Henry VIII's hunting park and Charles II's formal canal.
Hunting at Hampton Court
Hampton Court's great attraction for Henry VIII (r 1509-1547) and later monarchs was its hunting. Henry enclosed this 750 acre (300 hectare) park to keep his deer.
William III's (r 1689-1702) horse Sorrel is famously believed to have stumbled on a molehill in Home Park which led to his untimely death in 1702. Queen Anne (r 1702-1714), who was not very mobile still loved to hunt 'like jehu' - an ancient biblical warrior-king - in a single horse carriage. The 300 fallow deer in Home Park today are descended from Henry VIII's original herd.
'... formerly a naked piece of ground, now planted with sweet rows of lime trees, and the canal for water near perfected.'     John Evelyn, 1662
The Long Water
In 1660 King Charles II began to create a formal baroque garden, digging this great three-quarter mile long canal in celebration of his marriage. He even had a Venetian gondola as a wedding gift. Either side of the Long Water are avenues of over 2,000 lime trees.
William III and Mary II continued their uncle Charles's plan by adding three more avenues to make the fashionable 'goose foot' design you see today.
Nearby are two richly carved pedestals



made for the magnificent marble vases you can now find in the palace entrance hall behind you.

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The Great Fountain Garden
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The Privy Garden
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Site of the Toy Inn
Molesey Riverbank
The Family Coat of Arms of Thomas Newland Allen
King William's Temple
Temple of Bellona

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