PDF, 12.65MB - Members blog

ISSUE 28
SPRING 2016
All the news for members
of Historic Royal Palaces
Hampton Court Fashion
Palace Gardens Rules
Restyled
in 2016
02
22
Essential
spring
buys
10
Member
Events
32
s
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t
a
h
W ?
w
e
n
NEWS
01
HRP archaeologists
discover lost tower
In a fantastic new discovery, Historic Royal Palaces’
archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a lost
tower from Henry VIII’s Tiltyard, the location of which
has long been a mystery. The green-glazed floor of
the tower was revealed in the Garden Room when new
electrical ducting was being installed.
The lost tower and the standing tower that houses
the Tiltyard restaurant were built between 1534 and
1536, two of four towers that surrounded an elaborate
central ‘herber’ in Henry VIII’s Great Orchard and
together formed a suite of serviced banqueting houses
and lodgings. These buildings are some of the earliest
surviving banqueting houses anywhere in the country
and are of exceptional significance to the palace’s history.
This archaeological discovery is already increasing our
appreciation of the grandeur of Henry’s building. Several
gilded lead acanthus leaves were found amongst the
rubble, suggesting the interior decoration may have
been as lavish as that found within the palace itself.
The location of the Tiltyard towers has been a mystery
for years and the subject of much research, including
excavations by Time Team in 2009. The Towers were
demolished c1680 and although the Tiltyard restaurant
tower remains, it was stripped of its internal architectural
Designer
homes for
the new
ravens
INSIDE STORY
L
egend states that the Tower will
crumble and the Kingdom will fall if
the six resident ravens ever leave the
fortress (we currently have seven so
include a spare!)
The ravens are one of the most
recognisable symbols of the Tower and
a significant draw for our visitors, ranking as one of the
most enjoyed features of the Tower. They now have new
accommodation with lots of creature comforts to assist
the Ravenmaster in keeping the birds in good spirits.
The previous accommodation was over 20 years old
and although functional, the pens were something of an
eyesore and placed in a poor location. This project sought
to achieve more than just a like-for-like replacement; our
aim was for a new design that keeps both the wellbeing
of the ravens and the curiosity of the visitors very much
in mind.
The new cages comprise a steel frame with English oak
timber cladding providing the sheltered accommodation.
The cage wire was extensively researched; we sought
the expertise of London Zoo for suitable wiring that was
safe and secure for the birds but almost invisible to the
eye allowing the birds to be viewed against the historic
backdrop of the Tower.
The enclosures are designed to give our visitors a better
view of the ravens when they are inside. Alongside
the new enclosures are new interpretation display
boards with information about the welfare of the birds,
background of the myths and legends of ravens at the
Tower, an interactive app and even a talking raven.
Go down and say hello to our feathered friends!
detailing long ago. We know from historic accounts that
the northwest tower (the most recent discovery) had
two storeys. The bay windows were decorated with
stained glass depicting the arms of the King and Queen.
The exposed archaeology has been recorded and
protected and we are planning to carry out more
research on this exciting discovery in the future.
Hampton Court Palace
Royal Kitchen Garden
receives Landscape award
The Royal Kitchen Garden at Hampton Court has
received a prestigious award by the British Association
of Landscape Industries (BALI). BALI is the leading
professional body that promotes, supports and inspires
all professional landscapers, garden designers and
landscape suppliers. HRP are proud BALI members and
were prizewinners in the Restoration and Regeneration
category. Apart from the ground-works, the garden was
completely transformed by our own Gardens & Estate
team based at Hampton Court.
Restoration of the Royal Kitchen Garden began in the
late summer of 2013 and HRH The Countess of Wessex
officially opened the garden in June 2014. It has quickly
become a firm favourite amongst members, particularly
for allotment owners and amateur vegetable growers.
Weekly vegetable sales are now a well-established part
of Hampton Court Palace life and if you haven’t tried the
knobbly, nutty potatoes, fresh spinach or bunches of
chard then you haven’t lived!
FEATURE
02
03
INSIDE STORY
William III’
s rest ored
Privy Gard
en
Celebrating the
Hampton Court Palace
Gardens in 2016
ark
P
e
m
o
H
n
i
Deer h erd
Hampton Court Palace
Gardens are home to the
world’s oldest puzzle Maze,
a record-breaking grapevine,
three National Plant Collections,
over 8,000 trees and 650 acres
of historic parkland, where
the descendants of Henry VIII’s
deer herd graze today.
T
oday, visitors can experience 500 years
of gardens, from the re-created Tudor
garden in Chapel Court, the magnificent
baroque Privy Garden and the Georgian
Royal Kitchen Garden to the brand new
Magic Garden which opens in May. In
2016, our Gardens are taking centrestage with a new exhibition, a public art installation,
events and activity for all ages.
A garden is nothing without its gardeners and we will
be celebrating the work of our incredible team of 38
gardeners and specialists. At Easter we will launch launch
FEATURE
04
riage
r
a
C
s
’
I
I
I
m
ia
Will
C ath erin e
of Braganz
a’s
C arriage
A Year in the Life of the Gardens, a film that follows our
gardeners and gardens through the seasons - growing
100,000 plants in the Nursery each year, caring for the
deer in Home Park, clipping topiary, caring for Queen
Mary’s Exoticks collection, harvesting in the Royal Kitchen
Garden and some of the less well known activities.
A version of the film will be shown in the Information
Centre and a mini-documentary will be available on our
website. A new Gardeners’ Hut will be seen around the
gardens —
­ it will move through the seasons to areas
where the most interesting work is taking place and will
be updated with new information. Filled with drawers,
jars and boxes full of surprising gardening objects and
facts, the hut will be fun for all the family to explore. Look
out for it around the Tiltyard, Wilderness and East Front
Gardens. A smaller handcart will bring similar information
to smaller and more sensitive areas such as the Privy
Garden and Pond Gardens.
Visitors have told us they want to know more about
the history of the gardens, so we are installing new
permanent external graphics, throughout the gardens.
Each is unique, with bespoke ironwork reflecting the
planting of the area and hand-crafted tiles carrying the
story and images of the gardens. Look out for them
from April and you may discover new and surprising
facts about the gardens around you. The colour scheme
05
n
Th e Georgia Garden
en
Royal Kitc h
let on
e
k
s
l
a
t
e
m
I
I
I
Our famou
3D Hen ry V in g display
s Maze
d
d
e
b
t
e
p
r
a
c
for
takes inspiration from the materials of the palace and
its ironwork and a wealth of historic images have been
sourced and reproduced on the bespoke tiles.
The carriages that were on the
West Front last year are back by
popular demand. This time they’re
in the East Front Gardens and
with a garden history twist!
Each carriage will feature a view into the past — sit in
William III’s carriage and see his Great Fountain Garden,
or admire Charles II’s Long Water as its extends to the
17th century palace façade from Catherine of Braganza’s
carriage. From Elizabeth I’s carriage you will be able to
look through the wall into the long vanished Tudor
Privy Garden.
In June, we celebrate Hampton Court’s most famous
resident… in plants. A 3m tall 3D Henry VIII is being
planted in carpet bedding and will take up residence in
the East Front Gardens. Carpet bedding displays will also
be installed at Trophy Gate, the main palace entrance.
This sneak preview above shows Henry VIII’s metal
skeleton in construction.
s
r
e
b
m
Me e e!
go f r
There will also be an exciting programme of events
throughout the season. The Great Garden Game launches
for family visitors at Easter; there will be a Tudor joust in
July and a gnome trail in July and August and of course
the famous RHS Hampton Court Flower Show 5-10 July.
The Empress and the Gardener (28 April – 4 September)
is a new exhibition celebrating the 300th anniversary of
Capability Brown’s birth. On loan from Russia, and on
show to the public for the first time, this unique collection
of watercolours painted by Capability Brown’s assistant
provide a unique visual record of Hampton Court Palace
and gardens in the 18th century. They were sold to
Catherine the Great of Russia, then lay forgotten for
over 200 years.
There is so much going on! We hope that you will use
your membership to the max and enjoy all that there is to
offer. For more information about what’s on at Hampton
Court Palace please visit our website hrp.org.uk.
