alanhitchcock49
Stained Glass
In the Great Hall, Hampton Court Palace.
Following information courtesy of The Guardian newspaper:-
'Henry VIII's great palace window credited to vanquished Wolsey
Maev Kennedy on historian who turned detetive to identify real architect of Tudor wonder traces discovery of real architect of Hampton Court's stained-glass wonder
Friday 8 January 1999 11.55 GMT
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Henry VIII was stripped of his chief architectural honours yesterday by a young building historian who has taken a close look at his brickwork.
The enormous oriel window which rises the full 50ft height of the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace in south-west London is the most spectacular feature of the best-preserved Tudor great hall. Henry VIII has been credited with building the window, and some historians believe he helped to design it.
But it is now suggested that the great window is a survivor of Cardinal Wolsey's Hampton Court, built by the man who lost both his palace and his life to his former friend Henry. It seems that Henry removed every trace of Wolsey - by chipping off his stone carvings and smashing out the stained glass with his heraldic emblems - then reglazed the window as a monument to his own glory and built his new hall around it.
"The purpose of the entire hall was to impress, and its ultimate glory was this window, on a scale to make the individual feel utterly humiliated and insignificant," Jonathan Foyle, assistant buildings curator for Historic Royal Palaces, said yesterday at Hampton Court.
"When Henry stood on the platform at the end, lit by the light streaming through his heraldic glass, he would have been an awe-inspiring figure. It is one of history's ironies that that light was shining on him through Wolsey's window."
In 1514 Wolsey extended a former Knights Templar medieval manor into a palatial house. Henry became jealous of his power and wealth and in 1525 confiscated Hampton Court. The cardinal died in 1530 on the journey to trial for treason at the Tower of London, which would certainly have led to his execution.
The guide books say Henry demolished Wolsey's hall to build something even more regal. But after studying every stone and brick, Mr Foyle is convinced that Henry's hall was almost 20ft shorter but built on the original cellars and retaining Wolsey's window.
"There is every evidence in the accounts that Henry's builders allowed themselves plenty of drinking time and money. They didn't carry out any unnecessary work. The window was only 11 years old, they couldn't have done better and it would have cost a fortune, so they kept it."
Historian David Starkey, specialist on the Tudor period, said Mr Foyle's theory was almost certainly correct. "It seems entirely in character. Henry was capable of being incredibly extravagant where the results warranted it and would be immediately visible. Otherwise it would be a case of make do and mend.
"In general Wolsey was also building to a far higher standard. His buildings tend to last far better."
Mr Foyle found his first clue in the string courses, the stone moulding at the top of the exterior brick wall. Instead of continuing across the window they have to drop down to meet it and also miss the string courses in adjoining walls.
"Once you're on to it, the clues are everywhere," he said. The only mention of the window he could find in Henry's bills is for carvings and stained glass. The carvings in the fan vaulting must also have had Wolsey emblems. At the top Mr Foyle found the iron cramps which had clearly secured older carving.
He also found the original dimensions of the hall, and the window itself, to be almost identical to a hall built by Wolsey at Christ Church, Oxford.
The history of the window is traced in a Channel 4 documentary on Hampton Court to be screened this afternoon.
Mr Foyle allows Henry to keep the credit for the hall's superb hammer beam roof. "That is undoubtedly Henrician, and undoubtedly much more splendid than Wolsey's roof."
Stained Glass
In the Great Hall, Hampton Court Palace.
Following information courtesy of The Guardian newspaper:-
'Henry VIII's great palace window credited to vanquished Wolsey
Maev Kennedy on historian who turned detetive to identify real architect of Tudor wonder traces discovery of real architect of Hampton Court's stained-glass wonder
Friday 8 January 1999 11.55 GMT
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+
Shares
0
Henry VIII was stripped of his chief architectural honours yesterday by a young building historian who has taken a close look at his brickwork.
The enormous oriel window which rises the full 50ft height of the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace in south-west London is the most spectacular feature of the best-preserved Tudor great hall. Henry VIII has been credited with building the window, and some historians believe he helped to design it.
But it is now suggested that the great window is a survivor of Cardinal Wolsey's Hampton Court, built by the man who lost both his palace and his life to his former friend Henry. It seems that Henry removed every trace of Wolsey - by chipping off his stone carvings and smashing out the stained glass with his heraldic emblems - then reglazed the window as a monument to his own glory and built his new hall around it.
"The purpose of the entire hall was to impress, and its ultimate glory was this window, on a scale to make the individual feel utterly humiliated and insignificant," Jonathan Foyle, assistant buildings curator for Historic Royal Palaces, said yesterday at Hampton Court.
"When Henry stood on the platform at the end, lit by the light streaming through his heraldic glass, he would have been an awe-inspiring figure. It is one of history's ironies that that light was shining on him through Wolsey's window."
In 1514 Wolsey extended a former Knights Templar medieval manor into a palatial house. Henry became jealous of his power and wealth and in 1525 confiscated Hampton Court. The cardinal died in 1530 on the journey to trial for treason at the Tower of London, which would certainly have led to his execution.
The guide books say Henry demolished Wolsey's hall to build something even more regal. But after studying every stone and brick, Mr Foyle is convinced that Henry's hall was almost 20ft shorter but built on the original cellars and retaining Wolsey's window.
"There is every evidence in the accounts that Henry's builders allowed themselves plenty of drinking time and money. They didn't carry out any unnecessary work. The window was only 11 years old, they couldn't have done better and it would have cost a fortune, so they kept it."
Historian David Starkey, specialist on the Tudor period, said Mr Foyle's theory was almost certainly correct. "It seems entirely in character. Henry was capable of being incredibly extravagant where the results warranted it and would be immediately visible. Otherwise it would be a case of make do and mend.
"In general Wolsey was also building to a far higher standard. His buildings tend to last far better."
Mr Foyle found his first clue in the string courses, the stone moulding at the top of the exterior brick wall. Instead of continuing across the window they have to drop down to meet it and also miss the string courses in adjoining walls.
"Once you're on to it, the clues are everywhere," he said. The only mention of the window he could find in Henry's bills is for carvings and stained glass. The carvings in the fan vaulting must also have had Wolsey emblems. At the top Mr Foyle found the iron cramps which had clearly secured older carving.
He also found the original dimensions of the hall, and the window itself, to be almost identical to a hall built by Wolsey at Christ Church, Oxford.
The history of the window is traced in a Channel 4 documentary on Hampton Court to be screened this afternoon.
Mr Foyle allows Henry to keep the credit for the hall's superb hammer beam roof. "That is undoubtedly Henrician, and undoubtedly much more splendid than Wolsey's roof."