Hampton Court

This walk starts at the Thamesside village of Hampton. You can reach Hampton by train from London (Waterloo) or by the District Line to Wimbledon and change to a train to Hampton. The station is in Zone 6 - so you can buy a Zones 1 - 6 off-peak Travelcard.

Leaving the station from the South-West train, exit towards the shops and turn left along the High Street. As we walk down the High Street, I tell you about Godaddy.com (for 10% discount use code blu74) and the powernap software Pzizz.com (affiliate number 16992). Click on the links to the right for details and to benefit London Walks.

Continue down to the River Thames and the church of St Mary, which is said to be haunted by Mistress Penn who was a nurse to Edward VI the only son of Henry VIII. Nearby there are two houses which belonged to the actor David Garrick and his eponymous nephew. Opposite Garrick's Villa is a temple which is connected to the house by a tunnel under the road, and housed a statue of William Shakespeare.

Shortly we leave the busy traffic and enter Bushey Deer Park where one should avoid approaching the deer that roam free, especially in May - July and September - October. We walk through the lovely water garden that is little known and generally very quiet, and leave the garden by a gate leading towards the Diana Fountain. This whole area was designed by Sir Christopher Wren who was employed to remodel the Tudor palace of Hampton Court.

After leaving the park we enter the formal grounds of the palace through the Lion Gate. We then walk through the gardens and around the outside of the house, admiring the wonderful facades and marveling at the fact that here we have two entirely separate ages of architecture - Tudor and Baroque. It all happened by accident, but it works well nonetheless. After walking through the gardens, there is a chance to enter the palace.

The walk ends nearby just across the bridge over the Thames at the station of Hampton Court. This is also in Zone 6 and trains run to Wimbledon and into London every 30 minutes. Lunch can be taken in Hampton Court before boarding the train, and I give a recommendation for Cottage Pie in one of the town public houses.