Yr2 Hampton Court Palace
Year 2 enjoyed a fantastic day visiting Hampton Court Palace. This was an excellent opportunity to see how King Henry VIII lived more than 400 years ago.
We were able to take in the huge palace as we walked into the grounds and we made our way straight through to the kitchens where there were some huge open fireplaces where they roasted meat from animals they hunted in the grounds of the palace. The cooks had to make 450 meals twice every day! We were allowed to ask questions to the helpful adults there and they explained how they would be constantly working to make food to please King Henry the VIII. They also told us that sugar was very expensive in those times.
We ventured into the rest of the palace and came across the Chapel Royal where Jane Seymour's heart was buried. Jane Seymour was King Henry VIII's third wife. In the Chapel, we had to take our hats off and be very quiet as the staff in there told us all about how the Chapel Royal is still used today for services on Sundays.In addition to that, Year 2 were able to go and take in he sights of the Great Hall which was filled with amazing artwork of Henry VIII and the Tudor family. The Great Hall and many other rooms were decorated with the heads of deer hunted in the palace grounds. King William III extended the Palace when he became king, and we say his enormous four poster bed with a canopy decorated with ostrich feathers and a waiting room he had decorated entirely with weapons.
We explored the beautiful grounds of the palace and saw water fountains, some very old trees and many lovely smaller gardens. We could see all the chimneys on the roof of the palace - there are hundreds, as each room has at least one fireplace as fire was the only heating they had in Tudor times.
It was a great day out and it was fantastic opportunity to see how kings and queens used to live.
