It was originally built for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, a favorite of King Henry VIII in about 1514. When he fell from favor the palace was passed to the King.
At the beginning of the tour we got cloaks so we could look like the time period. We also got an audio tour. We started our tour in the kitchen. Most of the diet there was meat about 75%. A list from the reign of Elizabeth I reveals the quantity of meat cooked in the royal kitchens in one year: 1,240 oxen, 8,200 sheep, 2,330 deer, 760 calves, 1,870 pigs and a modest 53 wild boar.
We began in the courtyard where the wagons loaded with food would arrive. Then went into where the meat was processed and then moved on to where the food was prepared and baked. They even had a fire in the fireplace.
J is preparing pies which are not dessert pies like we think of but rather meat pies.
There was a boiling pot where the meat would be cooked. Miss K was busy stirring the boiling pot.
I have to say that the kitchen was very interesting.
We walked through the gardens. There was a maze but we didn't do it. We saved that for our next trip.
We met this chap out in the garden.
Miss K wanted to take a photo of us. It is a rather interesting perspective of us.
We then wandered in and went to Henry VIII's apartments. We missed a bit of the tour as we had to give the audio tour back before we went to the garden so we didn't have that for that part of the tour.
We did see the reproduction of Henry VIII's crown. We also went to Chapel but couldn't take photos there. We did see a number of tapestries and other interesting things.
There was so much there that we didn't get to see. We will have to save that for our next visit. We decided that the family membership was the cheaper way to go so we will have to go back later.
It was an educational time.
Beth
England is beautiful. So much history compared to young America. I lived there when I was about 3 and 4. Thank you for all the pics!
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