The Great Hall sits at the very heart of the Tudor palace, towering over the surrounding buildings. It was designed to impress and to proclaim Henry VIII’s power and magnificence.
Even today the size and grandeur of the Great Hall will take your breath away.
Highlights of the Great Hall
Anne Boleyn’s coat-of-arms and initials
By the time that Henry VIII’s carpenters began working on the huge timber roof of the Great Hall in 1533, the King had divorced his first wife Katherine of Aragon and was married to his second, Anne Boleyn.
To celebrate Henry and Anne's marriage, the carpenters added Anne's coat-of-arms to the roof and carved the entwined letters H and A on the wooden screen at the end of the Great Hall. These poignant reminders of Anne's time as Queen can still be seen today.
Also featured in the roof is Anne's falcon badge, and the initials AR for Anna Regina — see if you can spot them from the ground floor.
The hammerbeam roof
As you look up at the roof consider the great skill of the craftsmen who made it.
Henry VIII chose the nostalgic hammerbeam style to evoke the great halls of his medieval predecessors. Henry was attracted by tales of their chivalric deeds and modelled himself and his palace on them.
Look out for the 'Eavesdroppers' – the carved and painted heads that decorate the roof of the Great Hall.
