The overlooked corners inside

• Chapel Royal

  Look up. The ceiling is the reason to come. The Chapel Royal is best known for its spectacular Tudor ceiling of blue and gold — completed in 1535 and considered one of the finest surviving examples of its kind. The hammerbeam roof structure is covered in gilded pendants and royal heraldry, making an act of worship and a display of royal power one and the same thing. Cardinal Wolsey, then Archbishop of York, had the chapel built as part of Hampton Court in 1518; within a decade he was forced to hand the whole palace, chapel included, to Henry VIII. Today it remains an active Church of England place of worship, in continuous use for over 480 years.

  Sources: en.wikipedia.org

• Hampton Court Maze

  Step into this trapezoidal half-acre of clipped hedging and you are walking the oldest surviving hedge maze in England. Its reputation is larger than its challenge — most people find the centre in about twenty minutes on their own. William III commissioned it and it was planted by royal gardeners George London and Henry Wise, originally in hornbeam and later replanted in yew. It occupies a corner of what was once the palace's 'Wilderness' garden; of that whole planted landscape, only the maze remains.

  Sources: en.wikipedia.org

• Fish Court

  This narrow open passage was Tudor refrigeration by design. Fish Court runs north-south so high walls block the sun, keeping the stone floor and flanking walls cool year-round. Doors along both sides lead to storerooms and small prep kitchens — known as Working Houses — where intricate dishes were assembled away from the heat of the main range. Wedged between the Boiling House and the Great Kitchen, it was the cold-chain spine of Henry VIII's vast culinary operation: after he took Hampton Court from Wolsey in 1529, he expanded the kitchens fourfold. The resulting complex ran to 55 rooms, 200 cooks, and over 1,200 meals served twice a day.

  Sources: britainsbestguides.org · quiltripping.com · nakedkitchens.com

• Chapel Royal

  The ceiling commands the room: a Tudor hammer-beam canopy in blue and gold, completed in 1535 and considered one of the finest examples of its kind. Gilded pendants and royal arms cover every surface overhead, suspending religious devotion and royal authority in the same glance. Cardinal Wolsey built the chapel when Hampton Court was still his; in 1529 he handed the entire palace — chapel included — to Henry VIII. It has been a Church of England place of worship ever since, without interruption for more than 500 years. In 1710 Queen Anne commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to refurbish the interior, though she insisted the Tudor hammer-beam roof be left untouched. Wren's work introduced the carved oak reredos by Grinling Gibbons still visible before the altar today. Choral evensong, sung by the Chapel Royal Choir, is held regularly — a musical tradition that stretches back to Tudor times.

  Sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org

• The King's Beasts

  Cross the moat bridge towards the Great Gatehouse and ten heraldic animals line your approach — these are the King's Beasts. Unlike the Queen's Beasts at Kew Gardens, these figures represent the bloodlines of Henry VIII and his third wife, Jane Seymour. The ten are: the Lion of England, the Lion of Seymour, the Royal Dragon, the Black Bull of Clarence, the Yale of Beaufort, the White Lion of Mortimer, the White Greyhound of Richmond, the Dragon of the Tudors, the Panther of Seymour, and the Unicorn of Seymour. When Elizabeth II's Coronation Beasts — the Queen's Beasts — were created, three of the Seymour heraldic animals and one dragon were replaced by the Griffin of Edward III, the Horse of Hanover, the Falcon of the Plantagenets, and the Unicorn of Scotland.

  Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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