Hampton Court: A Social And Architectural History

Hampton Court--probably Britain's most important secular historic building complex--was a center of court life and politics from the late fifteenth century to the middle of the eighteenth. It was also a place of architectural innovation and the site of the most ambitious formal gardens ever built in Britain. This book offers the first history in over a century of Hampton Court, its gardens, and its parks. Lavishly illustrated, the book brings to life the entire history of the building, including the terrible fire of 1986 and the twentieth-century opening of the complex to the public. Simon Thurley, the unrivalled authority on Hampton Court's architecture, interior decoration, and history, sets the building in political and social context. He explores the lives and motivations of its builders, telling the stories of the architects and others who fulfilled the whims of kings and princes. In addition to throwing light on the character of court life, the book makes important new attributions to architects Hugh May, Nicholas Hawksmoor, William Talman, Colen Campbell, Edward Blore, and others.