The original Tudor Hampton Court Palace was begun by Cardinal Wolsey in the early 16th century, but it soon attracted the attention of Henry VIII, who brought all his six wives here. Surrounded by gorgeous gardens and famous features such as the Maze and the Great Vine, the palace has been the setting for many nationally important events.
When William III and Mary II (1689-1702) took the throne in 1689, they commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to build an elegant new baroque palace. Later, Georgian kings and princes occupied the splendid interiors. When the royals left in 1737, impoverished ‘grace and favour’ aristocrats moved in.
Queen Victoria opened the palace to the public in 1838. It has remained a magnet for millions of visitors, drawn to the grandeur, the ghosts and the fabulous art collection.
Hampton Court Palace’s world-famous gardens include 60 acres of spectacular formal gardens and 750 acres (304 hectares) of parkland, all set within a loop of the River Thames.
Our gardens are home to the world’s oldest puzzle maze, a record-breaking grapevine, three National Plant Collections and a huge variety of wildlife, including the descendants of Henry VIII’s deer herd.
Garden highlights
Summer sees the spectacular herbaceous border in the East Front Gardens at its best, while Queen Mary II’s Exoticks come out in the Lower Orangery Garden.
The Great Vine grapes are harvested at the end of the summer, followed by autumn colours in the Tiltyard, Wilderness and 20th Century Garden as deers rut in Home Park.
In the winter, striking outlines of trees stretch across Home Park and, if we’re lucky, snow highlights the topiary of the Privy Garden.
The gardens come to life in spring with over one million flowering bulbs in the Wilderness and a riot of colour in the formal gardens.
The Maze
Lose yourself in the most famous maze in the world. The Hampton Court Palace Maze is the UK’s oldest surviving hedge maze. Commissioned around 1700 by William III, it covers a third of an acre and is known for confusing and intriguing visitors with its many twists, turns and dead ends. On average, it takes 20 minutes to reach the centre.
The Maze was designed by George London and Henry Wise and is trapezoid in shape. Originally planted using hornbeam, it was later replanted using yew. It is referred to as a multicursal or puzzle maze.
Before the creation of the Hampton Court Maze, unicursal or single path mazes were the most popular form of maze in the UK. Unlike the puzzle maze, the single path maze has one path, usually in a spiral shape, winding to a centre point.
Hampton Court today
The palace is still a magnet for visitors from all over the world. One of the newest attractions for families is the Tudor-inspired Magic Garden, which was opened in 2016 by the Duchess of Cambridge.
Two famous annual festivals – the Hampton Court music festival and the RHS Flower Show – stay true to Henry VIII’s ‘pleasure palace’ principle.
And the superb art collection – a permanent, rotating display of some of the Royal Collections finest works, continues to delight.