Banqueting House Wall, Hampton Court Palace

Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by Historic Royal Palaces to provide a watching brief during investigative opening up on the Banqueting House wall Hampton Court Palace, Surrey. The wall is primarily constructed of Tudor Brick and initially formed part of the great wall that divided the Palace and grounds from the Thames. The south section of the wall formed part of the the Thames-side close bowling alley as depicted in Wyngaerde's 'View of Hampton court from the river' (c.1558) and had moulded stone windows. The two sections of wall were separated by a small Tudor tower which served as well house for the adjacent Pond Gardens. The Pond gardens and water gallery underwent many changes in the late 17th century which included the demolition of the close bowling alley. By 1701 the water gallery had been demolished and a new single-storey Banqueting House was constructed on the site of the former well house. The moulded stone windows were removed from the south wall and new window opening were inserted into both the north and south sections of the wall which gave views from the Banqueting House terrace into the walled gardens and River Thames beyond. The windows were formed of red brick jambs and arched lintels with moulded stone sills. The southern garden was used as an aviary and the north garden was planted as an orchard. A doorway from this phase in the south section of the wall was infilled shortly after insertion. The aviary was dismantled in 1746 and the window openings were infilled sometime during the late 18th/early 19th century. Removal of a small amount of brickwork was undertaken in order to ascertain the character of the openings and if there was evidence for any former bars or metal screens that may have been set within the openings. No evidence suggesting the former presence of decorated detail was found.