151-553: Sunbury-on-Thames , known locally as Sunbury, is a town on the north bank of the River Thames in the Borough of Spelthorne , Surrey , England, 13 mi (21 km) southwest of central London . Historically part of the county of Middlesex , in 1965 Sunbury and other surrounding towns were initially intended to form part of the newly created county of Greater London , but were instead transferred to Surrey . Sunbury adjoins Feltham to
302-481: A charitable foundation . The location was used for a performance of The Six Wives of Henry VIII by rock keyboardist Rick Wakeman in 2009. The palace was the venue for the Road Cycling Time Trial of the 2012 Summer Olympics and temporary structures for the event, including a set of thrones for time trialists in the medal positions, were installed in the grounds. In 2015, Hampton Court celebrated
453-595: A café within the gallery building, which architecturally resembles a boat, has increased the leisure time spent in the predominantly Georgian and early Victorian conservation area , the majority of which runs along Thames Street, a small section of which King's Lawn is a terraced public riverside. Fishing is permitted here for those with two Environment Agency licences. The Walled Garden hosts annual concerts, flower displays, events related to its facing Millennium Embroidery Café and occasionally plays in summer. Three public pools attract swimmers: Nuffield Health; You Fit (next to
604-865: A city (town in UK standards) in Northumberland County . River Thames The River Thames ( / t ɛ m z / TEMZ ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis , is a river that flows through southern England including London . At 215 miles (346 km), it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom , after the River Severn . The river rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire and flows into
755-449: A few years. In 1529, knowing that his enemies and the King were engineering his downfall, he passed the palace to the King as a gift. Wolsey died in 1530. Within six months of coming into ownership, the King began his own rebuilding and expansion. Henry VIII's court consisted of over one thousand people, while the King owned over sixty houses and palaces. Few of these were large enough to hold
906-450: A flood which only the two wings survived. One of these was later demolished, the remaining large west wing becoming a nursing home in two parts: Sunbury House which has not yet been listed and West Lodge almost entirely late 18th century and a building listed in the initial category at Grade II. The town has six primary schools: Founded in the 1950s as Manor Lane Primary School. In 1967 the school changed its name to Chennestone to reflect
1057-535: A geometric system of paths. On a raised site overlooking the Thames is a small pavilion, the Banqueting House. This was built c. 1700 , for informal meals and entertainments in the gardens rather than for the larger state dinners which would have taken place inside the palace itself. A nearby conservatory houses the "Great Vine", planted in 1769; by 1968 it had a trunk 81 inches (2,100 mm) thick and has
1208-475: A grace and favour apartment. She was in the habit of taking a lighted candle to her bedroom at night, which is thought to have started the fire. The Hampton Court fire led to a new programme of restoration work which was completed in 1990. The Royal School of Needlework moved to premises within the palace from Princes Gate in Kensington 1987, and the palace also houses the headquarters of Historic Royal Palaces ,
1359-543: A length of 100 feet (30 m). It still produces an annual crop of grapes. The palace included apartments for the use of favoured royal friends. One such apartment is described as being in "The Pavilion and situated on the Home Park" of Hampton Court Palace. This privilege was first extended about 1817 by Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn , to his friend, Lieutenant General James Moore, and his new bride, Cecilia Watson. George IV continued this arrangement following
1510-453: A mainly rural and quite gentrified village as still visible in many conserved buildings and structures, see Landmarks . Of particular note are the wealth and community tie of its parish church as well as many ornate and unusual houses and mansions (or mansion remains). The oldest and most extravagant homes are those from the Georgian era : throughout and for three decades after the 18th century,
1661-555: A major tourist attraction, reached by train from Waterloo station in central London and served by Hampton Court railway station in East Molesey . Buses 111 , 216, 411 and R68 stop outside the gates. The structure and grounds are cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown. The palace displays many works of art from
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#17328561076691812-503: A network of creeks. Lying below sea level, it is prone to flooding at exceptional tides, but has nevertheless been inhabited since Roman times. The usually quoted source of the Thames is at Thames Head (at grid reference ST980994 ). This is about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of the village of Kemble in southern Gloucestershire , near the town of Cirencester , in the Cotswolds . However, Seven Springs near Cheltenham , where
1963-459: A new "Tudor Garden" was created in Chapel Court, Hampton Court, designed by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan. To decorate the garden eight small wooden King's Beasts were carved and painted in bright colours, each sitting atop a 6-foot-high painted wooden column. The heraldic beasts, carved by Ben Harms and Ray Gonzalez of G&H Studios, include the golden lion of England, the white greyhound of Richmond,
2114-449: A rise and fall of 23 ft (7 m). From Oxford to the estuary, the Thames drops by 55 metres (180 ft). Running through some of the drier parts of mainland Britain and heavily abstracted for drinking water, the Thames' discharge is low considering its length and breadth: the Severn has a discharge almost twice as large on average despite having a smaller drainage basin . In Scotland ,
2265-519: A small group of Italian craftsmen working at the English court in the second and third decades of the sixteenth century. They specialised in the adding of Renaissance ornament to otherwise straightforward Tudor buildings. It was one of these, Giovanni da Maiano , who was responsible for the set of eight relief busts of Roman emperors which were set in the Tudor brickwork. Wolsey was only to enjoy his palace for
2416-458: A smaller amount being held at Kensington Palace , where it is displayed. The collection of over 10,000 items includes clothing, sketches, letters, prints, photographs, diaries and scrapbooks. The dress collection has designated status from Arts Council England . The timber and plaster ceiling of the chapel is considered the "most important and magnificent in Britain", but is all that remains of
2567-457: A south chapel and western extensions to aisles added in extensive remodelling designed by architect Samuel Sanders Teulon in 1857. A solitary central monument in the church itself is to Lady Jane Coke (died 1761), stained glass and a vestry much extended in the early 20th century. It is a listed building in the mid-category, Grade II*. Sunbury Court in Lower Sunbury (b.1723) is the home of
2718-616: A summer venue for organised swimming, which is prohibited on safety grounds in a stretch centred on Central London . After the river took its present-day course, many of the banks of the Thames Estuary and the Thames Valley in London were partly covered in marshland , as was the adjoining Lower Lea Valley . Streams and rivers like the River Lea , Tyburn Brook and Bollo Brook drained into
2869-566: A tree-lined linear park, a modest, sloped riverside park and an adjoining café-served park. The town has been the home to London Irish since 1932 whose premiership team since 2001 has played at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire . Many hundreds of players train at Sunbury during the rugby season. Its eastern border is Kempton Park Racecourse which has on the far side of the town the main area of historic woodland and wildlife preservation,
