larger grander Great Hall built in its place. It took four years, and sometimes the labourers even worked at night by candlelight. The hall is more the 30 metres long and 18

high. Nowadays the Great Hall is different. The flooring has changed, there would have been a fire in the middle with a vent, and some aspects of the wood would have been gold.

One of the Main reasons Hampton Court was used by Henry was to impress. Source 25 tells us how Henry attempted to improve Hampton Court to 'dazzle' its visitors. Source 26 informs us of hoe some of the rooms at Hampton Court were used. Source 26 states that Henry had mass twice a day, once in his private chapel and again more publicly in the household chapel.

Visitors to Hampton Court in Tudor times went into the palace the same way as we do today, across the bridge and through the beautifully decorated Great Gatehouse. There was once a moat under the bridge. The Great Gatehouse used to be five floors high. It was built to impress the visitors and prepare them for the fine buildings they would see inside.
Join now!


The public rooms of the palace were called the State Apartments. The largest and grandest room in the palace was the Great Hall. In Tudor times, you entered the hall from the steps outside. At the far end of the hall a doorway leads to a group of rooms which were the King's state and private apartments. How far into this group of rooms allowed depended on how important you were.

The Great Watching chamber was Henry V111's guard chamber. The guards stopped people going near the King unless they were allowed to. Unfortunately, this room ...

This is a preview of the whole essay