They complained that the gardens became ‘hell on earth, the people come intoxicated and the scenes in the gardens on the Lord’s day are beyond description’.ĭespite the complaints, the number of visitors rose steadily year on year. However, this sudden rush was not altogether welcomed by the grace and favour residents who had previously enjoyed exclusive rights to the palace gardens. Their journeys were made easier by the railways arriving at Hampton Court in 1849. Visitors arrived by every possible means: from boat to public coach.
Hampton Court Palace was one of the few attractions open on a Sunday, the only day working people had to visit.
Despite his Puritan ideals, he appreciated fine art, particularly the tapestries and enjoyed living like a king here. Charles was later recaptured and executed in 1649.ĭuring the Commonwealth (1649-60) Cromwell saved the palace from destruction by making it his home. In an attempt to flee Oliver Cromwell’s Parliamentarians, the King escaped through the Privy Garden. In 1647, he found himself under house arrest after his defeat in the Civil War. The King must have felt a keen sense of irony when his art-adorned palace became his temporary prison. James' son Charles I used the palace to house much of his astonishing art collection, including Mantegna's ‘Triumph of Caesar’ paintings. James was also responsible for organising the 1604 Hampton Court Conference that resulted in the publication of the King James Bible in 1611 - the Authorised Version of the Bible in English. In 1603 William Shakespeare's 'King's Men' first performed Hamlet and Macbeth for the new Stuart King, James I.
The 17th century saw many dramatic events at the palace, some of them taking place in Hampton Court’s Great Hall.
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