3020-843: Is Andrea Mantegna 's Triumphs of Caesar housed in the Lower Orangery. The palace once housed the Raphael Cartoons , now kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum . Their former home, the Cartoon Gallery on the south side of the Fountain Court, was designed by Christopher Wren; copies painted in the 1690s by a minor artist, Henry Cooke , are now displayed in their place. Also on display are important collections of ceramics, including numerous pieces of blue and white porcelain collected by Queen Mary II, both Chinese imports and Delftware . Much of
3171-530: Is Sunbury Common , patches of which remain, commanded by its four tower blocks and two hotels, overall with a mixed-use urban composition; it also houses major employers including offices of Siemens, European Asbestos Solutions, Chubb and BP. The M3, with its inaugural junction at Sunbury Cross, sections off Lower Sunbury. Sunbury Common has a long, curved shopping parade that includes Marks & Spencer , Halfords , Farmfoods supermarket, Costa and Boots as well as beauty and nail salons. Also in this area, set off
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#17328561076693322-508: Is 1930s–1960s semi-detached or detached houses with gardens on verge or tree-lined roads. The railway here benefits from seating at peak times but gives lower speed of access to the City of London relative to the South West Main Line developments of Elmbridge . Wide roads and parking provide strengths of the borough. The largest plots of garden measure only around an acre not covering any of
3473-516: Is a Grade I listed royal palace in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames , 12 miles (19 kilometres) southwest and upstream of central London on the River Thames . Opened to the public, the palace is managed by Historic Royal Palaces , a charity set up to preserve several unoccupied royal properties. The building of the palace began in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey , the chief minister of Henry VIII . In 1529, as Wolsey fell from favour,
3624-466: Is a landmark on the Boat Race course, while Glover's Island forms the centre of a view from Richmond Hill . Islands of historical interest include Magna Carta Island at Runnymede , Fry's Island at Reading, and Pharaoh's Island near Shepperton. In more recent times Platts Eyot at Hampton was the place where Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB)s were built, Tagg's Island near Molesey was associated with
3775-467: Is almost uninhabited, and is within the modern parish bounds of Walton and has the Middle Thames Yachting and Motorboat Club. Sunbury Court Island, as with most of Sunbury's riverside, privately owned, is another residential island, connected by a narrow arched footbridge well above river level. An abortive proposal for this western part of the manor was designed by Sir Christopher Wren to be
3926-402: Is an important water source, especially in the drier months, so maintaining its quality and quantity is extremely important. Groundwater is vulnerable to surface pollution, especially in highly urbanised areas. Brooks, canals and rivers, within an area of 3,842 sq mi (9,951 km ), combine to form 38 main tributaries feeding the Thames between its source and Teddington Lock . This
4077-628: Is believed that Tamesubugus' name was derived from that of the river. Tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography ( c. AD 700 ). The river's name has always been pronounced with a simple t /t/ ; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and the Brittonic form Tamesis . A similar spelling from 1210, "Tamisiam" (the accusative case of "Tamisia"; see Kingston upon Thames § Early history ),
4228-495: Is considered dated but widely practised in some areas. In 1974 the urban district was abolished and it has since formed part of the borough of Spelthorne . Sunbury is a post town that is in part north and south of the M3 , varying from 14 to 9m AOD with a term for each part. Lower Sunbury, 51°24′40″N 0°24′32″W / 51.411°N 0.409°W / 51.411; -0.409 , locally known as 'Sunbury village', bordering
4379-517: Is elsewhere. The soil is a gravel at bottom with a black loam at top near the Thames; further back it is a sort of spewy gravel; and, the buildings consist generally of tax-eaters showy, tea-garden-like boxes, and of shabby dwellings of labouring people, who in this part of the country look to be about half Saint Giles's: dirty, and have every appearance of drinking gin." A few years after Cobbett's death Thomas Babington wrote in 1843, "An acre in Middlesex
4530-591: Is formed for much of its length for shipping and supplies: through the Port of London for international trade, internally along its length and by its connection to the British canal system. The river's position has put it at the centre of many events in British history, leading to it being described by John Burns as "liquid history". Two broad canals link the river to other rivers: the Kennet and Avon Canal ( Reading to Bath ) and
4681-678: Is found in Magna Carta . The Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis . Historically, and especially in Victorian times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its source down to Dorchester on Thames and that only from this point, where the river meets the Thame and becomes the "Thame-isis" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so called. Ordnance Survey maps still label
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4832-554: Is found in Sonning in Berkshire . Sunbury's Domesday assets were: seven hides . It had five ploughs , meadow for six ploughs , and cattle pasture. It had about 22 households, including one priest and included the manor of Kempton, Kynaston, Chennes[-ton]/[-tone], Kenton or Kenyngton, listed separately. The manor rendered £6 per year to its feudal system overlords. That of Kempton rendered £4. Lower Sunbury presented for two centuries
4983-587: Is likely that Wolsey had been inspired by Paolo Cortese 's De Cardinalatu , a manual for cardinals that included advice on palatial architecture, published in 1510. The architectural historian Sir John Summerson asserts that the palace shows "the essence of Wolsey – the plain English churchman who nevertheless made his sovereign the arbiter of Europe and who built and furnished Hampton Court to show foreign embassies that Henry VIII's chief minister knew how to live as graciously as any cardinal in Rome." Whatever
5134-452: Is responsible for managing the flow of water to help prevent and mitigate flooding, and providing for navigation: the volume and speed of water downstream is managed by adjusting the sluices at each of the weirs and, at peak high water, levels are generally dissipated over preferred flood plains adjacent to the river. Occasionally, flooding of inhabited areas is unavoidable and the agency issues flood warnings. Due to stiff penalties applicable on
5285-848: Is shared by many other river names in Britain, such as the River Tamar at the border of Devon and Cornwall , several rivers named Tame in the Midlands and North Yorkshire , the Tavy on Dartmoor , the Team of the North East, the Teifi and Teme of Wales , the Teviot in the Scottish Borders and a Thames tributary, the Thame . Kenneth H. Jackson proposed that the name of
5436-404: Is the usual tidal limit ; however, high spring tides can raise the head water level in the reach above Teddington and can occasionally reverse the river flow for a short time. In these circumstances, tidal effects can be observed upstream to the next lock beside Molesey weir , which is visible from the towpath and bridge beside Hampton Court Palace . Before Teddington Lock was built in 1810–12,
5587-454: Is worth a principality in Utopia " which contrasts neatly with its agricultural caricature. The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households in the settlement who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to
5738-769: The Berwyn Mountains in North Wales . About 450,000 years ago, in the most extreme Ice Age of the Pleistocene , the Anglian , the furthest southern extent of the ice sheet reached Hornchurch in east London, the Vale of St Albans, and the Finchley Gap . It dammed the river in Hertfordshire , resulting in the formation of large ice lakes, which eventually burst their banks and caused