Aileen Peirce
Creative Programming & Interpretation Manager
dLook out for th e un ique h an
st ory
c rafted tiles c arryin g th e
and images of th e gardens!
A DAY IN THE LIFE
06
A day in
the life of
Anthony
Boulding
Horticultural Manager,
Gardens and Estate Team HCP
I
t’s 06.30am and my alarm has just
woken me up. Being January as I
look out of my bedroom window it’s
completely dark outside and the only
lights I can see are the lanterns that
illuminate patches of Tennis Court
Lane at Hampton Court Palace. As
a manager of the Gardens Team I live onsite in a staff
apartment within the Georgian House. I head downstairs
and let my 2-year-old Jack Russell terrier Maggie out
into our garden for a comfort break, hoping she doesn’t
bark and disturb any of the other residents. Then back
indoors for a quick breakfast accompanied by ‘Today’ on
Radio 4. I have a very short commute; it takes me under
a minute to walk from my front door across the garden’s
yard and into my office!
The Gardens and Estate
Team have always been early
starters and for reasons long
forgotten our working day
begins at 07.45am which
being winter time is before
the sun has risen.
The first thing that happens is that I have a succession
of my Team Leaders calling in to see me for a very quick
catch up discussion of what is planned for the day or if
there is any other item of work-related news to share with
each other. We often say it’s rather like waiting to see the
07
INSIDE STORY
s
42 year
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s spent urt Gardens
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Co
y,
Anth on th e Hampt on
in
workin g
doctor as they congregate outside my door as one leaves
another comes in. The main key press for the gardens
team is also located in my office so an upgrade to a
revolving door would be an advantage! My colleagues will
testify the garden’s operations office is not what could be
described as spacious — more a case of sub-compact.
I usually spend the remainder of the first hour of the
day checking through and responding to e-mails and
telephone messages. By the time I have replied to the
priority ones it’s light enough to get out and about and
walk around the gardens, which is probably one of the
best aspects of my role. Every time you walk around
these magnificent gardens there is always something
new to see, buds on a shrub or tree that were tightly
closed on the previous day that have begun to swell and
open during the hours of darkness. Similarly little green
blades poking through the grass have transformed into
snowdrops. These walks give me time to check on the
progress of tasks and discuss with my team members
and agree the next steps to take, or what our priorities
for the following week should be.
Whilst I am out and about I try and make sure I call in
to the main gardens office and pick up my post and
have a chat to Terry Gough, the head of our team. We
are all based in separate offices so we don’t have those
opportunities to have a quick catch up whilst the kettle is
boiling. Most days there is a meeting or two in my diary
maybe something routine or a more interesting topic
such as working on interpretation ideas for the gardens
with colleagues from the Creative Programming &
Interpretation Department.
Returning to my desk I hope to work on some of my
bigger tasks. Depending upon the time of year this could
be writing up the list of autumn winter works for the
My office is also directly accessible to visitors walking in
different garden sections, placing orders for resources
or materials for an up and coming project or some routine the Wilderness area of the gardens and it’s often amusing
to see their reaction when they open my door and are
financial tasks such as authorising invoices.
greeted by an enthusiastic Jack Russell!
By now its probably time for lunch. Living on site means I
don’t have to have a sandwich at my desk, I can leave the The short days of winter mean that by late afternoon the
daylight is fading and the gardeners are returning to the
computer screen and paperwork behind for a little while
yard so the relative peace inside and outside of my office
at least. It’s an odd thing but deliveries for the Gardens
is disturbed by tractors, mowers and other vehicles and
and Estate Team have a habit of always arriving when
we are all at lunch. I don’t seem to get many lunch breaks the banter amongst my team as they prepare to head
home after a hard day’s work.
without an interruption to take a call on the palace radio
or mobile phone.
I linger on sometimes just finishing a piece of work in
Returning to my office at the end of lunch means another peace. This done and my office secured I have to steel
chance for a catch up with my Team Leaders if there is
myself for the journey home, after all I have a couple of
something to say before they and their teams leave our
locked gates to negotiate and a whole 50 seconds of
walking before I can get indoors and make a cup of tea…
yard and return to work in the Gardens. The afternoon
passes by in much the same way as the morning.
Sometimes Maggie my dog will come back with me and
spend the afternoon in my office. She is very sociable
and appreciates all the comings and goings as keys are
collected and returned, questions asked etc.
.
.
.
e
t
i
r
u
o
v
a
f
y
M
MY FAVOURITE
14
08
09
INSIDE STORY
When asked about my favourite part of the
gardens at Hampton Court Palace, I have to
use a politician’s trick – I qualify the answer
with several options.
B
ecause of the seasonality of the gardens, one answer is just that —
it depends on the time of year. In the depths of a bleak midwinter
(ok maybe not this one!) it is hard to appreciate anything other
than the areas that keep me warm and dry. Life does go on during
winter, however, and before we know it spring arrives, with the
daffodils in the Wilderness and spring blossom on shrubs on
sheltered walls and in the 20th Century Garden.
Summer gives a variety of choices for a favourite area — I have a long-term
delight in vegetable growing, so the Royal Kitchen Garden is one section that
is always interesting.
My second main pleasure, besides vegetables, is that I love the way herbaceous
borders change throughout the year. The individual plants are of more interest to
me, not necessarily the weaving together of them to form an harmonious picture.
Give me a border with 30 or 40 interesting plant species rather than a more
limited palette that works together as a whole (sorry, garden designers).
As I work on the East Front, I have one of the longest herbaceous borders to
enjoy. The part of the border that I look after is good during the early part of
the season, but loses coherence as the year progresses. Oddly, that leaves my
favourite area as the Middle Border, from the palace to Governor’s Gate. This
is because during the growing season there is always a variety of interests and
highlights along its length, as well as a promise of more to come, and later on
in the year there is plenty of interest from seed heads and plant remains.
As I work on the East
Front, I have one of the
longest herbaceous
borders to enjoy.
But I could still add at least two or three other favourites, if pressed...
Simon Ward
Skilled Gardener, East Front Gardens
RETAIL
10
INSIDE STORY
Springtime essentials
inspired by our magnificent
royal gardens
Milly
Green
Maze cushion
e
l
b
a
l
i
a
Av uy
to b !
n ow
£29.99
Maze make-up bag
£9.99
Veg pot grab
£8.99
Veg peg bag
£10.99
Spring is here! Our beautiful gardens
are blooming at Hampton Court
Palace and are a key attraction for
our Members and visitors.
T
his year Historic Royal Palaces
celebrates chief gardener Lancelot
‘Capability’ Brown’s 300th anniversary,
and we have utilised this anniversary to
inspire a wealth of brand new product!
We have new kitchenware and gifting
products inspired by the Hampton
Court Palace rose garden that have been designed
exclusively for Historic Royal Palaces by Milly Green.
They make perfect gift ideas throughout the year.
Briers collection
Historic Royal Palaces’ collection, created in partnership
with award winning garden company Briers, provides
the stylish gardener with the tools and accessories
necessary to maintain their garden all year round. We
have wellington boots, clogs, gardening gloves, kneelers,
twin pack secateurs, fork and trowel sets and cotton
tote bags featuring three designs inspired by our palace
collections, interiors and gardens.
The Royal Crown design showcases the iconic status
symbol of a monarch’s royal power, wealth and position.
The Baroque design follows a style prominent across
interiors, architecture and fashion during the 17th and
18th centuries, while the Tudor Rose design is inspired by
the heraldic emblem of England which commemorates
the end of the war of the roses.
Royal Crown
Royal Crown Gardening
Gauntlet Gloves
£14.99
Royal Crown Garden
Kneeler
£14.99
Tudor Rose
Tudor Rose Wellington Boots
£29.99
Tudor Rose Jersey Gardening
Gloves twin pack
£4.99
Baroque
Baroque Secateurs
twin pack
£14.99
Baroque rubber clogs
£16.99
Baroque Premium
Gardening Gloves
£12.99
Milly Green
Hampton Court Palace Collection
Men’s Leather
Gardening Gloves
Local designer Milly Green has created a beautiful
collection of gift items, in two different garden-inspired
designs, one taking inspiration from the vegetables
grown in the kitchen garden, the other from the topiary
and the sculptures featured on the palace’s baroque
lawns. The designs adorn a range of items including
mugs, tea towels, a cushion, picnic blanket, a make-up
bag and purse.
