East Front Drainage, Hampton Court Palace

From the 25th February 2008 to the 26th March 2008, Oxford Archaeology (OA) carried out an archaeological watching brief at Hampton Court Palace. A single trench 98.5 m in length and 0.5 m wide was excavated along part of the eastern front of Hampton Court Palace. The work was commissioned by Historic Royal Palaces in advance of the installation of a new french drain. The watching brief revealed a layer of demolition rubble as well as wall foundations and brick built drains. The demolition was probably the result of the demolition of part of the Tudor palace prior to the construction of the new 17th century palace by William and Mary. The wall foundations could be the remains of the Tudor palace. The brick built drains could have been constructed at the same time as the Baroque palace, utilising Tudor brick.