HAMPTON COURT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23073, 25 June 1938, Page 12

HAMPTON COURT

EXTENSIVE REPAIRS SUM OF £II,OOO EXPENDED ; [from our own correspondent] LONDON, Jane 4 After being closed to the publio since October, the State rooms on the south and east fronts Hampton Court Palace were reopened recently. A new heating system has been installed, extensive redecoration has been done, and many pictures and tapestries have been rearranged, some in different rooms. Opportunity has been taken to examine the timber, which has been in position for more than 250 years. The quality of the oak used is proved by the fact that only one beam, in the Queen's Gallery, was defective, as a result of dry-rot. An expert stated that this excellent preservation was largely due to the way in which the builders made provision for the "breathing" of the beams where they were fixed in the walls. Nor has the furniture suffered appreciably. A small percentage of the silk hangings shows the effect, of time. The rows of big pipes which for over half a century have disfigured the magnificent rooms in the Wren portion of the buildings have disappeared. An anonymous donor gave the money to have them replaced by an invisible system of Abating. The many changes and improvements will cost about £II,OOO. The work has been followed with keen interest by the First Commissioner of Works, Sir Philip Sassoon, who paid a final visit to the Palace before the reopening.