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Hampton Court: a pleasure palace

Hampton Court Palace is the most magnificent surviving Tudor palace and Henry VIII’s pleasure palace.

Hampton Court Palace is the most magnificent surviving Tudor palace and Henry VIII’s pleasure palace. This is where he came to relax and indulge his love of entertainment and sport, or to impress his guests.

In this first film, we meet Historic Royal Palaces Chief Curator Dr Tracy Borman who discusses the design and development of Hampton Court Palace with Daniel Jackson, Head of Historic Buildings, as they take a short tour of the palace.

We also explore some of the sports we know the Tudors enjoyed, such as archery, bowls, tennis, hunting, shooting and jousting, and learn how the palace was designed to accommodate them.

Discussion:

  1. How might you have felt visiting Hampton Court as a guest of Henry VIII? What sports would you have enjoyed playing at his pleasure palace?
  2. If you were building your own “pleasure palace”, what facilities would you include?
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A History of Tudor Entertainment

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