A portion of the Quadrangle, constructed by William HI in the 1690’s.
pton Court:
A Tar Heel describes his visit to this
famous English palace, where Sir
Halter Raleigh pled with f^iieen
Elizabeth and where IMunteo and
H'anchese vis ted.
Ky SAMUEL C. CARPENTER
HAMPTON Court Palace, a
magnificent structure of one
thousand rooms, and royal
residence of English sovereigns
from the time of Henry VIII to
George II remains as one of the
finest specimens of Tudor and
Renaissance architecture.
Thousands of North Carolinians
are destined to see the production
of the Lost Colony, which will re¬
open at Mantco this summer, and
will witness in that drama several
scenes of Queen Elizabeth’s court
and gardens at Hampton Court.
It was here that Raleigh pro¬
posed to Her Majesty his plans for
the colonization of the New World;
here that Manteo and Wanchese,
the first red-skinned natives of
Carolina to see English civilization
of the sixteenth century, were
guests at the palace when Sir Hum¬
phrey Gilbert brought them from
the shores of Roanoke Island to
England in 1584. And it was here
that Governor White pleaded in
vain to Her Majesty for relief ships
to be sent to the isolated colony at
Fort Raleigh.
The palace is situated on the
north bank of the Thames River
one mile from the present village
of Hampton and fifteen miles west-
south-west of London. Adjoining
the palace grounds is Bushy Park,
an extensive tract of Crown prop¬
erty consisting of one thousand
acres, that once afforded the Eng¬
lish kings with splendid hunting
grounds for deer.
During the war, because of its
ideal location, the park was leased
to the Americans and based the
headquarters of the gigantic 8th
Air Force which played a major
role in defeating the Axis. After
the formation of the Supreme
Headquarters. Allied Expedition¬
ary Force, General Eisenhower
found his London quarters too
crowded and moved his entire
headquarters command into nu¬
merous temporary buildings on the
spacious grounds.
Erection of the famous palace
was begun in 1515 by Cardinal
Wolsey who, as head of the Catho¬
lic Church in England enjoyed pow¬
ers equivalent to those of the king;
e
and he handled most of the affairs
of state which Henry VIII allowed
him to do. Wolsey set about to
make Hampton Court the envy of
all Europe. However, a decade
later the fact that Henry resented
a cardinal living in a structure
more sumptuous than his, caused
Wolsey to present the place to
the king in hope of restoring his
waning popularity with the greedy
sovereign.
Today the palace is preserved by
the Crown as a showplace and at¬
tracts t h
о
usands of visitors,
especially on Sundays and holidays.
Some of the rooms are now as¬
signed as living quarters by the
sovereign to various English ladies
— usually the widows and daugh¬
ters of peers and officers in the
English army.
The structure is built of red brick j
and stone facings so ingeniously
employed by the English during
the Renaissance.
Of an original five quadrangles
only two remain today — those of
the tower and clock courts. Three
of the quadrangles were torn away
by William III in the 1690’s in
order to make room for a third
which he erected from designs by
Sir Christopher Wren, the archi¬
tect of St. Paul’s Cathedral. This
addition, which houses the foun¬
tain court, is a masterpiece of the
Renaissance, the simplicity and
regularity of the compositions
representing the Italian influence
on this renowned architect.
The gardens surrounding the I
palace, consisting of about 44 acres,
are laid out in the Dutch style
favored by William III. A large
grape vine planted in 1768 con¬
tinues to bear a bounty of fruit.
In the enclosure north of the
palace is the Maze— a garden of
shrubbery laid out in intricate de¬
signs, containing numerous and
confusing winding paths, where
one can easily get lost for a short !
time.
Seeing those scenes representing
the palace enacted at the Lost
Colony last summer brought back
memories to me of an extraordi-
Ж
I had at Hampton Court
fall of 1943, some three hun¬
dred years after the first welcome
was extended to the first natives
of Carolina.
At that time I was stationed at
Bushy Park with the 8th Air Force.
C. D. Stroupe, Jr. of Lincolnton
was visiting me on a short leave,
and since we both were interested
in historical sites I proposed a visit
to the place to round out our tour.
The sun was almost setting as
THE STATE. JUNK 28. 1947