5889-525: The British Geological Survey from the banks of the tidal River Thames contain geochemical information and fossils which provide a 10,000-year record of sea-level change. Combined, this and other studies suggest that the Thames sea-level has risen more than 30 m during the Holocene at a rate of around 5–6 mm per year from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. The rise of sea level dramatically reduced when
6040-562: The Churn (which feeds into the Thames near Cricklade ) rises, is also sometimes quoted as the Thames' source, as this location is farthest from the mouth and adds some 14 mi (23 km) to the river's length. At Seven Springs above the source is a stone with the Latin hexameter inscription "Hic tuus o Tamesine pater septemgeminus fons", which means "Here, O Father Thames, [is] your sevenfold source". The springs at Seven Springs flow throughout
6191-498: The Duke of Cumberland . Today, the Queen's Private Apartments are open to the public. Since the reign of King George II, no monarch has resided at Hampton Court. In fact, George III , from the moment of his accession, never set foot in the palace: he associated the state apartments with a humiliating scene when his grandfather had once struck him following an innocent remark. He did however have
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6342-615: The Grand Order of Water Rats . The pub-restaurant it has become was named after the horse that one of the entertainers owned, whilst the Grand Order was named because Magpie – a trotting pony owned by Richard Thornton, music hall owner – had been described as a drowned water rat. The Three Fishes in Green Street is one of the oldest pubs in Surrey, an officially protected building of
6493-664: The Grand Union Canal (London to the Midlands). The Grand Union effectively bypassed the earlier, narrow and winding Oxford Canal which remains open as a popular scenic recreational route. Three further cross-basin canals are disused but are in various stages of reconstruction: the Thames and Severn Canal (via Stroud ), which operated until 1927 (to the west coast of England), the Wey and Arun Canal to Littlehampton , which operated until 1871 (to
6644-615: The King James Version of the Bible . King James was succeeded in 1625 by his son, the ill-fated Charles I . Hampton Court was to become both his palace and his prison. It was also the setting for his honeymoon with his fifteen-year-old bride, Henrietta Maria in 1625. Following King Charles' execution in 1649, the palace became the property of the Commonwealth presided over by Oliver Cromwell . Unlike some other former royal properties,
6795-599: The North Sea near Tilbury , Essex and Gravesend , Kent, via the Thames Estuary . From the west, it flows through Oxford (where it is sometimes called the Isis), Reading , Henley-on-Thames and Windsor . The Thames also drains the whole of Greater London . The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway , derived from its long tidal reach up to Teddington Lock . Its tidal section includes most of its London stretch and has
6946-480: The River Lea can be considered another boundary. Most of the local riverside was also marshland. The land was drained and became farmland; it was built on after the Industrial Revolution . Canvey Island in southern Essex (area 18.45 km , 7.12 sq mi; population 40,000 ) was once marshy, but is now a fully reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, separated from the mainland of south Essex by
7097-640: The Royal Academy , London , in 1785. They are now on show at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley). Richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called * (p)lowonida . This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium , from the Indo-European roots * pleu- "flow" and * -nedi "river" meaning something like
7248-464: The Royal Collection . Apart from the palace itself and its gardens, other points of interest for visitors include the celebrated maze , the historic royal tennis court (see below), and a huge grape vine , the world's largest as of 2005 . The palace's Home Park is the site of the annual Hampton Court Palace Festival and Hampton Court Garden Festival . What would become Hampton Court Palace
7399-429: The Tay achieves more than double the Thames' average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs . Its catchment area covers a large part of south-eastern and a small part of western England; the river is fed by at least 50 named tributaries . The river contains over 80 islands . With its waters varying from freshwater to almost seawater,
7550-441: The Thames Barrier , which protects central London from flooding by storm surges . Below the barrier, the river passes Woolwich , Thamesmead , Dagenham , Erith , Purfleet , Dartford , West Thurrock , Northfleet , Tilbury and Gravesend before entering the Thames Estuary near Southend-on-Sea . The sea level in the Thames estuary is rising and the rate of rise is increasing. Sediment cores up to 10 m deep collected by
7701-420: The Thanetian stage of the late Palaeocene epoch. Until around 500,000 years ago, the Thames flowed on its existing course through what is now Oxfordshire , before turning to the north-east through Hertfordshire and East Anglia and reaching the North Sea near present-day Ipswich . At this time the river-system headwaters lay in the English West Midlands and may, at times, have received drainage from
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#17328561076697852-410: The Tudor dragon, the Seymour panther , and the Seymour unicorn . The set of Queen's Beasts at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II replaced the three Seymour items and one of the dragons by the gryphon of Edward III , the horse of Hanover , the falcon of the Plantagenets , and the unicorn of Scotland. In 2009 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the accession to the throne of King Henry VIII,
8003-455: The state apartments – reserved for the king and his family. Henry VIII stayed in the state apartments as Wolsey's guest immediately after their completion in 1525. In building his palace, Wolsey was attempting to create a Renaissance cardinal's palace of a rectilinear symmetrical plan with grand apartments on a raised piano nobile , all rendered with classical detailing. The historian Jonathan Foyle has suggested that it
8154-407: The 10th century BCE in Green Lane, Sunbury Common. There is an important scheduled monument by Rooksmead Road, a prehistoric bowl barrow, known as Cloven Barrow, on low-lying ground that was part of the flood plain of the Thames, now around 1 km to the south. It has a circular mound approximately 14 m in diameter and 2.5 m high, surrounded by a ditch from which material used to build it
8305-425: The 1960s the number of new residents declined, with the last admitted in the 1980s. However existing residents could continue to live there. In 2005 three remained, with none by 2017. In 1796, the Great Hall was restored and in 1838, during the reign of Queen Victoria , the restoration was completed and the palace opened to the public. The heavy-handed restoration plan at this time reduced the Great Gatehouse ( A ),
8456-406: The 500th anniversary of the groundbreaking of construction of the palace. The celebrations included daily dramatised historical scenes. The palace's construction began on 12 February 1515. On 9 February the following year, Vincent Nichols , the Catholic archbishop of Westminster , celebrated vespers in the Chapel Royal. This was the first Catholic service held at the palace for 450 years, and
8607-455: The A308 (Staines Road West). BP 's Engineering and Research Centre in the north replaced Meadhurst House and gardens occupied by the Cadbury family and has evolved into BP's international centre for business and technology across a number of landscaped units. A number of other major companies have premises. Marking the western border of the Upper Halliford / Charlton parts of Sunbury ecclesiastical and historic parish , however no longer by
8758-537: The American Vanderbilt family modelled their estate known as Florham , in Madison, New Jersey , US, after it. Florham was commissioned by Florence Adele Vanderbilt Twombly and Hamilton McKown Twombly from McKim, Mead & White . It was built in 1893. The palace has been used as a location for filming film and television shows, including The Private Life of Henry VIII , Three Men In A Boat , A Man For All Seasons , Vanity Fair , Little Dorrit , John Adams (2008), The Young Victoria , Pirates of
