HISTORIC HAMPTON COURT

Evening Star, Issue 23189, 11 February 1939, Page 4

HISTORIC HAMPTON COURT

TO BE SUBJECT OF DAVENTRY RELAY OTHER ROYAL PALACES TO BE DESCRIBED Four famous Royal Palaces in London.—Hampden Court, St. James’s Palace, Kensington Palace, and Buckingham Palace—will be pictured for Daventry listeners in a series of programmes that the Montreal programme director of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, H. R. Pelletier, will produce at Broadcasting House, London, in the near future. Under the arrangement for the temporary exchange of producers that exists between the Canadian and British broadcasting organisations. Mr Pelletier is spending some months at Broadcasting House in the place of Mr Lance Sieveking. the 8.8. C. producer, who in turn is attached to the C. 8.0. Several programmes produced in Canada by Mr Pelletier have been relayed in the Empire transmissions from Daventry, and ho has assisted in the presentation of Canada’s contributions to many “ round-the-world ” broadcasts.

Hampton Court, in its lovely setting on the banks of the Thames 15 miles from London, will be the first palace to be visited. One of the first of the royal houses, as distinct from fortresses, it was built by Cardinal Wolsey early in the sixteenth century. Wolsey lived there in great state for 15 years—his household consisted of nearly 500 retainers and he entertained royally; once, for example, the French Ambassador with his retinue of 400 gentlemen were- his guests for several days. Wolsey, losing the favour of King Henry VIII., attempted to re-establish himself in the royal graces by presenting his 11 manor of Hampton Court ” to the King, but it .vas not until after the Cardinal’s final disgrace in 1529 that the King took possession of it. His Alajesty altered and enlarged the palace considerably, but the Great Hall, the roof of the Chapel, the famous tennis court (tennis is still played on it), and the great kitchen are the principal reminders of Henry’s work—most of it was demolished when Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt the residence for William 111. and Mary. . The palace was thrown open to the public by Queen '.Victoria on her accession,. s and pow (over 300,000 visitors pass through the State rooms , every year. But there are nearly-a thousand rooms, split into about 45 apartments of varying sizes, that the public does not see. By grace and favour of the reigning monarch, these are allotted to people who have earned distinction in various ways.

The Chapel Royal and the Haunted Gallery—tradition says that it is walked by the shrieking ghost of Henry’s executed wife, Katharine Howard; the Clock Court, the Tudor kitchens, the famous vinery (the vine is probably the oldest in England, its stem, measuring 81in in girth at ground level, and that joy of the adventurous, the Maze, are among the unique features of which listeners may expect to hear, it is estimated that in the last 200 years about 10,000,000 people have tried to tind their way along winding paths to the two tall chestnut trees that mark the centre of the Maze—and then set about the even more difficult task of finding their way out again. The broadcast will reflect, too, not only the history of the palace, but the life that was lived there. And it is hoped that the chimes of the old Tudor clock in Anne Boleyn’s Gateway and a member of the tennis club using King Henry’s court (and said to be founded by Henry himself), will help to convey the unique atmosphere of one of England’s most fascinating show-places.