Streets of London : Henry the eighth I am, I am

Henry V111 would have come to Hampton by boat: a flotilla of gold and crimson banners fluttering in the breeze as he and his thousand strong entourage of courtiers would have sailed under the sun for the fifteen miles from London to what had become one of the most sumptuous palaces in the world at the time: Hampton Court. And one of Henry's frequent retreats.

We came by train. And discovered that it was not always a royal residence. Centuries before, the land was owned by the Knights Hospitalier of St John and they had, among other things, built a huge grange here for the agricultural enterprise they operated here. Over time, as that fell into decline, they rented it all out. It soon came into the hands of one of Henry's most trusted advisors and ministers, Cardinal Wolsey, who spent a fortune on the place, building it into a country home fit for a top king's courtier. And his royal friends.

He extended it sumptuously building the cobbled Base Court surrounded by 40 gorgeous apartments each with outer and inner rooms and each with their own garderobes. He regularly entertaining Henry V111, Katherine of Aragon and their daughter, Mary, as they travelled between London and their other Royal Palaces.

Rot set in, as it tends to do with men of power. Henry wanted a son. Katherine was too old. He had set eyes on Anne Boleyn at court, who might just serve his purpose. Wolsey fell out with Henry over all the machinations, and as a result Wolsey was removed from court and when Henry decided he not only wanted Anne, he also wanted Wolsey's beautiful home at Hampton, he gave him but four days to remove himself from it, then sent in his builders, decorators and gardeners, with plans aplenty. Gorgeous though it always was, Henry added bling.

He vastly extended Hampton Court, doubling it in size, building tilt yards for jousting, adding archery butts, tennis courts and bowling alleys. He even piped in running water from three miles away. It was finished just seven years prior to Henry's death, so he hardly had time left to use it, but use it he did. It became famous for its sumptuousness, its gilt, its excess.

On one occasion when the French ambassador called with two hundred strong in his entourage, Henry and his 1,300 member court entertained them and they feasted for six days. Gold and velvet tents were set up around the palace gardens and the many vast kitchens and dining room halls were worked to capacity.

Today some of the early palace pieces still survive. Some of the tapestries we were told are 500 years old. How they still hang in one piece is amazing in itself. Hampton Court's use as a Royal retreat has declined over the centuries since Henry's death, and today the palace has to earn its upkeep. So much of it is open, for a price, to the masses, who linger over the apartments set up as they once were back then, and wonder if any of it helped to make Henry a happy man.