Chapel Royal Conservation at Hampton Court Palace

Historic Royal Palaces has brought together an expert team of conservators, curators, surveyors, and engineers in order to carry out essential condition assessments, research and conservation work of Hampton Court Palace’s Chapel Royal this summer.

First built in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey on the site of a chapel used by the Knights Hospitaller of St. John of Jerusalem, the Chapel Royal has been subsequently enlarged and embellished for Henry VIII and then for William III & Mary II, and later for Queen Anne in 1710. 

It is Queen Anne’s 18^th-century, baroque redecoration – masterminded by Sir Christopher Wren – that the team will be able to get up close to for the first time in over 20 years by ascending a 10-metre-high bespoke scaffold. Visitors to Hampton Court Palace will have the remarkable opportunity to view the conservation efforts as they take place in real-time from the Royal Pew during the Palace’s regular opening hours.

The Baroque decorative scheme is a veritable who’s who of the period with wall paintings by Thomas Highmore and Sir James Thornhill, the appointed Royal Painters of the time, and wooden reredos (altarpiece) carvings designed by distinguished English architects Nicholas Hawksmoor and William Dickinson and brought to life by Britain’s most celebrated woodcarver, Grinling Gibbons.

It has simply not been possible to do this work until now due to the difficulties of closing the Chapel combined with the immense practical and financial challenges of erecting full-height scaffolding in a site of such historical significance with complex, sensitive interiors. The Chapel continues to serve as a place of worship to do this day as well as being regularly used as the home of the Choral Foundation.

Historic Royal Palaces is an independent charity that does not receive regular funding from the government or the Crown. Instead, its income is derived principally from admissions, along with retail, licensing, commercial events, and the vital support of our sponsors, donors, patrons, and members. This important conservation work has been enabled by the generous donations from the Syder Foundation and the Leche Trust, in addition to the charity’s own funds.

Treatment Conservation Manager at Historic Royal Palaces, Mika Takami, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have this rare, long-awaited opportunity for specialist conservators to get up close to these extraordinary decorative and architectural works by the finest artists and craftsmen of the day. This is a once in a generation chance to assess their condition, perform any necessary stabilisation and meticulously document details for future, in-depth studies of these heritage assets.”