is not known; probably they were sold for old brass and iron. A new
clock was put up, and on the removal of this in 1880 there was found
this inscription on the works: 'This clock, originally made for the
Queen's Palace in St. James' Park, and for many years in use there, was
A.D. 1835, by command of His Majesty King William IV., altered and
adapted to suit Hampton Court Palace by B. L. Vulliamy, clockmaker to
the King'; and on another plate on the clock: 'Vulliamy, London, No.
352, A.D. 1799.' Vulliamy's address was 74, Pall Mall, which was then
the first house at the south-western end of the street, next to the
entrance-gates to Marlborough House. The motive power of this clock had
evidently not been sufficient to drive in addition the astronomical
dial, and the useless dial had been taken down and stowed away in a
workshop in the palace, the gap left being filled by a painted board.
This antiquated timepiece was entirely removed, and in 1880 a new clock
erected by Messrs. Gillett and Bland, which shows not only the hours of
the day and night, but also the day of the month, the motion of the sun
and moon, the age of the moon, its phases and quarters, and other
interesting matters connected with lunar movements. The dial is
composed of three separate copper discs of various sizes, with a common
centre, but revolving at various rates.
We have yet to notice on the south side of this court the colonnade,
supported by Ionic columns, built by Sir Christopher Wren; the effect
produced by the introduction of this classical colonnade amidst the
venerable turrets and parapets of Wolsey's building is discordant and
unpleasing. But William III. would have it so, and the great architect
had to comply.
We will now pass through the gateway leading into the third or Fountain
Court. Here we are surrounded by a totally different style of
architecture, again that of William III. Wren had been appointed to the
office of Surveyor-General of His Majesty's Works in 1668, and employed
by him to pull down part of the old palace, and to build in its place
the quadrangle now under notice. It is not a favourable specimen of his
art. The studies made by him from the buildings of Louis XIV. had but
too visible an effect on his palaces and private buildings, so that, as
Horace Walpole says, 'it may be considered fortunate that the French
built only palaces, and not churches, and therefore St. Paul's escaped,
though Hampton Court was sacrificed to the god of false taste.' But the
King's fancies were paramount, though he readily took the blame on
himself, for when the arrangement of the low cloisters in the Fountain
Court was criticised, he admitted that it was due entirely to his
orders.
The Fountain Court is nearly a square, more than 100 feet each way. In
the centre there is a fountain playing in a circular basin. This court
occupies the site of the chief or grand court, which was described by
Hentzner in the reign of Queen Elizabeth as 'paved with square stone,
and having in its centre a fountain, finished in 1590, which throws up
water, covered with a gilt crown, on the top of which is a statue of
Justice, supported by columns of black and white marble.' The
alterations were made gradually; the south and east sides of the old
court were first taken down, and the present state apartments in those
divisions erected. The west and north sides, comprising a room of
communication 109 feet in length, and the Queen's Guard Chamber and
Great Presence Chamber, retain internal marks of ancient structure; but
a new front was given to the whole by Sir Christopher Wren. As we are
not writing a guide-book, we need not enter into a description of the
state apartments, or of the external appearance of the building
containing them; it will be sufficient to mention that this modern
portion of Hampton Court was commenced in 1690, and finished in 1694;
that the south and eastern facades are each about 330 feet long; that
the eastern front faces the grand gravel walk, open to the public;
whilst the south front opens on the Privy Garden, which was sunk 10 feet
for the purpose of obtaining from the lower apartments a view of the
river Thames.
Of the state of the gardens and park, about 44 acres in extent,
surrounding the palace and forming a regular peninsula, the east and
west sides being entirely enclosed by the Thames, whilst the northern
boundary is formed by the road from Kingston--of the then state of the
gardens and park we have but scanty accounts, but they no doubt
corresponded in beauty, as far as the comparatively short time of his
occupancy of the palace would allow him, with Wolsey's sumptuous pile.
