Hampton Court Palace

From Dittopedia

Life in the Middle Ages revolved around the church and the village remained isolated and cut off from the politics and intrigue of the court down the river at Whitehall. The coming of the Tudors brought great changes, when Hampton Court Palace was built by Cardinal Wolsey over the period 1515-1521 and then taken by King Henry VIII. The country prospered and with it the village. ^[1]

Around 1540, the 'corpulency' of King Henry VIII was serious enough for him to want easy hunting from the palace. So Hampton Court Chase was formed. To that end, the Manor of Weston was bought from the Abbess of Barking, by an indenture dated 29 Henry VIII, and by Act of Parliament (dated 31 Henry VIII), it was annexed to the Honour of Hampton Court, becoming part of Crown lands. The Manor of Imber was similarly annexed in 1540. ^[2]

The Hampton Court Honour included Walton, Byfleet, Weybridge, Oatlands, both Moleseys and Esher. Many parishes on the Surrey side of the Thames were enclosed within wooden fencing and stocked with creatures for hunting. When the king died in 1547, the inhabitants raised a petition to the Lord Protector and Council of State, seeking relief. The petition pointed out that the King's own rents and tithes were damaged by the chase. The Council caused the area to be de-chased and the deer were removed to Windsor Forest and other royal parks. Yet the precedent had been set for having deer in the Hampton Court area, which continues in Bushey Park and Richmond Park. ^[2]

Important officials from the Palace lived here across the river from the bustle of the Court. ^[1]

The Ditton Trianon

29-Oct

The Home or House Park is dominated by the goose foot of avenues. This originated with the great canal planted with ' sweete rows of lime trees ', designed by André and Gabriel Mollet for Charles II in the French Grand Manner. The two outer avenues were planted later for William and Mary, resulting in the famous patte d'oie, which complemented the new east front aligned by Wren on the Mollet canal. The three avenues radiate from the semi-circular Great Fountain Garden in front of the palace, for which Daniel Marot designed the elaborate parterre shown in his proposals sketch of 1689. The overgrown yews are being left here, unlike those in the Privy Garden, and the lime arcade has been restored. ^[3]

Marot’s sketch shows how the northern, Kingston Avenue, was aligned on the spire of All Saints' Church, Kingston. Henry Wise, Queen Anne’s gardener, refers to a ' a great hill in Kingston avenue which much obstructed the view from the house and gardens and was thought proper to be levelled '. It was intended by William that the southern, Ditton Avenue, would also have an eyecatcher and in c. 1699 William Talman designed a trianon to be built at Long Ditton, though this was never implemented. ^[3]

At some point between 1695 and 1697, William Talman bought a property in Long Ditton called Borough Farm. During 1699, in collaboration with the Earl of Portland, he conceived the idea of placing a trianon on his land. The ambitious plan would have invovled purchasing a strip of land linking Home Park and Talman's farm. Along this a new avenue would have been planted, extending the south-eastern avenue in Home Park across the River Thames to the proposed trianon. Talman's beautifully presented scheme was rejected, principally on the grounds of cost and time, as acquiring the intervening land would have taken years to organise. ^[4]

References

1. John Lyon
2. Burchett, P. 1984. A Historical Sketch of THAMES DITTON. Surrey: Thames Ditton and Weston Green Residents' Association. ISBN 0-904-81120-4.
3. Thames Landscape Strategy
4. Thurley, S. 1984. Hampton Court: a Social and Architectural History. Yale. ISBN 0-300-10223-2.