8909-410: The Base Court, ( B on plan ), was his creation, as was the second, inner gatehouse ( C ) which leads to the Clock Court ( D ) (Wolsey's seal remains visible over the entrance arch of the clock tower ) which contained his private rooms ( O on plan ). The Base Court contained forty-four lodgings reserved for guests, while the second court (today, Clock Court) contained the very best rooms –
9060-469: The Great Vine planted here in 1763 and had the top two storeys of the Great Gatehouse removed in 1773. From the 1760s, the palace was used to house grace and favour residents. Many of the palace rooms were adapted to be rent-free apartments, with vacant ones allocated by the Lord Chamberlain to applicants to reward past services rendered to the Crown. From 1862 to his death in 1867, the scientist and pioneer of electricity Michael Faraday lived here. From
9211-407: The Hampton School Trust), Newland House School in Twickenham , Twickenham Preparatory School in Hampton, and Staines Preparatory School in Staines-upon-Thames . An alternative, progressive form of independent education for boys and girls aged 3 to 18, is provided by St Michael Steiner School in Hanworth Park. The riverside St Mary's Anglican Church and the Ferry House nearby are mentioned in
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#17328561076699362-427: The Kempton Park Reservoirs SSSI . The operational Kempton Reservoirs and roads passing into Hampton form the rest of the town's eastern border, a buffer further south. Sunbury here has five or six high rise tower blocks : 3 residential including the newly converted chubb building; and two hotels. Similarly it has industrial/business parks clustered generally in the acute angles between the M3 /A316 (Country Way) and
9513-459: The Kempton Park Reservoirs SSSI which blends into the park's own ponds, woods, Portman Brook and additional channels in the Green Belt . The neighbourhood has a tapestry known as the Millennium Embroidery which was conceived and designed in the 1990s and completed in 2000. Since July 2006 its permanent home is the purpose-built Sunbury Millennium Embroidery Gallery, in a well-tended, free-to-visit Walled Garden adjoining Sunbury Park. The opening of
9664-449: The King and Queen's apartments are linked by the Hall of Mirrors . However, at Hampton Court, the linking gallery is of more modest proportions and decoration. The King's staircase was decorated with frescos by Antonio Verrio and delicate ironwork by Jean Tijou . Other artists commissioned to decorate the rooms included Grinling Gibbons , Sir James Thornhill and Jacques Rousseau ; furnishings were designed by Daniel Marot . After
9815-427: The King and one for the Queen. Each suite of state rooms was accessed by a state staircase. The royal suites were of completely equal value in order to reflect William and Mary's unique status as joint sovereigns. The King's Apartments face south over the Privy Garden, the Queen's east over the Fountain Garden. The suites are linked by a gallery running the length of the east façade, another reference to Versailles, where
9966-427: The King's Beasts, that stand on the bridge over the moat leading to the great gatehouse. Unlike the Queen's Beasts in Kew Gardens , these statues represent the ancestry of King Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour . The animals are: the lion of England , the Seymour lion, the royal dragon , the black bull of Clarence , the yale of Beaufort , the white lion of Mortimer , the White Greyhound of Richmond ,
10117-454: The Martians. Sunbury is mentioned in the opening chapter of Rural Rides by farmers' champion William Cobbett : "All Middlesex is ugly, notwithstanding the millions upon millions which it is continually sucking up from the rest of the kingdom; and though the Thames and its meadows now-and-then are seen from the road, the country is not less ugly from Richmond to Chertsey-bridge, through Twickenham, Hampton, Sunbury and Sheperton [sic], than it
10268-411: The North Sea, and the Thames Barrier was built in the 1980s to protect London from this risk. The Nore is the sandbank that marks the mouth of the Thames Estuary , where the outflow from the Thames meets the North Sea . It is roughly halfway between Havengore Creek in Essex and Warden Point on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Until 1964 it marked the seaward limit of the Port of London Authority. As
10419-432: The Order of St John of Jerusalem re-leased Hampton Court to Thomas Wolsey . Thomas Wolsey , Archbishop of York , chief minister to and a favourite of Henry VIII, took over the site of Hampton Court Palace in 1514. Over the following seven years, Wolsey spent lavishly (200,000 crowns ) to build the finest palace in England at Hampton Court. Today, little of Wolsey's building work remains unchanged. The first courtyard,
10570-489: The River Thames on the Tideway include the rivers Crane , Brent , Wandle , Ravensbourne (the final part of which is called Deptford Creek ), Lea (the final part of which is called Bow Creek ), Roding (Barking Creek), Darent and Ingrebourne . In London, the water is slightly brackish with sea salt, being a mix of sea and fresh water. This part of the river is managed by the Port of London Authority . The flood threat here comes from high tides and strong winds from
10721-507: The Shepperton border); and Everyone Active's Sunbury Leisure Centre. In July of each year, Lower Sunbury is the start of the colourful traditional ceremony of Swan Upping , where two livery companies carry out marking of the swans on all upper reaches of the River Thames . In August, the traditional Sunbury Amateur Regatta takes place on the stretch of the river around Rivermead Island . Lower Sunbury has similar property plot sizes to Shepperton and house prices as Hampton . Most property
10872-525: The Swan Sanctuary, a rugby training centre and Upper Halliford 's park. Lower Sunbury has one of the larger NHS medical general practitioner (GP) centres in the Borough. Football, playgrounds and tennis grounds are in both halves of the town with London Irish rugby club being the main organised team in the village. Sunbury Park has dog-walking, cycle paths, parking and is in a cluster with five others including
11023-473: The Thames Estuary), the river is subject to tidal activity from the North Sea . Before the lock was installed, the river was tidal as far as Staines, about 16 mi (26 km) upstream. London, capital of Roman Britain , was established on two hills, now known as Cornhill and Ludgate Hill . These provided a firm base for a trading centre at the lowest possible point on the Thames. A river crossing
11174-542: The Thames and M3, is just over half of the town forming an almost entirely green-buffered residential suburb which includes eight schools: including three of the six secondary schools in the Borough (or of eight including those which are independent). Opposed to London, partially in Shepperton are parts of the Metropolitan Green Belt including four farms, a golf course, riverside horseriding centre at Beasley's Ait,
11325-517: The Thames as "River Thames or Isis" down to Dorchester. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside of Oxford, and some historians suggest the name Isis is nothing more than a truncation of Tamesis , the Latin name for the Thames. Sculptures titled Tamesis and Isis by Anne Seymour Damer are located on the bridge at Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire (the original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at
11476-488: The Thames is not Indo-European (and of unknown meaning), while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the Britons and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root *tā- , 'melt'. Early variants of the name include: Indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name "Thames" is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit (Tamesubugus made [this]). It