Certes the situation did not seem inviting. The Thames, so lovely in
many of its windings, is here skirted on both shores by a dull expanse
of level woodless soil, which the utmost efforts of taste and skill
seemed scarcely able to render picturesque, and in the time of the
founder of the palace, and even in the days of Henry VIII., landscape
gardening had not yet become an art. At that period a park was chiefly
valued for the security of lair it afforded to the deer sheltered in the
royal chase. An old guide to Hampton Court of the year 1774 says that
'notwithstanding the immediate vicinity of the Thames, the park and
garden are not in the least incommoded by the rise of the waters, which
in other places is too often occasioned by sudden floods, and though not
far from the reflux of the tides, yet they are at such a convenient
distance as never to be influenced by any impurities which the flowing
of the tides is apt to create.' This may have been one of the reasons
which induced Wolsey's hygienic advisers to select the spot for its
salubrity.
The gardens were greatly improved by Elizabeth and Charles II. Norden,
writing in the time of the former, describes the enclosures appertaining
to the palace as comprising two parks, 'the one of deer, the other of
hares,' both of which were environed with brick walls, except the south
side of the former, which was paled and encircled by the Thames. A
survey, made in 1653, divides these enclosures nominally into Bushey Old
Park, the New Park, the Middle or North Park, the Hare-warren and
Hampton Court course. This latter division seems to have comprised the
district now termed Hampton Court Park. But it was not till the reign
of William III. that the grounds were brought to the perfection in which
we see them now. They are in his favourite, the Dutch, style--lawns,
shaped with mathematical precision, bordered by evergreens, placed at
regular distances; straight canals; broad gravel walks, statues, and
vases. At this period the art of clipping yew and other trees into
regular figures and fantastic shapes reached its highest point, and was
greatly favoured by the King. But he also laid out and planted the
'Wilderness' to hide the many smaller buildings, outhouses, courts, and
passages to the north of the palace. In this part of the grounds is the
maze. A broad gravel walk extends from the Lion Gates, which give
admission from the Kingston road to the gardens and to the Thames.
These gates, adjoining the King's Arms inn, are very handsome, being
designed in a bold and elegant style. The large stone piers are richly
decorated, their cornices supported by fluted columns, and surmounted by
two colossal lions, couchant. The elegant ironwork of the gates was the
work of Huntingdon Shaw.[#] At the south-west corner of the gardens is
the pavilion, erected by Sir Christopher Wren, and occasionally occupied
by the rangers of the park. Throughout the park there are fine trees,
and here and there masses of verdure less formally disposed. There may
also be seen some lines of fortifications, which were originally
constructed for the purpose of teaching the art of war to William, Duke
of Cumberland, when a boy--the same Duke who afterwards became so famous
in the Scottish rising of 1745. In the centre of the park there is a
stud-house, founded by the Stuarts, but greatly extended in its
operations of breeding race-horses by George IV. The cream-coloured
horses used on state occasions by the Sovereign are kept here. They are
descended from those brought over from Hanover by the princes of the
Brunswick line; they are the last representatives of the Flemish horses,
once so fashionable. The canal in the grounds is fed by the Cardinal's
or Queen's River, issuing from the river Colne, near Longford, and
passing over Hounslow Heath and through Hanworth and Bushey Parks.
[#] Or, according to Mr. Law, of Jean Tijou, a Frenchman.
We stated, when mentioning the reasons which induced Cardinal Wolsey to
fix on Hampton Court as his future residence, that the springs in Coombe
Wood supplied excellent water; with this water the palace is supplied.
It is brought to it in leaden pipes, for which some 250 tons of lead
were employed, and as that metal was then L5 per ton, the cost of the
material alone amounted to a large sum; the pipes pass under the
Hogsmill River, near Kingston, and under the Thames at a short distance
from the palace, and their whole length is upwards of three miles, so
that Mr. Law, the latest historian of Hampton Court, may not be far out
in estimating the cost of the whole work at something like L50,000 of
our present money.
The tennis-court, said to be the largest and most complete in Europe, is
where Charles I. passed many hours of his captivity when detained a
prisoner, or quasi-prisoner, by the Parliament.
The Home Park is separated from the gardens by a modern iron railing,
600 yards long, having at every 50 yards wrought-iron gates, 7 feet
high, of most elegant workmanship, and some ornamented with the initials
of William and Mary; others with the thistle, rose, and harp. They were
erected by William III.
