HAMPTON COURT PALACE SOUTH EAST FRONT.

Sometimes there are little frustrations with researching the postcards on the net. This card is an example. I have spent a lot of time looking for information about that statue that lies in the middle of the lawn. I have seen a few other photos of it on the net and I believe it has three figures on a pedestal. But I have not been able to identify it, its title or its sculptor. Frustrating!

That's the detail or the lack of it!

In the background is the south east corner of the Palace that William and Mary had built for themselves at Hampton Court. King William III (r 1689-1702) and Queen Mary II (r 1689-94) commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to rebuild the Palace of Henry VIII.

William liked the site. He enjoyed hunting and riding. But it needed 'improvements'. Work began in May 1689. But an 'on-site' accident that killed two workers led to delays and a squabble with those holding the purse strings. Between April 1689 and March 1694, £113,000 was spent on the new apartments.

Unfortunately the Queen died suddenly from smallpox in 1694 and work stopped yet again and did not re-begin until 1697. Budget restrictions and time delays saw a new building manager (William Talman) appointed to get the job done under budget.

The King's penchant for horse riding cut short his reign and his enjoyment of the palace and its grounds.

William III died as a result of an injury while riding in 'Bushey Park' - the parkland gardens on the north side of the Palace. His horse, Sorrel, tripped – it is said on a molehill – throwing his rider to the ground.

The Baroque Palace they created was not to everyone's taste but Pope had this to say of it:

“Close by those meads for ever crown’d with flowers
Where Thames with pride surveys his rising towers
There stands a structure of majestic frame,
Which from the neighb’ring Hampton takes its name.”—Pope.

Black and white post card photograph of Hampton Court Palace South East Front, no. 12037 by Gale and Polden Ltd., London, Aldershot and Portsmouth. The post card is undated and unused, but others in the same series 'The Wellington Series' appear to date from circa 1900