A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



of 1688. William III was at once attracted 

 by the quiet and secluded situation, but found the 

 palace itself old-fashioned, and not at all to his 

 taste, and soon decided to rebuild the old state 

 apartments, whose historical associations stood for 

 very little with him. Indeed, a far more extensive 

 scheme of rebuilding, having for its object the mak- 

 ing of a new approach to the palace from the north, 

 on the line of the avenue in Bushey Park, was 

 contemplated ; but, however fine the result might 

 and doubtless would have been, it is impossible to 

 regret its abandonment. As it is, the destruction 

 of the Cloister Court, which must have been, after 

 the hall and chapel, the finest part of the palace, is 

 infinitely regrettable ; and though one would not 

 willingly spare any part of the old buildings, it is 

 to be wished that William could have decided to 

 sacrifice almost any other court of the palace than 

 this. The work was entrusted to Wren, who set 

 out a new court, now known as the Fountain 

 Court, on the old site, with great ranges of build- 

 ings on the south and east, 315 and 300 ft. long 

 respectively, harmonizing to some extent with the 

 older work in the use of red brick with stone 

 dressings, and in themselves very charming exam- 

 ples of his work, but undeniably out of scale and 

 character with the Tudor palace, to the pic- 

 turesque irregularities of which their stiff" classic 

 lines cannot adapt themselves. In spite of various 

 hindrances, quarrels with Talman the ' comp- 

 troller of the works,' and a good deal of injudicious 

 meddling on the part of his royal client, Wren 

 carried on the work, so that in 1691 it was in a 

 fair way to completion. One source of delay had 

 been the failure in the supply of Portland stone, 

 owing to the presence in the Channel of a victori- 

 ous French fleet. The fitting up and decoration 

 of the new buildings was a lengthy and costly 

 business, Grinling Gibbons and Caius Gabriel 

 Cibber being employed among other less known 

 sculptors, Laguerre among the painters, and to Jean 

 Tijou and his assistant, Huntingdon Shaw, was 

 given the work of making the well-known gates 

 and screens of wrought-iron which inclosed the 

 gardens on the south. The works were brought 

 to a standstill for a time by the death of Queen 

 Mary in 1694, but begun again after the burning 

 of Whitehall in 1698, Verrio the painter being 

 first employed, as it seems, in 1699, and the work 

 of decoration was pushed on energetically. It 

 seems that the scheme already referred to of build- 

 ing a great new entrance court on the north, and 

 turning the great hall into a sort of vestibule, with 

 flights of stone steps leading up to it on the north 

 side, was now drawn up. It would have involved the 

 destruction of the great watching chamber and all 

 the eastern range of the Clock Court, as well as of 

 the great kitchens and much of the work near them ; 

 and though the palace would thereby have obtained 

 a very stately facade and a dignified approach, the 

 wholesale destruction of the Tudor work would 

 have been an irreparable loss. There is ample 

 evidence, too, that it would not have stopped here, 

 and if William had lived he would probably have 

 rebuilt the whole palace, and thereby destroyed a 

 :hapter of English history for which no master- 



piece of Wren's creation could compensate us. 

 The problematical ' little gentleman in black 

 velvet ' did good service to others than the Jaco- 

 bites who drank his health. The year 1699 was 

 marked by a further attempt by Talman to dis- 

 credit Wren, which came to nothing, and when 

 the king returned from Holland late in the year 

 he was full of admiration for what had been done. 

 Under Queen Anne the works continued, the most 

 important item being perhaps the refitting of the 

 chapel in 1710 ; but the unfortunate aversion of 

 the queen to paying the debts incurred by her 

 predecessor and herself made her reign a period of 

 ceaseless ' dunning ' by the various artists em- 

 ployed, such as Verrio and Tijou (who appears as 

 John Tissue), and the builders and masons and 

 sculpture-merchants. Under the Georges various 

 works were carried on, and the fitting up of 

 Wren's buildings may be considered to have been 

 completed in the time of George I, which was 

 otherwise and less pleasantly signalized, as already 

 stated, by the disgraceful supersession of Wren in 

 his old age in favour of the incapable Benson. 

 George II has left his mark on the east range of 

 the Clock Court, a good deal of work being done by 

 Kent at the time, c. 1730. The scheme for alter- 

 ing the Great Hall was now again brought forward, 

 but fortunately abandoned. After this time the 

 interest in the buildings gradually declined, 

 George III entirely abandoning Hampton Court, 

 and leaving it neglected. In spite of this certain 

 considerable repairs were carried out, such as the 

 rebuilding of the Great Gatehouse in 1773, and the 

 repair of the Great Hall in 1 798. With the revival 

 of interest in archaeology the buildings naturally 

 received more attention, and at the present time 

 everything is admirably and systematically cared 

 for, about 5,000 a year being spent in repairs 

 and maintenance. The beginning of the reign 

 of Edward VII was marked by the making of a 

 fine and complete plan of all the buildings, from 

 which the plans which accompany this description 

 are reproduced by special permission. 



The approach to the palace is now, as always, 

 from the west. The entrance to the precincts is 

 through a gate with stone piers, the work of Kent, 

 c. 1730, surmounted by lead figures of the lion 

 and unicorn and trophies of arms. The roadway 

 thence runs in a slanting direction to the main 

 entrance, the gatehouse on the west side of the first 

 court, passing on the left hand a long line of 

 late 17th-century brick buildings of two stories, 

 built for stabling and offices. In the past two 

 years the appearance of the entrance front of the 

 palace has been immensely improved by the clear- 

 ing out of the wide moat between the wings at 

 either end of the front, which had been filled in 

 about 1 690, and the uncovering and repair of the 

 stone bridge crossing it. This bridge was built in 

 1536 by Henry VIII, replacing a bridge probably 

 of wood, built by Wolsey, and from the full details 

 remaining in the building accounts it has been 

 possible to reproduce the lost portions, that is, the 

 parapets, pinnacles, and shield-bearing beasts set 

 thereon, with a high degree of certainty. The 

 gateway to which it leads was largely rebuilt in 



374 