*II.--ITS MASTERS.*
In the foregoing description of the palace and grounds several
historical incidents have already been introduced, but such casual
notices are insufficient for our purpose; the topographical warp and
woof of our canvas has to be embroidered with the facts--nay, the
romance--of human action to present a living picture of the past, to put
animation and reality into the silent shadows which flit around us on
all sides. We therefore proceed to enter into details, within the
limits of our space, of the lives and fortunes of those persons whose
connection with the palace invest it with a personal interest.
We have seen that Wolsey lived in regal splendour at Hampton Court--nay,
his train, his furniture, were more numerous and gorgeous than that of
the King, which at an early stage roused the latter's envy. The
Cardinal had no less than 800 persons in his suite. In his hall he
maintained three boards with three several officers: a steward who was a
priest, a treasurer who was a knight, and a comptroller who was an
esquire; also a confessor, a doctor, three marshals, three ushers of the
halls, and two almoners and grooms. In the hall kitchen were two
clerks, a clerk comptroller and surveyor of the dresser, a clerk of the
spicery; also two cooks with assistant labourers and children turnspits,
four men of the scullery, two yeomen of the pastry, and two paste-layers
under them. In his own kitchen was a master cook, who was attired daily
in velvet or satin, and wore a gold chain, under whom were two cooks and
six assistants; in the larder, a yeoman and a groom; in the scullery, a
yeoman and two grooms; in the ewry (linen-room), two yeomen and two
grooms; in the cellar, three yeomen and three pages; in the chandry
(candle-room), two yeomen; in the wardrobe of the dormitory, the master
of the wardrobe and twenty different officers; in the laundry, a yeoman,
groom and thirteen pages, two yeomen purveyors and a groom purveyor; in
the bakehouse, two yeomen and two grooms; in the wood-yard, one yeoman
and a groom; in the barn, one yeoman; at the gate, two yeomen and two
grooms; a yeoman in the barge and a master of the horse; a clerk of the
stables and a yeoman of the same; a farrier and a yeoman of the stirrup;
a maltster and sixteen grooms, every one keeping four horses. In the
Cardinal's great chamber and in his privy chamber were the chief
chamberlain, a vice-chamberlain, and two gentlemen ushers; there were
also six gentlemen waiters and twelve yeomen waiters. At the head of
all these people, ministering to the state of this priest of a religion
whose founder had not where to lay His head, as he must often have
proclaimed from the pulpit in his preaching days, were nine or ten
lords, with each their two or three servants. There were also gentlemen
cup-bearers, gentlemen carvers, six yeomen ushers and eight grooms of
his chamber. In addition to these there were twelve doctors and
chaplains, the clerk of the closet, two secretaries, two clerks of the
signet, and four counsellors learned in the law. He also retained a
riding-clerk, a clerk of the crown, a clerk of the hamper, fourteen
footmen 'garnished with rich riding-coats.' He had a herald-at-arms, a
physician, an apothecary, four minstrels, a keeper of his tents; he also
kept a fool. All these were in daily attendance, for whom were
continually provided eight tables for the chamberlains and gentlemen
officers, and two other tables, one for the young lords and another for
the sons of gentlemen who were in his suite.
Such is the account given of the Cardinal's household. Of his own daily
habits we are told: The Cardinal rose early, and as soon as he came out
of his bed-chamber he generally heard two masses. Then he made various
necessary arrangements for the day, and about eight o'clock left his
privy chamber ready dressed in the red robes of a Cardinal, his upper
garment being of scarlet or else of fine crimson taffeta or satin, with
a black velvet tippet of sables about his neck, and holding in his hand
an orange, deprived of its internal substance, and filled with a piece
of sponge, wetted with vinegar and other confections against pestilent
airs (surely there could not be any at Hampton Court, chosen because of
its very salubrity!), which he commonly held to his nose when he came to
the presses (crowds) or was pestered with many suitors. (Were such
unsavoury people allowed to come between the wind and his nobility?)
