Court Report...

This is only my second visit ever to Hampton Court.



I don't know why I'm making that sound unusual. Once is probably enough, as it's not somewhere that's going to change much now. This opens up the debate about whether historical buildings should continue to be adapted and modernised. For instance, Henry VIII didn't establish Hampton Court, he just, well, adapted and modernised it...

Henry VIII was prolific in everything, from marriage to palace building. In just 10 years he spent more than £62,000 rebuilding and extending Hampton Court. This was a vast sum worth approximately £18 million today. (Hampton Court Website)

However, when he did it, he was allowed to because it was his and he lived there (part time) and he was the King. It wasn't a tourist attraction to be preserved for visitors. And we all know that clamorous objection has welcomed other attempts at modern additions to historical buildings at, for example, The Louvre.

My first visit only took me as far as the gardens, so it was good to see the inside of the palace this time and learn it was the largest palace in Britain. This is Fountain Court...




...and is named after either a riffy pub in Hythe, or the fountain in the middle. It's the only photo I have of the inside of the buildings because you're not allowed to take photos of all the delicate stuff which might get flash-bulb damaged (tapestries, curtains, carpets, attendants etc). Then you can buy 50p-a-go postcards of them in the Tudor gift shop, served by a student dressed up in a Tudor costume.

The gardens, however, you can take photos of, and they are stunning. Trees like the trees you would draw if you were 4...



...Capability Brown style gardens (he gardened here and lived here in a grace-and-favour apartment)...



...and the famous Royal/Real Tennis Court, which you can't take photos in either. But sod that, I've paid my money...



Obviously you have to go to the maze too, but it's a pathetically small and uninteresting maze, made all the more pathetic and uninteresting by the knowledge that if you keep turning right, you will get to where you're supposed to...



Still, if anyone ever asks me if I've done the world-famous maze at Hampton Court, I will be able to say "yes". (It being one of those things you ought to be able to say yes to if you're British.)

The ponds in the garden also provided evidence that Hans Christian Andersen was right...



And the other birds in so many words said "Quack!! Get out of town!!"

See also...