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Hampton Court Clock Court
Clock, Clock Court
There was a clock tower near the position of the present clock at Hampton Court since about 1478. This was when it was owned by the Knights Hospitallers. In 1514, Thomas Wolsey, then Bishop of Lincoln, soon to be Archbishop of York, rented the estate on a 99-year lease which allowed for rebuilding. The Abbot of the Knights of St. John gave Wolsey the hour bell, still in use today.
Wolsey was forced to hand over Hampton Court and other possessions to King Henry VIII.
The present clock tower and gateway was rebuilt by John Molton the King's Master Mason in 1528, and was named after Anne Boleyn as it was then she became the King's mistress.
The Clock Tower forms the entrance to the Great Hall and the inner part of the palace. There are four corner turrets. As you approach from the outer courtyard, the turret on the left is the weights tower, and the belfry with the large hour bell was above this. On the other side is the jakes tower. This had a loo on each floor. The remains of these still exist. On the lower floors they were updated to serve the Grace and Favour apartments, and at the top by the present clock is the blocked off remains of the toilet once used by the guards patrolling what was originally a flat roof.
The two towers at the corners of the other side both have spiral staircases which led to the clock room and to the roof.
14th February, 1532, John Fitzwater is first mentioned as Keeper of the Clock at Hampton Court in Henry VIII's accounts. Fitzwater came from a clockmaking dynasty in Devon, responsible for many generations for the famous astronomical clock in Exeter Cathedral. Fitzwater had been Clockmaker to Henry VIII from 1530, and was to make a number of clocks for the King's palaces.
The Queen's Clockmaker William Herbert had given the Hampton Court clock a complete overhaul and restoration about 1711 or just before. But Sir Christopher Wren wanted Langley Bradley, a clockmaker in Fenchurch Street, London, to make a completely new clock to run the astronomical dial which would be repainted to suit the new baroque decor.
Wren rebuilt the upper floor and roof to make the belfry we see today to house the hour bell and two smaller bells for the quarter hours. Wren's alterations made the new clock room extremely difficult and dangerous of access. It is impossible to stand up and cables threaten to trip you in the dark down the unprotected weights shaft. No one seems to have wanted to stay long enough to keep it clean. The alterations block access to one of the stairs, and also to the toilet that once served the guards on the roof. In 1831, the astronomical clock and its two dials were scrapped. The clock was replaced with the clock taken from St. James's Palace. This had been made in 1799 by Vulliamy of Pall Mall - near St. James's Palace.
The slate dial of Vulliamy's clock was inserted facing the outer court. Info thanks to...
www.cosmicelk.net/hamptoncourtclock.htm
Hampton Court Clock Court
Clock, Clock Court
There was a clock tower near the position of the present clock at Hampton Court since about 1478. This was when it was owned by the Knights Hospitallers. In 1514, Thomas Wolsey, then Bishop of Lincoln, soon to be Archbishop of York, rented the estate on a 99-year lease which allowed for rebuilding. The Abbot of the Knights of St. John gave Wolsey the hour bell, still in use today.
Wolsey was forced to hand over Hampton Court and other possessions to King Henry VIII.
The present clock tower and gateway was rebuilt by John Molton the King's Master Mason in 1528, and was named after Anne Boleyn as it was then she became the King's mistress.
The Clock Tower forms the entrance to the Great Hall and the inner part of the palace. There are four corner turrets. As you approach from the outer courtyard, the turret on the left is the weights tower, and the belfry with the large hour bell was above this. On the other side is the jakes tower. This had a loo on each floor. The remains of these still exist. On the lower floors they were updated to serve the Grace and Favour apartments, and at the top by the present clock is the blocked off remains of the toilet once used by the guards patrolling what was originally a flat roof.
The two towers at the corners of the other side both have spiral staircases which led to the clock room and to the roof.
14th February, 1532, John Fitzwater is first mentioned as Keeper of the Clock at Hampton Court in Henry VIII's accounts. Fitzwater came from a clockmaking dynasty in Devon, responsible for many generations for the famous astronomical clock in Exeter Cathedral. Fitzwater had been Clockmaker to Henry VIII from 1530, and was to make a number of clocks for the King's palaces.
The Queen's Clockmaker William Herbert had given the Hampton Court clock a complete overhaul and restoration about 1711 or just before. But Sir Christopher Wren wanted Langley Bradley, a clockmaker in Fenchurch Street, London, to make a completely new clock to run the astronomical dial which would be repainted to suit the new baroque decor.
Wren rebuilt the upper floor and roof to make the belfry we see today to house the hour bell and two smaller bells for the quarter hours. Wren's alterations made the new clock room extremely difficult and dangerous of access. It is impossible to stand up and cables threaten to trip you in the dark down the unprotected weights shaft. No one seems to have wanted to stay long enough to keep it clean. The alterations block access to one of the stairs, and also to the toilet that once served the guards on the roof. In 1831, the astronomical clock and its two dials were scrapped. The clock was replaced with the clock taken from St. James's Palace. This had been made in 1799 by Vulliamy of Pall Mall - near St. James's Palace.
The slate dial of Vulliamy's clock was inserted facing the outer court. Info thanks to...
www.cosmicelk.net/hamptoncourtclock.htm