The famous brick chimneys of Hampton Court Palace were an integral part of the 1514 design for Thomas Wolsey’s palace, a demonstration of his exceptional wealth and are the earliest of their type in England.  After Henry VIII acquired Hampton Court in 1528, his new buildings added further chimneys to the palace’s impressive skyline. Today, Hampton Court still has 241 decorative brick chimneys, the largest collection in England.

 Issues to address:

• The chimneys are constructed in soft red brickwork and are vulnerable to weathering and erosion
• As far as we are aware, none of the original Tudor chimneys survive. Many are Victorian and are likely to follow the decorative tradition of the original work, if not being wholly faithful copies. We salvage as much original brickwork as possible from the dismantled elements

Our approach:

• Dismantling takes place course by course so that photographs and templates can be taken at each stage
• All sound bricks are carefully cleaned, salvaged and packed carefully
• New, fine-textured red bricks, hand made in the traditional manner, and used
• We also use a softer, lime-based mortar