Photos

This is taken at Hampton court, there is a slight tilt on this one because I currently dont have Photo shop, but I hope one day. Sorry about that

Every time when I have visitors coming to England, I usually take them here to see where King Henry the 8th lived and to see the beautiful gardens and buildings.



Hampton Court palace began its illustrious heritage as a small manor house in the 1300's. It wasn't until 1514 that the then nearly-Archbishop of York, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, acquired Hampton Court as his country residence. Within a year, he became Henry VIII's Lord High Chancellor. Wolsey built many rooms in honor of his monarch and expanded the manor, including a system of pipes laid to supply pure spring water to the property from miles away. With a staff of 500 and 1,000 rooms, Hampton Court eventually exceeded the grandiosity of any of Henry VIII's palaces. The King's covetous eye, however, fell upon the property in 1526 and Wolsey was forced to "gift" Hampton Court to the king in an attempt to regain his rapidly diminishing royal favor.

Once Hampton Court became property of the king, it was necessary to extend the building to accommodate the Tudor court, numbering around 1000. It became the favored country palace of Henry VIII and five of his six wives lived there as well. Anne Boleyn's gateway between the Base and Clock Court recalls his second wife. It remained a royal residence (Oliver Cromwell even retained the property for his own use) until the 1760 death of King George II and underwent many structural changes during this time.

The most notable improvements to the palace began in 1689, shortly after the ascension to the throne of William III and Mary. With Louis XIV's Palace in Versailles as inspiration, architect Christopher Wren was instructed to begin work on the conversion of the Tudor Palace. Wren's severe Baroque design incorporated the use of red brick and white stone accents with exquisite masonry throughout. Brick was used, but richly embellished with Portland stone for the arcades, windows, friezes and parapets. The new structure was located to the south east of the original palace and was completed in 1700.

I hope you like it