The Gardens and
Parks at Hampton
Court Palace
£12.99
£25.00
Discover
the Gardens
guidebook
£4.99 (Free UK
Delivery!)
Heritage
Garden Seeds
You will also be able to now
grow your own palace garden
at home using a selection of the
27 heritage flower, vegetable
and herb seeds we have on offer,
all chosen by the Head Gardener
at Historic Royal Palaces.
£2.99 per pack
spring at
line gift shop this
on
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Look out for thes
lpalaces.com
shops
www.historicroya
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availabl
Shop at Hampton
Items will also be
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including the new
2016.
ors again in March
do
its
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which open
10% discount
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or
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As a member of Hi
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will apply.
*Certain exclusions
PARTNERSHIP
12
Fashion
royal gardens
13
INSIDE STORY
inspired by
the
at Hampton Court Palace
Hobbs, in association with
Historic Royal Palaces, has
created their sixth fashion
collection. It is launched this
Easter in their flagship stores
— Covent Garden, Kensington,
York, Bath, Cheltenham, Brighton,
Winchester, Kingston, Glasgow
and Edinburgh. Selected items
will also be sold in Bloomingdales
stores across the USA.
The full collection will also be available to buy at Hobbs
online store with select accessories available from the
HRP online shop www.historicroyalpalaces.com —
where your 10% members discount will apply!
This floral collection of sharply tailored dresses, jackets,
tops, skirts and accessories have brilliantly captured the
essence and beauty of our gardens, particularly those at
Hampton Court Palace, which have enchanted monarchs,
courtiers and residents for over 500 years and are still
enjoyed by visitors today.
The colourful bright tulip border print that adorns this
beautiful Italian cotton blend jacquard dress and coat
(left) is inspired by the flower introduced to Hampton
Court by King William III and Queen Mary II, both keen
collectors of exotic plants. Tulips continue to be an
integral feature of spring in our gardens today.
The Capability Collection is an overall floral print on
cotton sateen and silk georgette which features on a
number of items including a 100% silk navy midi dress and
ivory based fit and flare dress. The print is named after
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, who in 1764 was appointed
by George III as Chief Gardener at Hampton Court
Palace, where he worked and also lived for the remainder
of his life. An iconic gardener associated with creating
beautiful landscapes across the country, Capability Brown
managed to strike a balance in the gardens at Hampton
Court Palace between retaining the formal baroque style
and creating a more natural landscape of which he was
extremely proud. As a consequence, the gardens and
parks at Hampton Court Palace are remarkable for their
surviving designs from the periods of Henry VIII and
William III.
Hobbs have also utilised Capability Brown’s influence
at Hampton Court Palace to create an intricate design
in the finest guipure lace that brings the leaves and
grapes of the Great Vine firmly into the 21st century.
The Botanical print is more delicate, detailing the
botanical paintings of The Hampton Court Palace
Florilegium Society established in 2004. Society
members meet one day per month to explore the
magnificent gardens and with the co-operation of
our Head Gardener and his team have created a
wealth of detailed and accurate references of the floral
displays across the gardens at Hampton Court Palace.
We are extremely pleased that these paintings along
with such iconic elements of the gardens have been
brought to life beyond the palace walls.
Below: The
Hampton Court
Palace Florilegium
Society — a
selection of the
botanical paintings
that have inspired
Collection No. 6
TUDORS ON TOUR
INSIDE STORY
Tudors
on Tour
l
estiva
Camp B
Lulworth
Castle
Dorset
28-31 July 2016
2016
After our fantastic trip
to Tatton Park in 2015,
King Henry VIII and his
courtiers will once again
go on tour, and this time
will take up residence at
Camp Bestival in Dorset.
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amp Bestival is a multi-award winning
music festival and this July Historic
Royal Palaces will join the fun as one
of the key attractions to be one of the
key attractions.
In its first year Camp Bestival was
awarded Best New Festival and has
since won Best Family Festival four times in a row. Set
in the grounds of Lulworth Castle, on Dorset’s dramatic
Jurassic coastline, Camp Bestival is jam-packed with
entertainment, including live music with headliners
Fatboy Slim, Tears For Fears and Jess Glynne along
with a comprehensive arts programme.
So what can you expect from Historic Royal Palaces
at a music festival? Once again we will be bringing the
magnificence and splendour of the Royal Progress to
life in one site. Festival goers will be able to enter our
Tudor village and have the chance to meet Henry VIII
and his court. They will be able to see his crafts people
at work, watch and join in with our Tudor Theatre
shows and get an insight into what life was really like
at Hampton Court Palace in the 16th century.
Camp Bestival 2016
weekend ticket prices*
Ticket type
Adult
Price
£197.50
Student
£185
Age 13 to 17
£118
Age 10 to 12
£93
Age 5 to 9
£45
Age 4 & Under
£15
Babes in Arms (1 & under)
FREE
(but ticket required)
*All tickets include
camping from
Thursday.
FEATURE
16
Buildings
memory
Photo: © Historic Royal Palaces
&
17
INSIDE STORY
Buildings have memory.
When Inigo Jones designed the
Banqueting House for Whitehall
Palace in 1619 it was the last of
three great banqueting houses
to stand on that footprint in the
space of 40 years.
T
he first was a temporary structure,
constructed in three weeks and three
days for the courtship of Queen
Elizabeth I and the Duc d’Alencon.
If history had taken a different turn
this grand marquee would have been
the most exotic space in the palace to
house their wedding festivities.
In his Chronicles, Hollinshead describes the arrival of
commissioners ‘from the French king to hir majestie’
in 1581 and the construction of the new banqueting
house where Elizabeth I ‘roiallie feasted and banketted
them’. Military precision must have underpinned the
management of a small army of 375 tradesmen and
specialists, ‘all manner of persons’, to complete the
building from start to finish in less than a month. Raising
a frame of 30 ‘great masts, being fortie foot in length
apeece, standing upright’ would have used ship building
techniques as well as materials. The walls were closed
with canvas and painted on the outside ‘most arteficially
wth a worke called rustik, much like unto stone.’
The banqueting house was extravagantly glazed with
two great bay windows: ‘This howse hath 292 lights
of Glas’ and inside, the decorative interest focused
upon the ceiling. Pendants made of wicker rods were
decorated with bay, rue, and ‘all manner of strang flowers’
garnished with spangles of gold. Fruit and vegetables
including grapes, pomegranates, oranges, carrots and
‘Cowcombers’ were also spangled with gold and hung
with ‘toseans’ made of holly and ivy. The height of the
building was designed to impress and to draw the eye
upwards to a canvas ceiling, painted with the stars, the
‘sunne and sunne beames’ above the fruit and foliage.
It was designed, too, to accommodate a raked standing
‘made wth ten heights of degrees for men and weomen
to stand upon’. Tiers of courtiers, dressed in their finest
silks and jewels, effectively ornamented the interior walls.
FEATURE
The Elizabethan banqueting house was extraordinary
as an ephemeral and costly extravagance, a theatrical
revelation in its own right. The illusion of a rusticated
stone exterior and the playful and ephemeral display of
an impossibly exotic combination of produce —
­ grapes
and pomegranate in London in April — accentuated the
festive opulence of creating such a building for a single
occasion. This magnificence, and the honour that it
bestowed upon the queen and her eminent visitors, was
designed to be reported back to France and to enliven
the correspondences of foreign ambassadors and English
courtiers alike. It retained a place within the cultural
memory of the court.