11627-873: The Thames supports a variety of wildlife and has a number of adjoining Sites of Special Scientific Interest , with the largest being in the North Kent Marshes and covering 20.4 sq mi (5,289 ha). According to Mallory and Adams, the Thames, from Middle English Temese , is derived from the Brittonic name for the river, Tamesas (from * tamēssa ), recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys "Thames". The name element Tam may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other cognates such as Russian темно ( Proto-Slavic * tĭmĭnŭ ), Lithuanian tamsi "dark", Latvian tumsa "darkness", Sanskrit tamas and Welsh tywyll "darkness" and Middle Irish teimen "dark grey". The origin
11778-435: The Tudor decoration, after redecoration supervised by Sir Christopher Wren. The altar is framed by a massive but plain oak reredos with garlands carved by Grinling Gibbons during the reign of Queen Anne . Opposite the altar, at first-floor level, is the royal pew where the royal family would attend services apart from the general congregation seated below. The clergy, musicians and other ecclesiastical officers employed by
11929-402: The Tudor palace. His work ceased in 1694, leaving the palace in two distinct contrasting architectural styles, domestic Tudor and Baroque . While the palace's styles are an accident of fate, a unity exists due to the use of pink bricks and a symmetrical, if vague, balancing of successive low wings. George II was the last monarch to reside in the palace. The palace is open to the public and
12080-643: The Twelve Goddesses . On 6 January, Scottish courtiers performed a sword dance for Anne of Denmark . Their dance was compared to a Spanish matachin . Later in 1604, the palace was the site of King James' meeting with representatives of the English Puritans , known as the Hampton Court Conference ; while an agreement with the Puritans was not reached, the meeting led to James's commissioning of
12231-500: The anniversary of that King's accession to the throne. Sited on the former Chapel Court Garden, it has been planted with flowers and herbs from the 16th century and is completed by gilded heraldic beasts and bold green and white painted fences. The garden's architect was Todd Longstaffe-Gowan. The formal gardens and park are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens . There are ten statues of heraldic animals, called
12382-460: The arrival of Huguenot refugees gave the name to French Street. The place-name 'Sunbury' is first attested in one of the many Anglo-Saxon charters , one of c. 960 to 962, where it appears as Sunnanbyrg . Another charter of 962 lists it as Sunnanbyrig . Sunbury appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sunneberie . The name means 'Sunna's burgh or fortification'. The same first name
12533-490: The assembled court, and thus one of the first of the King's building works (in order to transform Hampton Court to a principal residence) was to build the vast kitchens. These were quadrupled in size in 1529, enabling the King to provide bouche of court (free food and drink) for his entire court. The architecture of King Henry's new palace followed the design precedent set by Wolsey: perpendicular Gothic-inspired Tudor with restrained Renaissance ornament. This hybrid architecture
12684-406: The assistance of the exiled French Royal family (living at Orleans House ) founded a military academy. This was a period when military commissions were still bought and sold, and training of officers in the army itself was quite rudimentary, so these establishments existed to teach students the necessary skills before taking up their posts. On New Year's Eve 1915 the house was largely destroyed by
12835-565: The book Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens . Sunbury's islands and the ardour of rowing up Sunbury backwater (weir stream) to access the public riverside are mentioned in Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome . Sunbury is the setting for the 1890 novel Kit and Kitty by R. D. Blackmore . Sunbury is passed through briefly in H. G. Wells 's The War of the Worlds , where it is described to have been partially covered in heavy, inky vapour by
12986-463: The cardinal gave the palace to the king to check his disgrace. The palace went on to become one of Henry's most favoured residences; soon after acquiring the property, he arranged for it to be enlarged so it could accommodate his sizeable retinue of courtiers . In the early 1690s, William III 's massive rebuilding and expansion work, which was intended to rival the Palace of Versailles , destroyed much of
13137-695: The case of the Colne ), and man-made distributaries such as the Longford River . Three canals intersect this stretch: the Oxford Canal , Kennet and Avon Canal and Wey Navigation . Its longest artificial secondary channel (cut), the Jubilee River , was built between Maidenhead and Windsor for flood relief and completed in 2002. The non-tidal section of the river is managed by the Environment Agency , which
13288-469: The clock shows the time of day, the phases of the moon, the month, the quarter of the year, the date, the sun and star sign, and high water at London Bridge . This last item was of great importance to those visiting this Thames-side palace from London, as the preferred method of transport at the time was by barge, and at low water London Bridge created dangerous rapids. This gatehouse is also known today as Anne Boleyn 's gate, after Henry's second wife. Work
13439-517: The concepts were, the architecture is an excellent and rare example of a thirty-year era when English architecture was in a harmonious transition from domestic Tudor, strongly influenced by perpendicular Gothic , to the Italian Renaissance classical style. Perpendicular Gothic owed nothing historically to the Renaissance style, yet harmonised well with it. This blending of styles was realised by
13590-423: The confluence, the overall length of the Thames measured from Seven Springs, at 229 mi (369 km), is greater than the Severn's length of 220 mi (350 km). Thus, the "Churn/Thames" river may be regarded as the longest natural river in the United Kingdom. The stream from Seven Springs is joined at Coberley by a longer tributary which could further increase the length of the Thames, with its source in
13741-476: The country. The King's Guard Chamber contains a large quantity of arms: muskets, pistols, swords, daggers, powder horns and pieces of armour arranged on the walls in decorative patterns. Bills exist for payment to a John Harris, dated 1699, for an arrangement believed to be that still seen today. In addition, Hampton Court holds the majority of the Royal Ceremonial Dress Collection , with
13892-404: The death of Prince Edward on 23 January 1820. Queen Victoria continued the arrangement for the widow of General Moore, following his death on 24 April 1838. This particular apartment was used for 21 years or more and spanned three different sponsors. A well-known curiosity of the palace's grounds is Hampton Court Maze ; planted in the 1690s by George London and Henry Wise for William III. It
14043-546: The death of Queen Mary, King William lost interest in the renovations, and work ceased. However, it was in Hampton Court Park in 1702 that he fell from his horse, later dying from his injuries at Kensington Palace . He was succeeded by his sister-in-law Queen Anne who continued the decoration and completion of the state apartments. On Queen Anne's death in 1714 the House of Stuart 's rule came to an end. Queen Anne's successor
14194-487: The dominating feature of the grounds is the great landscaping scheme constructed for Sir Christopher Wren's intended new palace. From a water-bounded semicircular parterre , the length of the east front, three avenues radiate in a crow's foot pattern. The central avenue, containing not a walk or a drive, but the great canal known as the Long Water, was excavated during the reign of Charles II, in 1662. The design, radical at
14345-456: The façade turns the corner from the east to the south fronts. However, Hampton Court, unlike Versailles, is given an extra dimension by the contrast between the pink brick and the pale Portland stone quoins, frames and banding. Further diversion is added by the circular and decorated windows of the second-floor mezzanine. This theme is repeated in the inner Fountain Court, but the rhythm is faster and
