In the 17th century, the Wilderness was designed as a place for courtiers to wander and get enjoyably lost along intertwining paths and hedges clipped in geometric patterns. Today the Maze is the only part of the original layout that remains.
Dad and I took a turn in it, not finding the center, and having a time finding a way out! We entered were the little A roof is.
The baroque part of the palace and Bob posing in front of the fountain.
Top photo is the East Front, William & Mary 1689. Bottom photo is the south garden. The grounds and gardens make it a picturesque scene with beautiful clear skies.
The inner courtyard of the new and the courtyard of the old. The flowers were absolutely beautiful! I could not take enough pictures it seemed.
The astronomical clock was installed in 1540 on the gatehouse to the inner court and still functions. It is 15 feet in diameter with three separate copper dials revolving at different speeds and displays the following information:
- Hour
- Month
- Day of month
- Position of the sun in the elliptic
- Twelve signs of the zodiac,
- Number of days elapsed since the beginning of the year
- Phases of the moon
- Age of the moon in days
- Hour when the moon crosses the meridian and thus high water at London Bridge
The latter information was of great importance to those visiting this Thames-side palace from London, as the preferred method of transport at the time was by barge, and at low water London Bridge created dangerous rapids.
Ceilings are adorned in rich detail and beautiful murals. The great hall is lined with tapestries. I am so impressed with their detail and how full they are with scenes.
We caught the horse and wagon ride around the east grounds. The Shires are Aragon and Massey and they did an excellent job of getting us back and forth.
The hornbeam bower is in the Privy Garden.
Royal Tennis Court: Not to be confused with Lawn Tennis, Real Tennis goes back centuries. Henry VIII, Charles I, William III and Prince Albert all played at Hampton Court. For those of you that have seen the movie, Everafter, it is like the court Henry and the Marquee play on. There were two sets of players having a game when we went in. It was fascinating to watch them as they could hit the ball off the walls, etc. Dad said it looked like tennis and racquetball combined. We took a picture but it did not come out as there was a wall of plexi-glass and then a mesh net between us and the court.
A privy, or private, garden has existed on the south side of the palace since first created for Henry VIII in 1533. In 1702, William III transformed the Privy Garden in the Baroque style with wrought iron screens.
The garden behind the wrought iron screens was Queen Mary's garden and was the very one that inspired the Nursery Rhyme:
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row."
The trees in the east garden are 300 years old. It is amazing how they keep them shaped. The white glasshouse houses the oldest and largest grapevine in the world, planted in the 18th century. It is held up with metal supports inside the house and produces 500-700 bunches of black sweet grapes a season. It takes the Vine Keeper three weeks to harvest the crop. The dirt in front of it is kept unplanted as that is where its roots are. (The vine is in the glasshouse.) The vine on the building is of another variety. It is beautiful how it covers the building.
When we got home we went to the Bye for Elder & Sister Murdoch and Elder & Sister Adams. They are both returning to America, the land of the free! The Murdoch's served in the temple and the Adams' in the mission home. The Murdoch's sang their own words to the tune, "Thanks, For The Memories," and I accompanied them. It was really cute and they did a great job. These couples will be missed.
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