Hampton Court Palace

London's Hampton Court Palace is a place filled with mystery and intrigue, having a rich history that continues up to the present day, where a series of ghost spotted on the property have intrigued visitors and employees alike. The history of Hampton Court can be traced back to the year 1236. It was in this time that a farm began operating in the area where the palace is currently situated.

Then, in the year 1505, the property was taken over by Sir Giles Dabeney, who would use Hampton Court to entertain such dignified guests as Henry VII. His successor, Henry VIII, would become so enthralled with Hampton Court that he built over four dozen similar properties for himself all over the United Kingdom. None of those buildings have survived in to the present era, however.

At this point, Hampton Court was merely a country manor. Thomas Wosley took it over in the year 1514 and spent the next several years rebuilding it in to the first traces of what the Hampton Court Palace looks like today. After Wosley fell from favour, he was forced to hand the palace on to King Henry.

The few remaining sections of Hampton Court built in the Tudor style suggest that Wolsey probably thought he was building himself a grand old Renaissance style cardinal's palace, as the architecture resembles such feats accomplished by Leonard da Vinci. Such details as the rectilinear symmetrical planning and raised piano nobile were typical of Italian architecture of that era.

In fact, researchers have uncovered signs that all of Hampton Court was originally constructed on Renaissance ideals. Today, we see very little evidence of the Italian influence, save for the huge busts of Roman emperors that stand in the courtyard. These busts have been credited to Giovanni da Maiano.

Notorious King Henry VIII would take over Hampton Court in the year 1525. He allowed the Cardinal to keep on living there for another few years, but soon made great changes to the architectural make up of the Palace. Perhaps Henry's longest lasting contribution was the erection of the Great Hall, which is known as the last major medieval hall built for an English king. Henry VIII also built a real tennis court. Games are still played on it to this day.

For better or for worse, a lot of the additions that Henry VIII made to the Palace were destroyed when William and Mary came to power. They made some additions themselves to the palace, the most remarkable of which is probably a new wing that they added. After the Queen passed away, however, William quickly lost interest in Hampton Court.

It was not until George II came to power when he and his wife, Queen Caroline, saw to it that the palace underwent some much needed renovation work. Famous architects, among them William Kent, were enlisted to design furnishings for the new Queen, and today, we can see the remarkable results of their work in the Queen's Private Apartments, which are open to public view.

It seemed that Hampton Court's heyday was reached in the middle of the 18th century. After that, it lost its prestige among members of the royal family. During this time, it was divided up and leased to a number of famous residents, including Olave Baden Powell, Samuel Parkes, and others.

The Great Hall, Henry VIII's pride and joy, was meanwhile falling in to disrepair. They began to restore it in the year 1796. It would take several decades for the restoration work to be completed. By 1838, Queen Victoria deemed the restoration complete and opened the palace to the public.

A new program of restoration work was undertaken as late as 1986, due to a fire that took place in the King's Apartments. The restoration work would be completed nine years later.

Many famous historic events took place at Hampton Court. It was here where King James commissioned his own version of the Bible after meeting with the English Puritans.

In recent years, Hampton Court Palace has become famous for a number of ghost sightings that have taken place there. Lore has it that Queen Jane Seymour is said to haunt the palace's staircase to this day. She died at the palace twelve days after giving birth to Prince Edward in the year 1537.

Five years later, Queen Catherine Howard was arrested at Hampton Court and is said to have run through the Long Gallery screaming for King Henry VIII to save her. The guards eventually caught her and took her away. Some say they can still hear her screaming in the same hallway to this day, while others claim to have seen King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

Then, in December 2003, the ghost spotting craze at Hampton Court reached a climax when a closed circuit security camera recorded the image of a mysterious pale figure in a long coat closing the fire doors. Palace officials claim that this is evidence that ghosts exist, and deny that it was fabricated by employees.

Alternative explanations for the phenomena have included suggestions that a member of the public visiting the palace closed the doors, thinking that they were being helpful. But one thing is true: the figure caught on camera was unnaturally pale, and was dressed in period clothing. While employees of the palace often wear period clothes when giving tours, palace officials maintain that the palace does not own such clothing as the cloak worn by the figure caught on camera.

Original Authors: Stephen Palmer
Edit Update Authors: M.A.Harris
Updated On: 22/07/2008