It's a quarter of a century since I last visited Hampton Court Palace. I had a film camera in those days but, as far as I can remember, I don't think I took many (if any) photos on that trip. Today we returned to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's palace on the banks of the Thames and it was fascinating how little I remembered of the place. Of course, when Wolsey fell out of favour with King Henry VIII the King claimed Hampton Court for himself and it remained home to English royalty until Georgian times.
The ceiling of the Great Hall. Originally this would have been very colourful but the Victorians saw fit to strip it back to bare wood
Our wanderings through the palace took us through history, from Henry VIII and his six wives, through the Stuart period, finishing with changes made in the eighteenth century by the four King Georges. I knew it would probably be fairly dark inside but hadn't anticipated quite how challenging the gloom would be for my camera at times!
I couldn't resist the wonderful shadows cast on the floor by the railings on this amazing staircase
The ornate ceiling in one of the Georgian rooms. I shamelessly laid on the floor to take this - who cares what the other visitors thought!
My two lenses of choice today were my 12-35mm lens (equivalent to a 24-70 on a 35mm camera) and my super wide angle 7-14mm lens. I went expecting to just use the wide angle for the bigger pieces of architecture. However, it proved to be a really handy tool and fifteen of my eighteen final photos were taken with it as it often gave me the opportunity to find a different angle on the architecture.
The entrance to the Chapel Royal. Sadly photography isn't allowed inside so I wasn't able to capture the glory of its spectacular blue and gold ceiling.
The King's toilet. I can't help feeling a velvet seat would be less than hygienic but I guess he liked a little luxury!
Henry VIII's wine cellar