14496-758: The first since the Elizabethan Religious Settlement established Protestantism as the national denomination. The palace houses many works of art and furnishings from the Royal Collection , mainly dating from the two principal periods of the palace's construction, the early Tudor (Renaissance) and the late Stuart to the early Georgian period. In September 2015, the Royal Collection recorded 542 works (only those with images) as being located at Hampton Court, mostly paintings and furniture, but also ceramics and sculpture. The full current list can be obtained from their website. The single most important work
14647-468: The flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river. The river gives its name to three informal areas: the Thames Valley , a region of England around the river between Oxford and West London; the Thames Gateway ; and the greatly overlapping Thames Estuary around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the waterway itself. Thames Valley Police is a formal body that takes its name from
14798-527: The grassy plain, western outlying farms or boundary-lining trees in the far east and west. Lower Sunbury has numerous pubs, independent restaurants. A dog-free meadow permitting informal cricket and football is near the main parade of shops at which annual carols are held and at the regatta time in August a celebratory street market takes place. 51°25′16″N 0°25′19″W / 51.421°N 0.422°W / 51.421; -0.422 The northern section
14949-449: The grounds are separately Grade I listed, including the early 16th-century tilt yard tower (the only surviving example of the five original towers); Christopher Wren 's Lion gate built for Anne and George I; and the Tudor and 17th-century perimeter walls. In 1986, the palace was damaged by a major fire, which spread to the King's Apartments. The fire claimed the life of Lady Daphne Gale, widow of General Sir Richard Gale , who resided in
15100-648: The grounds of the National Star College at Ullenwood . The Thames flows through or alongside Ashton Keynes , Cricklade , Lechlade , Oxford , Abingdon-on-Thames , Wallingford , Goring-on-Thames and Streatley (at the Goring Gap ), Pangbourne and Whitchurch-on-Thames , Reading , Wargrave , Henley-on-Thames , Marlow , Maidenhead , Windsor and Eton , Staines-upon-Thames and Egham , Chertsey , Shepperton , Weybridge , Sunbury-on-Thames , Walton-on-Thames , Molesey and Thames Ditton . The river
15251-545: The help of over 140 volunteers and artists. Queen Elizabeth II visited the Embroidery in 2001 and the gallery built for it in 2006. This residential island of Sunbury is one of the longest on the River Thames and is divided into two sections by a storm weir. It is connected by a wide footbridge. The main weir, maintained and owned by the Environment Agency , connects the downstream end of the island to Sunbury Lock Ait , which
15402-490: The high council of The Salvation Army since 1925. Sunbury has the main home, Hawke House, of Admiral Hawke who blockaded Rochefort in 1757 and in 1758 he directed the blockade of Brest for six months. Its three parts are Georgian buildings with small gardens to front and rear. The vast bulk of the land behind and across the road belonging to the house was re-planned in stages in the mid 20th century as private detached homes with gardens. Its own modernist gallery contains
15553-503: The ice melt nearly concluded over the past 4,000 years. Since the beginning of the 20th century, rates of sea level rise range from 1.22 mm per year to 2.14 mm per year. The Thames River Basin District, including the Medway catchment, covers an area of 6,229 sq mi (16,130 km ). The entire river basin is a mixture of urban and rural, with rural landscape predominating in
15704-517: The impresario Fred Karno and Eel Pie Island at Twickenham was the birthplace of the South East's R&B music scene. Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster (commonly known today as the Houses of Parliament ) were built on Thorney Island , which used to be an eyot . Researchers have identified the River Thames as a discrete drainage line flowing as early as 58 million years ago, in
15855-528: The late 16th century. In the twentieth century, kennels near Sunbury Cross in the town were used for keeping greyhounds for racing at the former stadia at Wandsworth , Charlton and Park Royal . Sunbury-on-Thames is historically in Middlesex . Under the Local Government Act 1888 county councils were established the following year, with Sunbury governed by the new Middlesex County Council . This
16006-525: The local army barracks but not built. Sunbury House was a large building with gardens and allotments covering the rectangle of land between Thames Street, Green Street, Forge Lane and Halliford Road. It was leased in 1855 by the Bishop family, who had owned it since its 1789 commencement of construction for Charles Bishop, HM Procurator General, to Captain Auguste Frederic Lendy, a French officer, who, with
16157-410: The main road is a Tesco Extra . North and east of the area is part of the green belt: a small farm and larger natural brookland habitat with most of this area being in the adjoining London Borough of Hounslow and before the early 19th century part of distant Hanworth Park, historically part of Hounslow Heath . Its wild flower meadows, brooks and human-made troughs with wetland plants and insects form
16308-472: The monarch at Hampton Court, as in other English royal premises, are known collectively as the Chapel Royal ; properly used the term does not refer to a building. The grounds as they appear today were laid out in grand style in the late 17th century. There are no authentic remains of Henry VIII's gardens, merely a small knot garden , planted in 1924, which hints at the gardens' 16th-century appearance. Today,
16459-959: The name of one of four manors in the parish, as spelt in the Domesday Book , when its pronunciation as with "Chent" in that book ( Kent ) would have been close to Kenyngton, its other form soon after recorded and its eventual form, Kempton. Selective secondary independent schools (of approximately equal distance of less than three miles from the centre) are Hampton School (for boys) and Lady Eleanor Holles School (for girls) in Hampton , Sir William Perkins's School (for girls) in Chertsey , Halliford School (for boys) in Shepperton and St James Senior Boys School in Ashford . Local preparatory schools include Hampton Preparatory School, formerly Denmead School in Hampton (part of
16610-426: The non-tidal river, which is a drinking water source before treatment, sanitary sewer overflow from the many sewage treatment plants covering the upper Thames basin should be rare in the non-tidal Thames. However, storm sewage overflows are still common in almost all the main tributaries of the Thames despite claims by Thames Water to the contrary. Below Teddington Lock (about 55 mi or 89 km upstream of
16761-448: The north, Hampton to the east, Ashford to the northwest and Shepperton to the southwest. Walton-on-Thames is to the south, on the opposite bank of the Thames. The town has two main focal points: Lower Sunbury (known locally as Sunbury Village), adjoining the river. Sunbury Common (known locally as Sunbury Cross) is to the north and surrounds the railway station and the London end of the M3 motorway . Lower Sunbury contains most of
16912-464: The original furniture dates from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, including tables by Jean Pelletier , "India back" walnut chairs by Thomas Roberts and clocks and a barometer by Thomas Tompion . Several state beds are still in their original positions, as is the Throne Canopy in the King's Privy Chamber. This room contains a crystal chandelier of c. 1700 , possibly the first such in
17063-483: The palace escaped relatively unscathed. While the government auctioned much of the contents, the building was ignored. After the Restoration , King Charles II and his successor James II visited Hampton Court but largely preferred to reside elsewhere. By current French court standards, Hampton Court now appeared old-fashioned. It was in 1689, shortly after Louis XIV 's court had moved permanently to Versailles , that
17214-487: The palace's antiquated state was addressed. England had joint monarchs, William III and Mary II . Within months of their accession, they embarked on a massive rebuilding project at Hampton Court. The intention was to demolish the Tudor palace a section at a time while replacing it with a huge modern palace in the Baroque style retaining only Henry VIII's Great Hall. The country's most eminent architect, Sir Christopher Wren ,
