Page 262 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - London

260  L ONDON AREA B Y AREA

l Hampton Court

Hampton Court was not originally built as a . The Maze
royal palace but begun in 1514 by Cardinal Lose yourself in one
Wolsey, Henry VIII's Archbishop of York, as his of the garden’s most
river side country house. Later, in 1528, in the popular features.
hope of retaining royal favour, Wolsey offered
it to the king. After the royal takeover,
Hampton Court was twice rebuilt and
extended, first by Henry himself and then,
in the 1690s, by William and Mary, who
employed Christopher Wren as architect.
There is a striking contrast between
Wren’s Classical royal apartments and
the Tudor turrets, gables and chimneys
elsewhere. The inspiration for the
gardens as they are today comes
largely from the time of William
and Mary, who created a vast, formal
Baroque landscape, with radiating
avenues of majestic limes and many
collections of exotic plants.

Main entrance

. The Great Vine
The vine was planted in the 1760s,
and in the 19th century produced up
to 910 kg (2,000 lb) of black grapes.

The Pond Garden
This sunken garden was once a pond to
store fresh fish for Henry VIII’s court.
KEY
1 River boat pier
2 Royal Tennis Court . The Mantegna Gallery
3 Privy Garden Andrea Mantegna’s nine canvases
4 River Thames depicting The Triumphs of Caesar
(c.1484–1505) are housed here.

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