Hampton Court Adventure

Year 12 visit Hampton Court to discover where the great characters of our Tudor story resided

On a sunny day in July, our Year 12s embarked on an adventure across London to join in the thronging crowds of garden enthusiasts to visit Hampton Court. However, our focus was its Tudor history rather than the array of flowers and greenery! Our adventure started on the trains, as we traversed London on trains and tubes rather than our traditional coach travel. We arrived, with many other Garden Show attendees, to lovely sunshine as we crossed the Thames at Hampton Bridge.

Our visit was designed to support the AQA curriculum on Tudors. Hampton Court started as Cardinal Wolsey’s palace as the Alter Rex Chief Minister, continuing in its prominence through Edward VI and Mary I’s court life and was a popular retreat of Elizabeth I – therefore a location rich in Tudor heritage. Our focus was on the question “Was there a Mid-Tudor Crisis?” – and we were treated to a specialist talk and tour around the palace understanding where key events in this century took place. Some of us even sat in the chairs occupied by Archbishop Cranmer and Lord Burghley to decide the fate of the nation when Elizabeth was struck by small pox! The significant points in the Mid-Tudor period were interrogated and explained – all helping their understanding of the period and key judgements for their essays. Our sunny history day out was completed with an ice cream on our way home!