17365-517: The palace's principal entrance, by two storeys and removed the lead cupolas adorning its four towers. Once opened, the palace soon became a major tourist attraction and, by 1881, over ten million visits had been recorded. Visitors arrived both by boat from London and via Hampton Court railway station , opened in February 1849. On 2 September 1952, the palace was given statutory protection by being Grade I listed . Other buildings and structures within
17516-486: The palace: here, the King would dine in state seated at a table upon a raised dais . The hall took five years to complete; so impatient was the King for completion that the masons were compelled to work throughout the night by candlelight. The gatehouse to the second, inner court was adorned in 1540 with the Hampton Court astronomical clock , an early example of a pre- Copernican astronomical clock . Still functioning,
17667-617: The red dragon of Wales, and the white hart of Richard II , all carved from English oak. The historically correct colours were researched by Patrick Baty, paint/colour consultant at Hampton Court. The beasts are of a different design to those on the bridge, based on period drawings in the College of Arms . The palace is served by Hampton Court railway station which is immediately to the south of Hampton Court Bridge in East Molesey , and by London bus routes 111, 216, 411 and R68 from Kingston and Richmond. Inspired by Wren's work at Hampton Court,
17818-458: The regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free). Although Sunbury is officially outside London, it is predominantly served by three Transport for London bus routes: In addition, two other local bus routes serve Sunbury: Sunbury is served by these emergency services: Sunbury , the suburb of Melbourne , Victoria, Australia . Sunbury, Pennsylvania ,
17969-415: The resemblance to Versailles was too subtle and not strong enough; at this time, it was impossible for any sovereign to visualise a palace that did not emulate Versailles' repetitive Baroque form. However, the resemblances are there: while the façades are not so long as those of Versailles, they have similar, seemingly unstoppable repetitive rhythms beneath a long flat skyline. The monotony is even repeated as
18120-581: The river passes Pimlico and Vauxhall , and then forms one of the principal axes of the city, from the Palace of Westminster to the Tower of London . At this point, it historically formed the southern boundary of the medieval city, with Southwark , on the opposite bank, then being part of Surrey . Beyond central London, the river passes Bermondsey , Wapping , Shadwell , Limehouse , Rotherhithe , Millwall , Deptford , Greenwich , Cubitt Town , Blackwall , New Charlton and Silvertown , before flowing through
18271-470: The river to divert onto its present course through the area of present-day London. The ice lobe which stopped at present-day Finchley deposited about 14 metres of boulder clay there. Its torrent of meltwater gushed through the Finchley Gap and south towards the new course of the Thames, and proceeded to carve out the Brent Valley in the process. Hampton Court Palace Hampton Court Palace
18422-439: The river was tidal at peak spring tides as far as Staines upon Thames . In descending order, non-related tributaries of the non-tidal Thames, with river status, are the Churn , Leach , Cole , Ray , Coln , Windrush , Evenlode , Cherwell , Ock , Thame , Pang , Kennet , Loddon , Colne , Wey and Mole . In addition, there are occasional backwaters and artificial cuts that form islands, distributaries (most numerous in
18573-588: The river, covering three counties . In non-administrative use, the river's name is used in those of Thames Valley University , Thames Water , Thames Television , publishing company Thames & Hudson , Thameslink (north–south rail service passing through central London ) and South Thames College . An example of its use in the names of historic entities is the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company . Marks of human activity, in some cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain , are visible at various points along
18724-451: The river, while some islands, e.g. Thorney Island , formed over the ages. The northern tip of the ancient parish of Lambeth , for example, was marshland known as Lambeth Marshe , but it was drained in the 18th century; the street names Lower Marsh and Upper Marsh preserve a memory. Until the middle of the Victorian era, malaria was commonplace beside the River Thames, even in London, and
18875-515: The river. These include a variety of structures connected with use of the river, such as navigations, bridges and watermills , as well as prehistoric burial mounds . The lower Thames in the Roman era was a shallow waterway winding through marshes. But centuries of human intervention have transformed it into a deep tidal canal flowing between 200 miles of solid walls; these defend a floodplain where 1.5 million people work and live. A major maritime route
19026-646: The sandbank was a major hazard for shipping coming in and out of London, in 1732 it received the world's first lightship . This became a major landmark, and was used as an assembly point for shipping. Today it is marked by Sea Reach No. 1 Buoy. The River Thames contains over 80 islands ranging from the large estuarial marshlands of the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island to small tree-covered islets like Rose Isle in Oxfordshire and Headpile Eyot in Berkshire. They are found all
19177-528: The south coast), and the Wilts & Berks Canal . Rowing and sailing clubs are common along the Thames, which is navigable to such vessels. Kayaking and canoeing also take place. Major annual events include the Henley Royal Regatta and the Boat Race , while the Thames has been used during two Summer Olympic Games : 1908 ( rowing ) and 1948 ( rowing and canoeing ). Safe headwaters and reaches are
19328-538: The time when the body of Sunbury's oldest church dates to – many of those on large plots of land have been demolished and subdivided. Rev. Gilbert White described Sunbury, in The Natural History of Selborne , letter xii , 4 November 1767 as "one of those pleasant villages lying on the Thames, near Hampton Court ". In 1889 a group of music hall stars met in the Magpie Hotel in Lower Sunbury to form
19479-466: The time, is another immediately recognizable influence from Versailles and was indeed laid out by pupils of André Le Nôtre , Louis XIV's landscape gardener. On the south side of the palace is the Privy Garden bounded by semi-circular wrought iron gates by Jean Tijou . This garden, originally William III's private garden, was replanted in 1992 in period style with manicured hollies and yews along
19630-488: The town's parks, pubs and listed buildings , whereas Sunbury Common is more urban and includes offices and hotels. Lower Sunbury holds an annual fair and regatta each August. Sunbury railway station is on the Shepperton branch line . Trains to and from London Waterloo are operated by South Western Railway . The earliest evidence of human settlement in Sunbury has been the discovery of Bronze Age funerary urns dating from
19781-488: The town, is the Queen Mary Reservoir which was constructed 1914–25 and is home to a sailing club regularly used by schools and youth organisations to teach water sports. St Mary's Church was built originally in the medieval period , to which its foundations date. It was entirely rebuilt in 1752, designed by Stephen Wright (Clerk of Works to Hampton Court Palace ); it has a tall apsidal (dome-like) chancel with
19932-541: The wall-dominating commissioned artwork, a substantial tapestry, that commemorates Sunbury's ascension to the third millennium. It was designed by John Stamp and David Brown to be a large patchwork of Sunbury landmarks, including St. Mary's Church, the Admiral Hawke/Hawke House and the river. The finished piece is actually composed of several embroideries, the largest of which measures 9 by 3 feet (3 m × 1 m). It took four years to complete and enlisted
