The Installation of Lights along Banqueting Hall Path, Hampton Court Palace, Surrey

On the 7th and 8th of September 2000, the Oxford Archaeological Unit (OAU) carried out an Archaeological Watching Brief, on eight test pits, in advance of the installation of new path lights on Banqueting Hall path at Hampton Court Palace, Hampton Court Road, Twickenham, Greater London.

Brick wall foundations were found in a number of the test pits. These were interpreted as the remains of a single brick wall foundation. This structure ran south-east to north-west under the tail of the extant flat-topped grassed bank which runs parallel to, and on the Thames side of, the existing Banqueting Hall path. It is possible that these represent a foundation to a wall which originally retained the flat-topped grassed bank. An extant wall probably dating to the 1530s limits the raised flat grassed area to the south-west. The excavated remains were constructed of the same bricks, bonded by the same mortar and laid in the same English Garden Wall bond as this parallel wall. Together these standing and excavated elements possibly formed a raised walkway or mount. The possible original extent of this feature was from the south-west corner of the Palace to the River Gate. Early maps of the Palace indicate that this section may only have been part of a more extensive network of Mounts constructed by Henry VIII. These would have allowed access from the River Gate to different elements of the Palace and would have afforded a view of the formal gardens from an elevated position.