Henry VIII's Hammer Beam Ceiling at Hampton Court

Between 1514 and 1521. Henry VIII's first minister Cardinal Wolsey built the finest palace in England at Hampton Court.

Little of Wolsey's work remains unchanged, although the Base Court and the Gatehouse to Clock Court are his.

Wolsey's intention was to create a symmetrical Renaissance cardinal's palace with grand apartments on the first floor, all rendered with classical detailing. The architecture is a rare example of the period when English architecture was in a transition from domestic Tudor, strongly influenced by perpendicular Gothic, to the Italian Renaissance classical style. This blending of styles was achieved by a small group of Italian craftsmen working at the English court in the 1510s and 1520s. They specialised in the adding of Renaissance ornament to otherwise straightforward Tudor buildings. One Giovanni da Maiano was responsible for the set of eight relief busts of Roman emperors which were set in the Tudor brickwork.

Wolsey was only to enjoy his palace for a few years. In 1528, his downfall, he passed the palace to the King as a gift. Wolsey died two years later in 1530.

Henry immediately began his own rebuilding and expansion. The architecture of King Henry's new palace followed the design precedent set by Wolsey: perpendicular Gothic-inspired Tudor with restrained Renaissance ornament.

In order to accommodate his Court, Henry quadrupled the size of the kitchens, and added the Great Hall, which was the last medieval great hall built for the English monarchy. The Great Hall features a carved hammer-beam roof, seen here. . During Tudor times, this was the most important room of the palace; here, the King would dine in state seated at a table upon a raised dais.