Patched and repaired over the next 20 years but still
standing, the building signalled a very different message
when James I was crowned King of England in 1603. Still
useful, it had been altered and adapted. Three partitions
had been introduced in 1596-7 ‘to devide the rooms for
the new librarie’ where the records of the Council, Privy
Seal and Signet would be stored and this secondary
function was to become a requirement, incorporated
into the design of the building’s successors. The west
elevation, facing onto the public thoroughfare (now
Whitehall) had been repainted by George Gower ‘in
sondre olye coullers’ with ‘an order with prospective’ and
the Sergeant Painter, Leonard Fryer, repainted the end
walls with pilasters and the arms of James I. Clearly there
was an intention that the building might still serve but
it proved inadequate, even with these cosmetic repairs,
and in 1606 ‘the King puld downe the old rotten, sleight
builded Banqueting house at Whitehall and new builded
the same this year’.
Paintings, engravings, architectural drawings and other
visual records prompt and protect memories of our lost
palace buildings but none of these are known to have
survived for the Elizabethan banqueting house or its
first Stuart successor. There is a single plan by Robert
Smythson and building accounts tell us that the new
house was built of brick with stone dressings. Like its
predecessor, it was filled with natural light. Three shallow,
rectangular bays overlooked the inner, ‘chapel court’ on
the east side and four rectangular bays faced the public
thoroughfare to the west. On late winter afternoons and
in the evenings, when expensive torch and candlelight
illuminated the space for entertainments, these great
rectangles of golden light, visible from the river and the
surrounding cityscape, would have given the building a
luminous quality.
18
19
INSIDE STORY
A vivid account of the Stuart banqueting house as the
setting for Ben Jonson’s masque, Pleasure Reconciled to
Virtue, describes the hall ‘fitted up like a theatre’ in 1618.
Again the decorative vocabulary was classical with ‘two
orders of columns, one above the other’, and the eye
was drawn upwards to a high ceiling. It was carved with
‘angels in relief’ and hung with festoons. Masque sets and
costumes were stored in the banqueting house between
performances and it was these ‘oily clothes of the
devices of the mask’, ignited by a candle flame, that set
the building ablaze in January 1619. Within hours it was
entirely consumed, including three rooms, ‘underneath
the building’ set aside for the Lord Chamberlain’s use and
filled with bills and accounts dating back to the reign of
Henry VIII.
The Banqueting House that we see today, designed by
Inigo Jones in the immediate aftermath of the fire, is
heralded as the first Palladian building in London. Jones
had made a study of Palladio’s buildings in Italy and an
annotated copy of his I quattro libri dell’architettura in
Jones’s library establishes the details of this formative
Italian influence on the new building at Whitehall. It is
easy to overlook the ebullient qualities of a towering
marquee, extravagantly glazed and painted ‘most
artificallie’ to look like stone as a touchstone for the
classical perfection of Inigo Jones’s masterpiece.
Memories of the building have their place, nevertheless,
in the form of the new building with its undercroft
and its double height hall, filled with light. They are
reflected in the decorative swags and the painted ceiling,
commissioned soon after Jones’s Banqueting House
was completed. Buildings hold the memory of the
events that they house. Jones may never have seen the
romantic folly of Queen Elizabeth’s banqueting house
and yet its reputation would surely have appealed to his
own theatrical style. He designed masques for its Stuart
replacement. Perhaps the ghosts of these two ill-fated
buildings haunted his imagination and his ambition to
create a new building which challenged the boundaries
of English design.
Wendy Hitchmough
Head of Historic Buildings & Research
Photos: © Historic Royal Palaces
FEATURE
20
Conserving the
Rubens ceiling
in the
Banqueting House
– our first steps
Restoration of the main hall is a
big part of the major project to
conserve, re-present and re-vitalise
the visitor offer for the magnificent
Stuart dynasty’s Banqueting House,
Whitehall Palace.
21
INSIDE STORY
O
f significance is the hall’s glorious ceiling
scheme – Inigo Jones’s tour de force
that is the richly decorated coffered
ceiling, and Sir Peter Paul Rubens’
exuberant huge-scale oil paintings,
depicting the glorification of James I
and his life, all bordered below by
Charles I frieze scheme of decorative swags.
With curators, a big part of the conservators’ work in
the Banqueting House project focuses on this ceiling
scheme — its protection from the 2015-20 building work
activities, the conservation of the painted frieze and
most significantly the conservation treatment of the
Rubens paintings and potentially, re-decoration of their
coffering framework. This will be a walnut colour with
gold highlights if curatorial research evidences this as the
1630s scheme.
The priority aim for any treatment applied to the Rubens
paintings is to arrest active deterioration to ensure their
continued survival. However, of international significance
and created by one of the greatest painters of his day
(and ours too), the Rubens paintings are deserving of
more extensive conservation. The ideal would be to
release what remains of the artist’s exuberant creation
from the obscuring discoloured varnishes and repaints
of numerous previous restorations, and sensitively
restore (conservatively and reversibly) his composition’s
missing or disfigured elements, to the extent it is
technically and art-historically correct to do so. This
should be our ambition, if only to set the course for
future work beyond 2020.
Whatever the extent of our work, there is much we need
to research, test, document and debate in order to decide
any intervention to the ceiling. Up to the start of the
project’s on-site building works in 2018 we will be doing
this within HRP and with our recently-established panel,
the ‘BHW Rubens Ceiling Conservation Advisory Group’.
Made up of experts on Rubens, conservation and the
Banqueting House ceiling scheme, the Group will provide
perspectives on the conservation approach to take, the
technical research into artist technique and restoration
histories, and decisions regarding the appearance of the
ceiling and its environmental protections.
Thus, this year our investigations put us on the scaffold in
February and March with many scientists, conservators,
and joiners and historic interiors decorators gathering
technical ‘data’ about the paintings and coffering. We
will employ non-destructive scientific techniques for
much of this, for example taking microscopic images
and photographs using UV light (to see overpaint) and
Infrared (to see below the paint). We will take miniscule
paint samples to find more evidence of re-decoration
schemes. Post scaffold we will interrogate the data
alongside the archival documentation, 3-D scan the
back of the paintings and their hanging mechanism and
build a more detailed picture of ceiling’s technical makeup, alterations, and true condition and the coffering’s
decoration history. With new findings in hand we will
further explore with our Rubens Advisory Group the
questions of whether to re-decorate the coffering,
extend the treatment of the paintings beyond the critical
minimum of stabilisation, and what else we would need
to know to decide our conservation programme.
In parallel, conservators will be investigating options
for protecting the ceiling scheme, during and after
the major project. The risks of building work dust and
activities, acoustic and people-generated vibration, and
environmental conditions to the preservation of the
ceiling are just some of our concerns. In early 2017 we will
be able to give a detailed indication of what we will do to
the ceiling to render this baroque masterpiece even more
glorious than it is today.
Kate Frame Head of Conservation and Collection Care,
Collections Management
FEATURE
22
INSIDE STORY
the royal blue dress in the Restyled display from Dessès.
The bodice of curving pleats fitted closely to the body
and the narrow waist that swells into a full skirt of soft
pleats is a perfect example of New Look style. She also
visited Dior and ordered ‘Rose Pompon’ from the 1952
spring collection. Vogue featured the dress in a light
chiffon fabric printed with rose buds but the Princess
ordered it in plain white. This simple yet elegant dress
can also be seen in the exhibition.
By contrast, the richly decorated wardrobe created
for HM The Queen in the 1970s by stalwart of British
couture Hardy Amies provide two stunning examples
of high impact diplomatic dressing. The salmon pink
silk chiffon dress embroidered with gold rectangles was
created for a state visit to Bahrain in 1979. The flowing
kaftan shape is daring and fashionable yet still recognises
the local dress custom of being modestly dressed. The
second gown by Amies for The Queen is a pink evening
dress with a heavily embroidered bodice created for a
state visit to France in 1972. The Queen also wore this
gown for the official Silver Jubilee portrait in 1977. That
same year the Sex Pistols appropriated the image for
their God Save the Queen single and seven years later,
Andy Warhol created screen prints of this same image
for his Reigning Queens series.
