Magnificent wine fountain in Base Court
Come and see King Henry VIII's wine fountain!
We have re-created a Tudor wine fountain on the spot where Henry VIII's octagonal fountain stood in Base Court.
We discovered the remains of a Tudor conduit or fountain during a major archaeological dig in 2008 and decided to re-create this piece of Tudor magnificence in Base Court. The design of our fountain is based on the wine fountain you can see in the Field of the Cloth of Gold painting which hangs in the Young Henry VIII's Story at Hampton Court Palace.
Our fountain flows with water every day but has actually been engineered, like Henry’s own wine fountains, to serve real wine on special occasions.
The wine fountain stands over 4m tall and has been made by traditional craftsmen using timber, lead, bronze and gold leaf.
As well as using the Field of the Cloth of Gold painting for inspiration, we have taken inspiration from the decoration of the palace around us. The fountain features 40 gilded lions' heads based on those in the terracotta roundels that decorate the walls of the palace, 8 brass taps based on a surviving Tudor tap found here and a motto "faicte bonne chere quy vouldra" or "let he who wyshes make good cheere" in gilded lead letters based on those in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace.
