A Brief Introduction to Hampton Court

Today’s post is a guest article by Mike Glaeser entitled ‘A Brief Introduction to Hampton Court’. This is by far one of my favourite places in the world and I cannot wait to be back there in May.

Enjoy!

Hampton Court Palace

A Brief Introduction to Hampton Court by Mike Glaeser

Why come ye not to Court?
To which court?
To the king’s court?
Or to Hampton Court?
Nay, to the king’s court!
The king’s court should have the excellence
But Hampton Court hath the pre-eminence!
– John Skelton

Despite the land having ties to the Romans, Hampton pulls its name from two Saxon words: Hamm (bend in a stream) and Ton (settlement). Hampton Court’s slow rise to becoming the byword for majesty and magnificence started in the 1330s when the Knights Hospitaller built a priory on the land that would eventually hold a palace. As a priory, the location was visited by the head of the order in England several times a year. Multiple visits dictated that the site was prosperous and while it did not provide sufficient manpower for further Crusades to the Levant, it did have a substantial agriculture base. From past archeological surveys, it is thought the priory contained a hall, pigeon house and a separate chapel, all of which was surrounded by a rectangular moat funneled from the nearby Thames. In 1497, the Hospitallers leased the land to Sir Giles Daubeney, the future Lord Chamberlain for Henry VII. Sir Daubeney fought for Henry at Bosworth and would rise through the ranks during his reign. His tomb, complete with reclined effigy, can be seen in Westminster Abbey’s St. Paul’s Chapel. It was Daubeney who started the elaborate buildings that would later be completed by both Cardinal Wolsey and Henry VIII. In fact, a portion of what is currently called “Henry VIII’s Kitchens” was originally built by him.

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