Exhibition sponsored by
Kensington Palace’s Fashion
Rules exhibition re-opens with
a new display of dress from the
collections of Her Majesty The
Queen, Princess Margaret and
Diana, Princess of Wales
T
he Fashion Rules exhibition at
Kensington Palace took a nostalgic look
at recent decades of dress through the
wardrobes of three royal women: HM
The Queen, Princess Margaret, and
Diana, Princess of Wales. It proved to be
so popular with visitors that we were
delighted to re-open on 11 February with a new restyled
display of 18 dresses, which illustrate how these royal
women navigated the fashion ‘rules’ defined by their royal
duties in their own unique style. A new feature that adds
another level of glamour to the display is the inclusion of
accessories worn by Princess Margaret. Scarves specially
created for the Princess by the celebrated French fashion
icons Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent are
complemented with a series of sunglasses and hats.
Above: HM The Queen
greeting guests with
Claude Pompidou, wife of
the French President, during the 1972 state dinner
held at Versailles.
© Jean-Claude Deutsch/
Paris Match/Getty Images
Right: Hardy Amies for
HM The Queen, 1972.
© HRP & Lord Linley &
Lady Sarah Chatto
Princess Margaret’s interest in fashion coincided with
the launch of the ‘New Look’ in 1947 by Christian Dior
which featured full skirts and nipped-in waists. Post-war
fabric rationing discouraged the trend; however, Princess
Margaret went against government recommendation
and adjusted her wardrobe to suit the new style by first
embracing the ‘make do and mend.’ Photographs of
the Princess reviewing troops in October 1947 show her
wearing a beige coat with three velvet bands above the
hem. By March 1948, the trusted coat had become longer
with a fourth velvet band giving it the appropriate length
and fullness to be classified as ‘New Look.’
In April 1949, Princess Margaret set out on her first
continental holiday to Italy, Switzerland and France.
On 28 May, she finally arrived in Paris where she made
time in her busy schedule to see the collection of Jean
Dessès followed by a well-publicised visit to Dior. On a
second visit to Paris in 1951, Princess Margaret ordered
For Diana, Princess of Wales, the early 1990s signalled
a move towards a more tailored look, with dresses from
this period a result of collaboration with key designers
to craft a sleek signature look. Her faithful patronage of
home-grown designers was credited with almost singlehandedly reviving the flagging British fashion industry.
Included in the display is a much-copied tartan and
black velvet gown designed for an evening of Scottish
dancing at Balmoral alongside the bottle green silk
velvet halterneck made famous by Mario Testino’s iconic
photographs. These gowns by Catherine Walker illustrate
how Diana’s wardrobe had the power to set trends both
at home and abroad, and represented a truly modern
royal style.
Fashion Rules: Restyled opened on 11 February in the
Pigott Galleries at Kensington Palace.
s
r
e
b
m
Me e e!
go f r
Above: This pale blue silk
scarf with hand-drawn
female figure was created
for Princess Margaret by
Yves St Laurent for Dior in
the late 1950s.
© HRP & Lord Linley & Lady
Sarah Chatto
Top Right: Princess
Margaret wearing dress and
matching jacket with white
collar and cuffs by Jean
Dessès at Ascot, June 1953.
© PA Archive/PA Images
Far Right: Princess Margaret
congratulates Yves Saint
Laurent after presenting
the House of Dior’s winter
collection at Blenheim
Palace, November 1958.
© Keystone Pictures USA/
Alamy Stock Photo
Right: Diana, Princess of
Wales attending charity
event for the Royal Marsden
Hospital Cancer Fund, 18
February 1991.
© Tim Graham/Getty Images
Dresses, left to right:
Hardy Amies for
HM The Queen, 1979.
© HRP & Lord Linley
& Lady Sarah Chatto
Catherine Walker
for Diana, Princess
of Wales, 1990.
© HRP & Museo
de la Moda
Catherine Walker
for Diana, Princess
of Wales, 1992.
© HRP
24
25
INSIDE STORY
The Chief Yeoman Warder takes on
the
The King’s
Presence
Chamber
O
ver 1,000 years of history can
be unearthed at Her Majesty’s
Tower of London, starting from the
establishment of Tower Hill at the end
of 1066 and the White Tower built in
1078. Used as a royal residence and a
prison, an armoury and a treasury, the
Tower has played a prominent role in English history.
Celebrate the
magnificent gardens
at Historic Royal
Palaces!
S
ince its inception in 2007, the King’s
Presence Chamber has gone from
strength to strength. This group of
honoured donors and supporters. Its
members have contributed to a wide
range of projects and to the HRP as
whole, both as individuals and as a group.
Since 2014 the members of Historic Royal Palaces
have formed a part of the Court Leadership Circle, the
highest possible level of the King’s Presence Chamber,
in recognition of the enormous contribution your
membership makes to sustaining the life and work of
Historic Royal Palaces. Since 2014, a few lucky members
have had the honour of representing all 83,000
members at the dinner.
Throughout history only those of the highest rank
with special privileges or outstanding talents would
have enjoyed access to the King’s Presence Chamber.
Courtiers, ministers, intimates, visiting royals and
dignitaries, poets and philosophers were amongst the
very few allowed to gather in the presence of the king.
In 2016, the King’s Presence Chamber Dinner will be held
at Kensington Palace and we, once again, would like to
USA Spring Lecture Tour
500 Years Guarding the
Tower of London
Alan Kingsh ott,
Ch ief Yeoman Warder
Now in the care of Historic Royal Palaces, the Tower
serves as the main gateway into the city of London from
the Thames. It guards the royal crowns (including the
Imperial State Crown). And of course, it is home to the
widely recognised Body of Yeoman Warders — more
commonly known as ‘Beefeaters’.
Th e un iforms
invite members to put themselves forward for the chance
to represent all of their fellow members at the annual
dinner. In previous years, we have been entertained by
historians Lucy Worsley, Tracy Borman and David Starkey
through to the Gabrieli Consort and the soprano Carolyn
Sampson. This year the dinner will have a horticultural
theme as we celebrate the magnificent gardens at
Historic Royal Palaces.
If you would like to enter the draw to attend this year’s
dinner, which will be held on 22 June, then please
email members@hrp.org.uk with the subject line,
‘King’s Presence Chamber’, answering the question
‘Which queen kept tigers in the gardens of
Kensington Palace?’.
As the most senior member of the Sovereign’s
Bodyguard based at the Tower of London, Alan
Kingshott will travel to our friends, members and
supporters on the ‘other side’ of the Atlantic. Alan will
visit Chicago, New York and Philadelphia to talk about
the role of the Body of Yeoman Warders, and the
traditional ceremonies held within the grounds, including
the Ceremony of the Keys, the official locking up of the
Tower that has taken place every night without fail for
at least 700 years.
The Tower of London
The lecture tour will run from Monday 16 May to Friday
20 May, More information about this lecture tour and
the rest of the exciting USA season can be found on
www.hrp.org.uk/supportus/supportusfromtheusa.
For further information about the American Friends
or Patrons membership contact the USA team today
by telephone +44(0)20 3166 6321 or e-mail
HRPINC@hrp.org.uk.
Please email us to enter before 27 May and we will
let you know by 3 June if you have been successful.
Good luck!
New York
Chicargo
Philadelphia
FEATURE
26
27
Benjamin
Franklin
at Historic Royal Palaces
Benjamin Franklin was a regular visitor to one of the
palaces that is today in the care of Historic Royal Palaces.
He had a somewhat confusing six-day stay at another,
and would most likely have become a prisoner at a third
had he not fled Britain just before the outbreak of the
American War of Independence.
by George Goodwin
F
Competition
INSIDE STORY
Win!
Two en
trance t
ickets t
t he B en
Q. Which King is most
o
jamin F
ranklin
associated with Kew Palace?
H o u se m
a/ George I; www.benjamin useum
fr
and a sig anklinhouse.org
b/ George III;
ned cop
c/ William IV
y of
G eo r g e
’s book
To be in with a chance of winning please email
your answer along with your membership
number to members@hrp.org.uk using the
subject line Benjamin Franklin. Please email us
to enter by 6 June and we will let you know by
7 June if you have been successful.
or good measure, his initial admiration
for the King most associated with the
fourth of Historic Royal Palaces’ famous
buildings, Kew Palace, later turned to
bitter hatred, as the two men became
involved in a scientific ‘war by proxy’
echoing the real war on American soil.
and, by 1775, was openly calling Franklin a traitor who
should be hanged at Tyburn, or at least jailed in Newgate.
