I’ve been lucky enough to visit many historic sites. (Though I still have a long, long list to visit yet…) While they have all left a mark on me, one way or another, there are some that made more of an impact. Hampton Court Palace is one of those places for me. I remember feeling slightly speechless walking through both the Tudor and Georgian palaces, thinking about who would have walked those floors. This History Bite is about one of the places that actually took my breath away: the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace.
Where and what is the Chapel Royal?
The Chapel Royal at Hampton Court is closer to the back of the Tudor palace. (It is a bit of Frankenstein-palace, with half of it Tudor, and half of it Stuart/Georgian.) Built in the 1520s by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey and then remodelled in the 1530s by Henry VIII, it is what it sounds like- a chapel specifically for the monarchs and other royals.
That Ceiling
You can’t help but stare at the bright-blue and gold ceiling in the chapel. In a Historic Royal Palaces pamphlet, they explain, it
is one of the finest examples in England of a Tudor pendant-vaulted ceiling.
The ceiling was prefabricated in oak at Sonning in Berkshire before being painted and gilded on site. The bright Tudor colour scheme was restored in 1847.
The carving on the high altar is a Stuart addition from Grinling Gibbons, and will also end up stealing your attention.
What is the Chapel Royal known for?
While it is still a chapel now with daily services, it has also been the setting for some significant moments in royal history. In late 1541, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer gave Henry a letter detailing his young wife’s affair with a courtier. Catherine Howard was arrested at Hampton Court Palace, where her ghost is said to still remain in the Haunted Gallery to this day.
Want to know more about Catherine’s ghost? Read on…
Have you visited the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace?
Cheers,
The Historian
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