Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the palace.
A cardinal’s ambition, a Tudor court and a Baroque rebuilding offer several ways into the story of Hampton Court Palace.
On this page
A Tudor court
Cardinal Wolsey began the palace in 1515 and gave it to Henry VIII in 1529. Henry added the Great Hall and enlarged the kitchens to feed his court.
His son Edward VI was born here in 1537, and in 1604 the palace hosted the Hampton Court Conference, which led to the King James Version of the Bible.
William, Mary and Wren
From 1689 Christopher Wren rebuilt much of the palace for William III and Mary II in the Baroque style, and the maze was planted in the 1690s. William died in 1702 after a fall from his horse in Hampton Court Park.
George II was the last monarch to live at Hampton Court.
A palace for visitors
Queen Victoria opened the palace to the public in 1838. A fire in 1986 damaged the King’s Apartments, and their restoration was completed in 1990.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