Had Franklin been detained then his status would almost
definitely have entitled him, as it did his fellow American
Henry Laurens, to imprisonment in the Tower of London.
However, he made his escape by sea before the inevitable
arrest warrant was finally issued.
Benjamin Franklin is known as an inventor and scientist,
but also as a fierce American patriot who signed the
Declaration of Independence, and as the American
emissary in Paris who brought France into the War
against Britain — and kept her there. He is generally
regarded as second only to George Washington for his
importance in securing the victory of the fledgling United
States. What is less well known – but will I hope be more
so through my new book Benjamin Franklin in London —
is that he lived in Britain for the best part of two decades
and that for most of his very long life he considered
himself, right up to 1775, to be an ardent British royalist.
His house in London survives whereas none in America
have done. It was from this base in Craven Street (just off
the Strand), that he cut a dash across Britain as the first
great transatlantic celebrity. He was an American who
dreamed of a Great British empire of North America.
It was only in March 1775, weeks before the outbreak of
the American War of Independence, that he was forced
to flee Britain to escape arrest.
As to Franklin’s view of George III, the monarch most
associated with Kew Palace, it was initially one of
unbridled admiration and he predicted that the reign
‘of our virtuous young King… will be happy and glorious’.
As late as 1772, Franklin was delighted to write to his son
that the King had ‘lately been heard to speak of me with
great regard’. But in 1775/6, back in America, Franklin
was enraged because the King had refused to listen
to the colonists’ complaints against Parliament. As for
the King’s view of Franklin, by 1777 he believed that the
American, the inventor of the lightning conductor, had
in 1772 deliberately designed one of his rods to attract
lightning onto the Royal Ordnance depot at Purfleet.
It was nonsense – the depot had been struck due to
a break in the wire before the lightning was earthed.
However, King George ordered that the contact ends
of the rods on his palaces be changed from Franklin’s
points to rounded knobs. As to Franklin’s own view, he
described the change as ‘a Matter of small Importance to
me’. But then he could not resist adding, ‘If I had a Wish
about it, it would be that he had rejected them altogether
as ineffectual. For it is only since he thought himself and
Family safe from the Thunder of Heaven that he dared to
use his own Thunder in destroying his innocent Subjects.’
No longer a proud British royalist, Franklin had become
one of the fiercest American patriots of them all.
Franklin spent 18 months in London in the 1720s when he
was an impoverished teenage printer. When he returned
in 1757 he cut a very different figure. His own printing
business had made him rich, he had won the 18th-century
equivalent of the Nobel Prize and was back in London
as the representative of the Pennsylvania Assembly and
attending royal audiences at the Kensington Palace of
George II.
Franklin’s political aim in London was to persuade the
Penn family, who effectively owned the freehold of
Pennsylvania, to pay some taxes. When they continued
to refuse, he lobbied the British Government to govern
Pennsylvania as a Royal Colony. However his plans
were blocked in 1768 by the Secretary of State, Lord
Hillsborough, the then owner of Hillsborough Castle.
The two men’s relationship soured and then completely
deteriorated. Thus Franklin was astonished when, in 1771,
after a chance meeting in Dublin, Hillsborough invited him
to his home near Belfast. There, in Franklin’s own words,
he was ‘detained by one thousand Civilities from Tuesday
to Sunday’. It was then equally surprising that, once back
in London, Hillsborough returned to his previous attitude
George Goodwin’s Benjamin
Franklin in London: The British Life
of America’s Founding Father
is newly published by Weidenfeld
& Nicolson, £25.
www.georgegoodwin.com
George will be giving his sparkling
illustrated Benjamin Franklin talk in
the autumn at the Tower of London.
We’ll be letting members know
details nearer the time so watch
this space!
t
l
u
Ad g
n
i
n
lear ts
n
e
v
e
ADULT LEARNING
HRP and SPAB
partnership turns 5
This year celebrates Historic Royal Palaces’ five-year
anniversary of our ‘Conserving Historic Buildings’
masterclasses in partnership with The Society for
the protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB).
Combining lectures, practical demonstrations and
hands-on workshops, these masterclasses are for
those who are professionally involved with buildings,
including architects, surveyors, engineers, planners,
builders, contractors and craftspeople. Masterclasses
are limited to a small group size, and are often run to
coincide with live repair projects at HRP’s properties,
thus providing a unique and optimum learning
environment for the delegates. Watch our video
here: www.hrp.org.uk/learning/adults
This year we ran a competition for past attendees
to find out how the masterclasses they had
attended had informed their their professional work.
Congratulations to James Crick, senior architect
at Donald Insall Arssociates, for his winning entry
which described how he applied his learning from
the ‘Conserving Historic Buildings: Repair of Gauged
Arches’ during a condition survey of the Crystal
Palace subway in south London.
James said, ‘Courses, such as the Repair of Guaged
Arches which I attended in 2014, offer a wonderful
opportunity to engage with materials and the
experts who work with them. There is an education
gap between those that do and those who instruct,
which is clearly no good for either party, nor for the
poor buildings we work on’.
28
Sing 500 at Hampton
Court Palace
To mark the HCP500 celebration year, we worked
with local communities on a project which
commemorated Hampton Court Palace’s history
through song and performances.
First of all we offered local community groups free
Intro Talks which explored the history of music at the
palace to engage with people who hadn’t visited before.
Then we hosted four performance days for our Chorus
of Choirs. This involved 650 local choir members who
performed our specially commissioned ‘Celebration
Song’ in Base Court to over 3,000 audience members
in October and November — a fitting tribute to this
celebration year.
We also worked with five local community groups
and English Touring Opera to run a series of creative
workshops in order to create a brand new opera Under
the Hammerbeam Roof. Over 60 community group
members devised the songs, lyrics and choreography to
fit 500 years of history into 50 minutes and triumphantly
performed this in the Great Hall on 14 November to an
enthusiastic and sell-out crowd.
Between many months of workshops, rehearsals and
performances, our choir and opera members clocked
up a remarkable 4,100 hours with us — an epic feat!
Here’s some feedback from the participants:
“Participating in Sing 500 gave me more confidence
and mental strength. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Plus I made a lot of new friends”. Opera participant
“I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to you and your
colleagues for organising the singing event … I love
the palace and for some time it has been an ambition
of mine to sing there. You are making that dream come
true and I just wanted to say thank you.”
Choir participant
The Learning and Engagement team would like to
thank all of the choirs and the community groups who
participated in the project – Treble Clef Choir, Kingston
Orpheus Choir, TWIG Singers, Cambrian Community
Choir Singing For Fun, Vine Singers, Thameside Harmony
Chorus, Up beat Choir, Elmbridge Ladies Choir, Earthly
Voices, Barnes Choir, Barisons Chamber Choir, The
Metropolitan Police Male Voice Choir, Landmark Sound,
The Canbury Singers, Magna Carta Chorus, Molesing,
Richmond Community Choir, The Ripieno Choir and
North Kingston Choir, Otakar Kraus Music Trust, WWAG
(Wellness with a goal), Molesey Musical Theatre, Freedom
Stage Company and Kingston RISE
You can watch our project film on the Historic Royal
Palaces YouTube channel.
ADULT LEARNING
29
INSIDE STORY
Spring/Summer Events
Tower of
London
Hampton Court
Palace
Kensington
Palace
Curious connections…
the diary is history
Evening debate
Walk with a curator:
meet the masters
Walking tour
What is British fashion?
Evening debate
Date: Tuesday 5 April, 19.00-20.30
Price: £10/£9 HRP members
(includes a glass of wine)
Date: Monday 16 May, 18.30-20.00
Price: £20/£18 HRP members
How will the story of the people
of Tower of London be told in the
future? Will scholars trawl through
Twitter feeds to discover the people’s
history of London?
Join our panel of bloggers, journalists
and academics as they discuss
how the act of keeping a diary has
changed, but its importance has not.
Curious connections…
censorship and denial
of service
Evening debate
Date: Tuesday 31 May, 19.00-20.30
Price: £10/£9 HRP members
(includes a glass of wine)
Until the 1900s, the Tower of
London was used to censor those
considered a danger to the Crown.