This may account for so many portraits representing him with an orange
in his hand. The Great Seal of England and the Cardinal's hat were both
borne before him by 'some lord or some gentleman of worship right
solemnly,' and as soon as he entered the presence chamber, the two tall
priests with the two tall crosses were ready to attend upon him, with
gentlemen ushers going before him bare-headed, and crying: 'On, masters,
before, and make room for my lord!' The crowd thus called on consisted
not only of common suitors, but often of peers of the realm, who chose,
or by circumstances were obliged, thus to crouch to an upstart. In this
state the Cardinal proceeded down his hall, with a sergeant-at-arms
before him, carrying a large silver mace, and two gentlemen, each
carrying a large plate of silver. On his arrival at the gate or
hall-door, he found his mule ready, covered with crimson velvet
trappings. The cavalcade which accompanied him when he took the air or
went to preside over some meeting was of course equally pompous,
consisting of men-at-arms and a long train of nobility and gentry.
Fancy what a life to lead day after day! None but the vainest of
coxcombs, the most conceited, arrogant, and ostentatious of small-minded
parvenus, could have borne it for any length of time. But it agreed
with Wolsey's shoddy greatness; he delighted in all that has ever
delighted small minds--idle show and pompous exhibitions. Both at
Whitehall and Hampton Court he held high revel, as we learn from George
Cavendish, his gentleman usher, especially when the King paid him a
visit. 'At such times,' says Cavendish, 'there wanted no preparations
or goodly furniture, with viands of the finest sorts ... such pleasures
were then devised for the King's comfort and consolation as might be
invented or by man's wit designed.' Of course, Cavendish wrote like the
flunkey he was: 'The banquets were set forth with masks and mummeries in
so gorgeous a sort and costly manner that it was a heaven to behold.'
Pageantry has indeed at all times been the device of rogues to catch
fools. Of course, sometimes the rogue takes as much pleasure in getting
up and participating in the show as the fool does in beholding it.
Wolsey took delight in it, because it enabled him to display his wealth;
but there was also policy in it when such display seemed to prove his
loyalty. But the exhibition is not without its dangers. When it is
made to a man who is envious and covetous, and, moreover, has not only
the will but the power to gratify his avaricious longings, the risk is
very great. As we have already seen, it was fatal in Wolsey's case. He
had to surrender Hampton Court to Henry VIII. much as a traveller gives
up his purse and watch to the well-armed highwayman. True, for this
truly princely present Henry bestowed upon Wolsey the manor-house of
Richmond, an old and favourite residence of his predecessor, Henry VII.,
and also of Henry VIII. himself in the early part of his reign; but it
was particularly galling to the ancient servants of Henry VII. to see
the recent habitation of their Sovereign occupied by one whom they
considered an upstart, and they joined in the popular outcry against
Wolsey, concerning whom it was remarked that strange things had come to
pass since 'a bocher's dog should live in the manor of Richmond.'
But though the palace of Hampton Court was now the King's property,
Wolsey's connection with it was not totally severed from it at once. In
1527 Wolsey, by the desire of the King, feasted the ambassadors from the
King of France in the building. The preparations for, and the feast
itself, are related with terrible prolixity by the gentleman usher
Cavendish, already quoted; as his description gives a fair specimen of
what was then a grand banquet, we quote from it the following passages:
'Then there was made great preparation for this great assembly at
Hampton Court. The Cardinal called before him his principal officers,
as steward, treasurer, controller and clerk of his kitchen ...
commanding them neither to spare for any cost, expense, or travail, to
make such a triumphant banquet as they might not only wonder at it here,
but also make a glorious report of it in their country.... They sent
out caters, purveyors, and divers other persons; they also sent for all
the expert cooks within London or elsewhere. The purveyors provided,
and my lord's friends sent in such provision as one would wonder to have
seen. The cooks wrought both day and night with subtleties and many
crafty devices; the yeomen and grooms of the wardrobe were busy in
hanging of the chambers and furnishing the same with beds of silk and
other furniture. Then wrought the carpenters, joiners, masons, and all
other artificers. There was the carriage and re-carriage of plate,
stuff, and other rich implements. There was also provided two hundred
and eighty beds furnished with all manner of furniture to them
belonging.... The day was come to the Frenchmen assigned, and they ready
assembled before the hour of their appointment, whereof the officers
caused them to ride to Hanworth, a park of the King's within three
miles, there to hunt and spend the day until night, at which time they
returned to Hampton Court, and every one of them was conveyed to their
several chambers, having in them great fires, and wine to their comfort
and relief. The chambers where they supped and banqueted were ordered
in this sort: first the great waiting chamber was hanged with rich
arras, as all others were, and furnished with tall yeomen to serve.
