Hampton Court Palace is an amazing piece of architecture and is a beautiful time capsule of the time of its creation. What really made the tour of the palace engaging was the audio tour that was provided. I often feel like audio tours have awkward pacing, having you stand in one spot for a long time that may be unrealistic when the museum is popular, or going something you were interested in very fast while getting bogged down on something that is less important to you. This audio tour ignored these pitfalls by having good, fluid pacing, and by providing separate tours for different sections of the palace and different areas of interest. They also provided extras within the tours that you could optionally click on to gain more detail, without bloating the length of the main tour.
The tour that I found most interesting was the one discussing how the palace has been used heavily in films and television. Hampton Court is apparently relatively accessible to film and tv sets compared to other palaces and courts, so is a popular site for filming. Many of these were period dramas about the time when the palace was in use, but the one that surprised me the most was its use in Pirates of the Caribbean. It also discussed the interesting way of how historical preservation interacts with the entertainment world. Because no changes could be made to the buildings, all sets had to be free standing, and there were strict weight requirements for set and camera equipment to avoid damage to the floor or the tunnels below.
Visiting Hampton Court Palace at this point in the trip was also very interesting because I got to see the setting of so much history we have learned about while we were here. Prior to this Study Abroad I knew next to nothing about British history, but through multiple museums and historic sights I was able to pick up a lot of information which makes every new site we visit that much more interesting because It is just building upon the history we have learned throughout. The aspect of British history that has stood out to me the most on our trip has been King Henry VIII and his many wives. While I knew some about him before, specifically his changes to the church, it has been really interesting to learn more about him and I have gotten much more invested in the story of that time period, specifically surrounding Anne Bollin
This interest in particular was brought on by the play 1536 along with information learned in museums and the tower of london. While not directly shown in the play, Anne Bollin’s imprisonment and eventual execution is used as a mirror of what the characters are experiencing and as a driving background narrative. It highlighted Anne Bollin’s story in a way that made it feel a lot more real than most museums are able, and connected it to a lot of modern problems and still existing systems of oppression.
After the palace I took a little bit of time to explore the surrounding town, which so far has been one of my favorite parts when we go anywhere outside of central London. I love getting to see what little shops are in the area and see how the city’s layout and contents differ to that of the much more populated central London. I have noticed in the areas outside of London where there are a little less people, the people I do encounter seem much more talkative and open to having a conversation, which I believe is because everyone is not in so much of a rush and having to deal with moving around a bunch of other people.
The town was very nice and quiet, a big leap from London’s busy streets, and the palace was absolutely gorgeous. It was definitely a sight worth seeing while over here.
Theatre in London U of A 