In this age of online freedom our
panel of journalists, historians and
activists discuss the role of whistle
blowers, Hacktivists and the dangers
and debate around state-controlled
censorship.
Drawn at the Tower
with Art Macabre
Special event
Date: Various dates 18.30-21.00
Price: £24/£20 concessions
*Multi-buy offer - Book 3 for £60*
Date: Monday 16 May, 19.00-20.30
Price: £20/£18 HRP Members
Join a panel of fashion experts in the
beautiful Kensington Palace Orangery
How would you go about choosing
for a fascinating insight into the
art for your walls? Join Hampton
influences on and of British fashion
Court’s painting curator in this
from a royal, couture and high street
exclusive after-hours guided tour of
the Cumberland Art Gallery, revealing point of view. Find out more about
new hangs and magnificent art works the powerful individuals who have
collected by royal patrons over three shaped British fashion and enabled
it to be a world leader from the
centuries. Holbein, Rembrandt and
points of view of history, media
Gainsborough — find out why these
and craftsmanship.
masters made the cut!
The strange and the
beautiful: exotics and
the New World
Study day with the
Royal Collection Trust
Date: Saturday 14 May, 10.30-18.30
Price: £75/£67.50 RCT & HRP
members
From exquisite butterflies to tender
exotic plants, delve into the world of
seventeenth-century exploration and
discovery. Beginning at Hampton
Court Palace, join expert Terry
Gough in a ‘behind-the-scenes’ tour
of the glasshouse nursery to explore
Mary II’s passion for collecting and
showcasing exotic species. Continue
the day with exhibition curator
Kate Heard at The Queen’s Gallery,
Buckingham Palace, examining the
ground-breaking work of artist and
entomologist Maria Sybilla Merian.
Ticket price includes tea and coffee,
a sandwich lunch, transport from
Hampton Court Palace to The
Queen’s Gallery, a private view of
the exhibition and a glass of wine.
The story behind
Fashion Rules Restyled
Evening talk and
private view
Date: Wednesday 8 June,
18.30-20.30
Price: £15/£12 HRP Members
Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes
look at how the Fashion Rules
Restyled exhibition was planned,
designed and curated. Find out
about the themes and stories
behind the exquisite dresses,
accessories and sketches and
what surprising discoveries
were revealed along the way.
For mor
informa e
tion
Visit w
ww.hrp
.org.uk/
learnin
g
/
a
dults
Or call 0
844 482
7777
to book
.
Unlock your drawing potential in this
unique after-hours series at the Tower
of London. Sketch royals, rogues and Tickets available to book from
Royal Collection Trust.
ravens while you explore the stories
www.royalcollection.org.uk
and eerie atmosphere of the Tower
at night through these unforgettable
immersive drawing experiences. For
more information and to book visit
www.hrp.org.uk/drawn.
Since 2012, we have run masterclasses across our
palaces to cover the topics of conservation repair:
gauged arches, cut and rubbed chimneys, freestanding walls, metalwork, stonework, timber, and
historic finishes.
Read James’ full entry on the SPAB Blog:
www.thespab.wordpress.com
Left: Fashion Rules: Restyled
Rose pompon dress by Dior,
made for Princess Margaret
in 1952 © HRP
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romo
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Tower of London
INSIDE STORY
Hampton Court Palace
Member luncheons
in the Perkin Reveller,
hosted by Jascots
Wine Merchant.
Meet a State
Apartment Warder
in the Members’
Room
Dates: 5 May, 7 July starting
at 12noon
Price: £45 for a three-course
lunch and accompanying
wines.
Dates: 23 April, 19 May and
18 June – tours start at 11.00
and 14.00 respectively.
Price: FREE for new members
(suitable for children of all
ages)
These lunches are hosted by
an expert from Jascots wine
Merchants to ensure the menu
and the wines match perfectly.
Come on your own or in a group
to get to know more about food
and wine pairing and meet lots
of lovely members too!
Meet Eliza Rose
with Lucy Worsley
Date: 23 April, doors open
at 13.45 starting at 14.00
Price: £10 for children,
£20 for adults
As always member events are extremely popular
so please book early to avoid disappointment.
Member only
Events
Ceremony of the Keys
Dates: 10 April, 22 May and 26
June starting promptly at 21.30
Price: The event is free but we
ask for a donation of £5 on the
night towards conservation
costs.
The Ceremony of the Keys is
the traditional locking up of the
Tower of London and has taken
place on each and every night,
without fail, for at least 700
years. We have a very limited
allocation of places so book
early to secure your place.
Please arrive promptly at 21.30
as latecomers will not be admitted.
This event is held entirely outside
so please wrap up warm and
weather-proof.
Calling all history fans! Join
historian Lucy Worsley to find
out about life in the Tudor
Court. Lucy’s first novel for
children, Eliza Rose, explores
the fascinating story of
Katherine Howard and life at
Henry VIII’s court through the
eyes of maid of honour Eliza
Rose. You can expect an insight
into costumes, trivia and all
manner of behind the scenes
information on life as a Tudor.
For ages 11+. Children must be
accompanied by an adult.
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Please call to book.
Katherine of Aragon:
The True Queen
with Alison Weir
New member tours of
the Tower of London
Tower of London tour
with an iconic
Yeoman Warder
Dates: 10 and 18 April, 1 and
29 May, 4 and 18 June starting
at 17.45.
Price: FREE for new members
(suitable for children of
all ages)
Please call to book.
If you have recently joined
as a member but not yet
had the chance to visit the
Tower of London why not
come along to one of the
‘new member tours’? Each
tour is taken by one
of our iconic Yeoman
Warders and really gives
you an experts’ guide of
what there is to see and
do. The tours are free
and although advertised
to new members if you
happen to have missed out
on the Tower of London
experience then please
feel free to book onto one
of these excellent tours.
Please meet outside the
Welcome Centre at the
Tower of London at the
allocated time.
Date: 9 May, doors open at
18.30 starting at 19.00 in the
Great Hall
Price: £20 including a drinks
reception
Members are lucky enough
to have the services of a
State Apartment Warder
for one day a month in the
Members’ room to show new
members around, answer any
questions or tell you about
the ghosts and characters
inhabiting the palace.
The Warder will be located
in the Members’ Room and
run two exclusive tours at
11.00 and 14.00. Each tour will
give you an experts’ guide of
what there is to see and do
at each palace.
Come and hear bestselling
author and one of Historic
Royal Palaces’ most celebrated
supporters, Alison Weir, talking
about the first in her new sixbook series about each of King
Henry VIII’s wives. The Great
Hall is the perfect setting
for Alison to talk about the
tumultuous tale of Katherine of
Aragon, Henry’s first, devoted,
and ‘true’ queen.
The Private Life
of the Tudors with
Dr Tracy Borman
Date: 23 May, doors open at
18.30 starting at 19.00 in the
Great Hall
Price: £20 including a drinks
reception
Dr Tracy Borman, author of
the bestselling biography of
Thomas Cromwell, takes us
behind the scenes talking
about her new book which
reveals the intimate secrets
of the Tudor court and the
private lives of Henry VIII,
Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth I
and more. Are you ready to
hear previously unexamined
details about the characters
we think we know so well?
How to book for
Members’ events
You can book tickets
for the members events
by telephoning
020 3166 6327.
Monday to Friday,
09.00-17.00
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INSIDE STORY
After-hours garden
tours led by
Anthony Boulding
Hampton Court Palace
Rooftop Tours of
Hampton Court
Palace – May Bank
Holiday weekends
Dates: 30 April, 1 and 2 May
and 28, 29, 30 May at 14.00
and 16.00 - please meet in the
Members’ Room at 13.50 and
15.50 respectively
Price: £25 – over 12s only.
Book Club
The book club has become
one of the stalwart events for
members each month.
Our spring meeting dates are:
13 April
11 May
15 June
The meetings start at
18.30 and are held in the
Clore centre at Hampton
Court Palace. Please email
members@hrp.org.uk if you
would like to be part of the
group and receive emails
about the books we are
discussing. Find out more by
visiting the members’ blog
http://membersblog.hrp.org.uk/
One of the highlights of each
year is the opportunity to get
up on the roof of Hampton
Court Palace and have a palace
experience like no other. These
tours show the palace off to
absolute best advantage and
there is an expert guide to lead
the group round making sure
the occasion is as spectacular
as the view!