There were set tables round about the chamber, banquetwise covered; a
cupboard was there garnished with white plate, having also in the same
chamber, to give the more light, four great plates of silver set with
great lights, and a great fire of wood and coals. The next chamber,
being the chamber of presence, was hanged with rich arras, and a
sumptuous cloth of estate furnished with many goodly gentlemen to serve
the tables. Then there was a cupboard being as long as the chamber was
broad, garnished with gilt plate and gold plate, and a pair of silver
candlesticks gilt, curiously wrought, and which cost three hundred
marks. This cupboard was barred round about, that no man could come
nigh it, for there was none of this plate touched in this banquet, for
there was sufficient besides. The plates on the walls were of silver
gilt, having in them large wax candles to give light. When supper was
ready the principal officers caused the trumpeters to blow; the officers
conducted the guests from their chambers into the supper rooms, and when
they all had sat down their service came up in such abundance, both
costly and full of subtleties, with such pleasant music, that the
Frenchmen (as it seemed) were wrapt into a heavenly paradise. You must
understand that my lord Cardinal had not yet come, but he came in before
the second course, booted and spurred, and bade them "preface" [a
contraction of four French words, meaning "Much good may it do you!"],
at whose coming there was great joy, every man rising from his place.
He, the Cardinal, being in his apparel as he rode [why he did so is not
very clear], called for a chair, and sat among them as merry as ever he
had been seen. The second course with many dishes, subtleties, and
devices, above a hundred in number, which were of such goodly proportion
and so costly, that I think the Frenchmen never saw the like. There
were castles with images; beasts, birds, and personages most lively
made; a chessboard of spiced plate with men thereof, which was put into
a case to be taken to France. Then took my lord a bowl of gold filled
with ippocrass, and drank to his lord the King, and next to the King of
France. The guests, of course, did the same, and the cups went so
merrily around that many of the Frenchmen were fain to be led to their
beds. Then rose up my lord, went into his privy chamber to pull off his
boots, and then went he to supper, making a slight repast, and then
rejoined his guests, and used them so lovingly and familiarly that they
could not commend him too much.' Cavendish's account of the banquet,
which he evidently wrote _con amore_, is much longer than our extract,
and that probably is too long for our readers. To them we apologize for
entertaining (?) them with so tedious a description of trivialities,[#]
but in a special historic precis of Hampton Court such details must
necessarily be inserted, just as in making an inventory of the contents
of a mansion, not the grand furniture of the drawing and dining-room
only has to be enumerated, but also the humble pots and pans of the
scullery.
[#] In the Middle Ages and Renaissance days banquets, masks and revels
were thought a great deal of; yea, so great was the rage for them that
nowhere were masks more frequently performed than at the very last place
one would expect them to be indulged in, namely, at the Inns of Court,
where grave and learned lawyers, under the presidency of the Master of
the Revels--an office which led more readily to knighthood than
professional merit--discussed the cut and colour of the shepherdesses'
kirtles. Whoso likes to read of such doings will find plenty about them
in the 'Progresses of Queen Elizabeth,' and in Whitelock's 'Memorials.'
An account of the revival of the 'Maske of Flowers' at Gray's Inn in
July, 1887, will be found in the journals of that date.
The banquet just described took place, as already mentioned, after
Wolsey's surrender of the palace to the King, and by the latter's
orders. Henry VIII. no doubt knew that the Cardinal was the man to
carry them out well, for he would take a personal interest and pleasure
in so doing, seeing that the banquets and masques so prevalent in that
King's reign had nowhere been more magnificently ordered than at Hampton
Court and Whitehall, as already intimated above. But it is strange that
the King should have abstained from appearing at the banquet given to
his royal friend's ambassadors.