This week, Year 4 visited the famous Hampton Court Palace, once home to Henry VIII. We have been learning all about the Tudor reign as part of our History topic, so it was exciting to explore such an important historical landmark in person.
We started our day by walking to the tube station and changing at Waterloo for the train journey to Hampton Court. Once we arrived, we took in our surroundings while enjoying a well-deserved snack.
After this, we made our way to the Royal Kitchens for our workshop all about Tudor kitchens and food. We were greeted by our guide for the session, who taught us everything we needed to know about how kitchens operated in Tudor times. We began by searching for clues around the servery to discover what items would have been found in the kitchens and how they were used. We learnt about the extravagant feasts prepared for royal banquets and discovered that there would have been five roaring fires in the kitchens, each tended by workers responsible for cooking huge amounts of meat, including chicken, pork, lamb, and even peacock.
After hearing so much about food, we were definitely ready for lunch ourselves! We decided to sit outside in the gardens as it was such a lovely sunny day, and we also enjoyed running around and playing with our friends in the vast grounds.
After lunch, we explored Henry VIII’s apartments and visited the magnificent Great Hall, where Henry VIII would have eaten his meals, as well as the Council Chambers, where important discussions and decisions would have taken place. We even had the chance to see a replica of King Henry VIII’s crown in the palace’s beautiful chapel.
Finally, we made our way back to the station for our journey back to school. Some of us even enjoyed games of Top Trumps and Uno on the train home!
Year 4, what was your favourite part of visiting Hampton Court Palace?
