Hampton Court Palace Review

Hampton Court Palace
Surrey

www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace

Reviewed by Emma Rogers

Wander the corridors of royal power and pleasure.

Hampton Court, in South West London, is one of Henry VIII’s palaces, and the home of most of his wives and all three of his children.

The palace is open to the general public with an emphasis on families being able to visit and enjoy different activities. Within the palace, there are several exhibitions of Henry VIII through history. The whole of Hampton Court is on tour via an audio system which you can pick up initially from Base Court – the main courtyard as you walk into the front of the castle. We visited the Henry VIII apartments, Henry’s Kitchen and The Young King Henry VIII. The apartment tour takes visitors through the Great Hall, Chapel and details of the everyday life of court with King Henry.  The Great Hall is especially well decorated and full of interesting information for families or, if you’re a serious historian, there are wardens around who have tons more information if you want to ask them anything about what you see. The ‘wands’ with the audio playing also double-up as screens, showing how the restoration of items happened, or re-enactments of details. Throughout the palace, screens show other enactments such as the wedding of Henry and Catherine of Parr, just above the Royal Chapel. The audio is a brilliant way of being able to pick and choose how visitors can learn about the palace and Tudor way of life, especially as it can play out to your own timetable.

King Henry’s Kitchen is especially good for children as you can see food being made (we watched sausages being made!) as well as smell and see the food being cooked. There’s nothing gruesome about the food, and the scale of the cooking that must have been needed really comes to life when you see how much crockery and pottery is needed to cook a meal for so many guests. The pewter set that was recently commissioned runs to 850 pieces – similar to the amount that would have been needed 450 years ago.  We watched as some children were kneading bread, and in the next kitchen, there were some roasts being turned on a giant spit, then carved up for guests to sample.

The Early Life of Henry VIII shows some surprising trivia. Did you know that Henry was married to his first wife Catherine for over 20 years? And that she had many children but all of them except Mary died young? The exhibition cleverly charts his life with the use of chairs representing the King, Queen and Cardinal Wosley who was just as powerful as the king. The exhibition is just the right length to not bore even small children.

There were several other exhibitions we didn’t have time to visit, so if you are thinking of going, it might be worth getting a year-long membership which also allows you into 5 other palaces throughout the South East. We ventured into the garden to see the fountains, swans, carriage exhibition and were surprised to see shire horses pulling carriages around the gardens for visitors. We didn’t make it as far as the maze (it was a long day!) but we could easily go back and do another day and still not see everything.

One thing to note, there are a lot of chairs and places to sit through the palace, so for anyone who doesn’t like being on their feet too long or tired children, there are plenty of resting places.

We had a great day there, and there are other short term exhibitions and tours going on throughout the year so there’s even more reasons to go back.

TIP: Purchase your tickets online before you get to the Palace and just go and pick them up – the queue looks scarily long!

Rating: 5/5 

Tickets cost (Gate Price): £10.50 for children under 16, £21 for adults, Family tickets from £37. Book online in advance for discounted ticket prices.

For more information or to book tickets online visit www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace.

Hampton Court Palace, Surrey, KT8 9AU | 0844 482 7777