We have two tours are taking
place over both the May Bank
Holiday weekends starting at
14.00 and 16.00, meeting in the
Members’ Room at Hampton
Court Palace. As you can
imagine demand for these tours
is extremely high and as the
roof is a delicate conservation
area we can only take small
groups up at a time.
To celebrate the Year of the
Garden we have a series of
talks hosted by members of the
gardens team and curatorial
team based at the palace.
Experts in all and sundry, these
enlightening lectures will give
members an insight into how
the gardens are run and kept
looking so spectacular. All of the
lectures will take place in the
Garden Room, Hampton Court
Palace, unless otherwise stated.
26 April: Aileen Peirce, New
Permanent Garden
Interpretation. Apartment 33,
Hampton Court Palace.
16 May: Sebastian Edwards,
Capability Brown and The
Empress and the Gardener
exhibition
27 June: Gill Strudwick, Caring
for the Great Vine
11 July: Martin Enchcomb,
Glasshouse Nursery and
growing Exotics
Each lecture starts at 12noon
and costs £10 including a
buffet lunch including a
glass of wine.
Date: 28 June, doors open
at 18.00 for a drinks reception
and the tour starts promptly
at 18.30.
Price: £15
Lunchtime lectures
These monthly lunch lectures
are a favourite among many
members and the staff who
have taken part. We have some
super lectures coming up, we
hope you can join us.
Join us for our first ever evening
walking tour of the beautiful
Hampton Court Palace gardens
that run down the river Thames.
They feature sparkling fountains
and glorious displays of over
200,000 flowering bulbs. The
walking tour will take members
through the Rose Garden,
Wilderness, into the formal East
Front gardens, out onto Barge
Walk and finishes outside the
front of the palace facade. It’s
time to get those sensible shoes
on and pack that umbrella, just
in case!
13 April: Isabella Coraca,
Curatorial Assistant, will be
talking about historic costume.
Apartment 33, Hampton Court
Palace.
9 May: Ian Franklin, State
Apartment Warder, will be
talking about Grace and Favour
at Hampton Court Palace.
Garden Room, Hampton Court
Palace.
20 June: Constantina Vlachou,
Senior Conservation Scientist,
will be talking about Henry
VIII’s tapestries. Garden Room,
Hampton Court Palace.
All the lectures start at 12noon
and tickets are £6, including a
light lunch buffet.
How to book for
Members’ events
Please note these lunchtime events
are extremely popular so please
book as early as possible to avoid
disappointment.
You can book tickets
for the members events
by telephoning
020 3166 6327.
Monday to Friday,
09.00-17.00
Sensible, closed toe footwear MUST
be worn and admittance will be
refused if footwear is deemed unsafe.
Kensington Palace
Date: 7 April and 2 June
starting at 12noon
Price: £40 including a
3-course lunch and wine
Kensington Palace
Luncheons hosted by
Jascot’s Wine
Merchants
The Hampton Court
Garden Lectures
Lunch is led by one of our
special guest experts from
the Orangery wine supplier
Jascots and features many
different and interesting
wines for you to try. These
events are a great way to
learn about delicious ways to
pair food and wine and meet
other lovely members.
Kew Palace
Kew Palace reopens
on 24 March 2016.
In the meantime you can still
use your membership card
to receive 10% off the entry
fee to enter Kew Gardens.
For more information
please visit our website
hrp.org.uk/KewPalace
Banqueting House
The Banqueting
House is currently
closed and reopens
on 1 April 2016
The Banqueting House has
been under repair, we hope
that you are looking forward
to visiting again when this
phase of our conservation
work is complete.
Hillsborough Castle
Hillsborough Castle
reopens 20 March
2016
Opens
1 April 2016
For more information about
visiting Hillsborough Castle
please visit our website
hrp.org.uk/hillsborough-castle
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THE BIRMINGHAM STAGE COMPANY PRESENTS
Hampton Court Palace
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Tower of London
Royal Ramble: 5km
family challenge
Date: 17 April, 9.00 start
Price: £45 per team including
lunch and palace admission
Join us for a fun-filled family
day out in aid of London’s Air
Ambulance and Historic Royal
Palaces as you follow clues
around the palace garden
and Home Park on an historic
treasure hunt.
Suitable for 5+ years.
Register online at
londonsairambulance.co.uk/
events
What’s on at the
Chapel Royal
The Chapel Royal at Hampton
Court Palace has been in
continuous use for over 450
years. Everyone is welcome to
attend the religious services
which follow.
Non-member events
Non member
Events
HCP Garden Tours
Dates: Everyday starting at
14.00 from 25 March until
30 September
Price: Included in palace
admission, free for members!
The public garden history tours
run every day at 14.00hrs from
Good Friday March 25th until
Friday September 30th. Meet
your guide at the East Gate.
Encounters with
the past
Dates: Daily from 18 March –
29 August 2016
Price: Included in palace
admission, free for members!
Experience history where it
happened and immerse
yourself in the stories of the
palace through a series of
up-close encounters with the
people who helped create
Hampton Court’s history. You
might find yourself in the
Tudor court, see Shakespeare
rehearsing, or experience life
in the baroque palace.
Please check the website for
more information.
Non member events
St Peter Ad Vincula,
Tower of London
Originally a parish church, the
Chapel was incorporated into
the walls of the castle during
Henry III’s expansion. Everyone
is welcome to attend the
religious services which follow.
Good Friday – 24 March
There will be a Good Friday
service at 1900
Easter Sunday – 27 March
The Easter Sunday service
starts at 11.00.
No tickets are required for
these services and entry is
free for members but you
are advised to arrive early
to secure a seat as capacity
is limited. For details of all
services please visit http://
www.hrp.org.uk/tower-oflondon/visit-us/religiousservices/
Holy week and Easter
The season of Lent is
respectfully observed as
indicated by the removal of
devotional flowers and in Holy
Week the Chaplain marks the
Stations of the Cross at 11.00
each day.
Maundy Thursday – 24 March
The Maundy Thursday service
is at 19.30, marking the Last
Supper.
Good Friday – 25 March
There will be a Good Friday
Solemn Liturgy at 11.00.
Holy Saturday -26 March
The great Easter Vigil, with the
blessing of the new fire, the
font and the Easter Candle, and
for many the highlight of the
year, is celebrated at 19.30.
Easter Sunday – 27 March
Easter is the “Queen of Feasts”
and the finest music is offered
at the Choral Eucharist starting
at 11.00 and at Festal Evensong
at 15.30.
No tickets are required for
these services and entry is
free for members but you
are advised to arrive early
to secure a seat as capacity
is limited. For details of all
services please visit www.
chapelroyal.org.uk
26 May – 2 June
A family event suitable for all ages
No need to book
for non-member
events unless
otherwise stated.
Please see hrp.org.uk
for more information.
Various times
From the horrible Henrys to the end of evil Elizabeth, hear
the legends (and the lies!) about the terrifying Tudors.
Find out the fate of Henry’s headless wives and his
punch-up with the Pope. Have a sizzling time with
Queen Mary and meet the Groom of the Stool! Will you
whip the whipping boy or save poor King Ed? Survive
the Spanish Armada as they launch their attack!
Performances last 1 hour and take place in the East Front
Gardens of the palace. All performances are open-air and
with unreserved grass seating – you are welcome to bring
a blanket.
Visit the website to find out how you can save money on
a ticket to the palace with your Horrible Histories ticket.
It’s history with the nasty bits left in!
Please book early to avoid disappointment.
Tickets
Adult: £10/child: £5
Children under 5: free (must have a ticket)
Book now at hrp.org.uk/hamptoncourtpalace
Horrible Histories® is a registered trademark of Scholastic Inc and is used under authorization.
All rights reserved. Based on the bestselling books written by Terry Deary and illustrated by Martin Brown. Illustration © Martin Brown.
www.hrp.org.uk