20083-748: The way from Fiddler's Island in Oxfordshire to the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Some of the largest inland islands, for example Formosa Island near Cookham and Andersey Island at Abingdon, were created naturally when the course of the river divided into separate streams. In the Oxford area the river splits into several streams across the floodplain ( Seacourt Stream , Castle Mill Stream , Bulstake Stream and others), creating several islands ( Fiddler's Island , Osney and others). Desborough Island , Ham Island at Old Windsor and Penton Hook Island were artificially created by lock cuts and navigation channels. Chiswick Eyot
20234-412: The western part. The area is among the driest in the United Kingdom. Water resources consist of groundwater from aquifers and water taken from the Thames and its tributaries, much of it stored in large bank-side reservoirs . The Thames itself provides two-thirds of London's drinking water, while groundwater supplies about 40 per cent of public water supplies in the overall catchment area. Groundwater
20385-448: The windows, unpedimented on the outer façades, are given pointed pediments in the courtyard; this has led the courtyard to be described as "Startling, as of simultaneous exposure to a great many eyes with raised eyebrows." During this work, half the Tudor palace was replaced and Henry VIII's staterooms and private apartments were both lost; the new wings around the Fountain Court contained new state apartments and private rooms, one set for
20536-566: The year, while those at Thames Head are seasonal (a winterbourne ). With a length of 215 mi (346 km), the Thames is the longest river entirely in England. (The longest river in the United Kingdom, the Severn , flows partly in Wales .) However, as the River Churn, sourced at Seven Springs, is 14 mi (23 km) longer than the section of the Thames from its traditional source at Thames Head to
20687-479: Was George I ; he and his son George II were the last monarchs to reside at Hampton Court. Under George I six rooms were completed in 1717 to the design of John Vanbrugh . Under George II and his wife, Caroline of Ansbach , further refurbishment took place, with the architect William Kent employed to design new furnishings and décor including the Queen's Staircase, (1733) and the Cumberland Suite (1737) for
20838-574: Was Elizabeth who had the eastern (privy) kitchen built; today, this is the palace's public tea room. On the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, the Tudor period came to an end. The Queen was succeeded by her first cousin-twice-removed, James I of the House of Stuart . Two entertainments for the Stuart court were staged in the Great Hall in January 1604, The Masque of Indian and China Knights and The Vision of
20989-479: Was built at the site of London Bridge . London Bridge is now used as the basis for published tide tables giving the times of high tide . High tide reaches Putney about 30 minutes later than London Bridge, and Teddington about an hour later. The tidal stretch of the river is known as "the Tideway ". Tide tables are published by the Port of London Authority and are available online. Times of high and low tides are also posted on Twitter. The principal tributaries of
21140-418: Was called upon to draw the plans, while the master of works was to be William Talman . The plan was for a vast palace constructed around two courtyards at right angles to each other. Wren's design for a domed palace bore resemblances to the work of Jules Hardouin-Mansart and Louis Le Vau , both architects employed by Louis XIV at Versailles. It has been suggested, though, that the plans were abandoned because
21291-406: Was considerably larger and could accommodate the entire court and more besides. Mary stayed at the palace awaiting the birth of the "child" for over five months, and only left because of the uninhabitable state of the palace due to the court being kept in the one location for so long. Her court departed for the much smaller Oatlands Palace . Mary was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth I , and it
21442-452: Was excavated. The ditch has become infilled over the years and survives as a buried feature up to 2 m wide. The monument has been partly disturbed by modern gardening activities, and by the construction of a greenhouse on its western side. Cloven Barrow (Old English Clofenan Beorh , or the 'barrow with a cleft') was mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon document, known as the "Sunbury Charter", which has been dated to around AD 962. Many years later
21593-458: Was frequently lethal. Some cases continued to occur into the early 20th century. Draining of the marshes helped with its eradication, but the causes are complex and unclear. The East End of London , also known simply as the East End , was the area of London east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames, although it is not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries;
21744-447: Was further refined by the creation of Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District in 1894. In 1965, all but three districts of Middlesex were absorbed into Greater London ; Sunbury was one of these exceptions. The area of Sunbury's Urban District has since been in the county of Surrey as to its upper tier of local government. Royal Mail ignored the change in 1965 and the former postal county is Middlesex. Mention of any county in postal addresses
21895-495: Was informed of the adultery of his fifth wife, Catherine Howard . She was then confined to her room for a few days before being sent to Syon House and then on to the Tower of London . Legend claims she briefly escaped her guards and ran through the Haunted Gallery to beg Henry for her life but she was recaptured. King Henry died in January 1547 and was succeeded by his son Edward VI, and then by both his daughters in turn. It
22046-586: Was originally a property of the Order of St John of Jerusalem . It was leased first to John Wode in the mid-15th century, and then to the statesman Sir Giles Daubeney in 1494. Daubeney expanded the previous structures, and built the Great Kitchens that still survive today (although much altered). After Daubeney's death in 1508, his 14 year-old heir, Henry Daubeney , had to wait until 1514 to inherit his father's possessions. A month later, he relinquished his lease, and
22197-440: Was originally planted with hornbeam ; it has been repaired latterly using many different types of hedge. There is a 3D simulation of the maze, see the external links section. Inspired by narrow views of a Tudor garden that can be seen through doorways in a painting, The Family of Henry VIII , hanging in the palace's Haunted Gallery, a new garden in the style of Henry VIII's 16th-century Privy Gardens, has been designed to celebrate
22348-407: Was still under way on Anne Boleyn's apartments above the gate when Boleyn was beheaded. During the Tudor period, the palace was the scene of many historic events. In 1537, the King's much desired male heir, the future Edward VI , was born at the palace, and the child's mother, Jane Seymour , died there two weeks later. Four years afterwards, whilst attending Mass in the palace's chapel, the King
22499-610: Was subject to minor redefining and widening of the main channel around Oxford, Abingdon and Marlow before 1850, when further cuts to ease navigation reduced distances further. Molesey faces Hampton , and in Greater London the Thames passes Hampton Court Palace , Surbiton , Kingston upon Thames , Teddington , Twickenham , Richmond (with a famous view of the Thames from Richmond Hill), Syon House , Kew , Brentford , Chiswick , Barnes , Hammersmith , Fulham , Putney , Wandsworth , Battersea and Chelsea . In central London ,
22650-443: Was to Hampton Court that Queen Mary I (Henry's elder daughter) retreated with King Philip to spend her honeymoon, after their wedding at Winchester . Mary chose Hampton Court as the place for the birth of her first child, which turned out to be the first of two phantom pregnancies . Mary had initially wanted to give birth at Windsor Castle as it was a more secure location, and she was still fearful of rebellion. But Hampton Court
22801-480: Was to remain almost unchanged for nearly a century, until Inigo Jones introduced strong classical influences from Italy to the London palaces of the first Stuart kings. Between 1532 and 1535 Henry added the Great Hall (the last medieval great hall built for the English monarchy) and the Royal Tennis Court . The Great Hall has a carved hammerbeam roof . During Tudor times, this was the most important room of
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