THE AMAZING STORY BEHIND THE HAMPTON COURT PALACE ‘WRAP’
These are the amazing drawings created by award-winning children’s author and illustrator Chris Wormell to make the spectacular Hampton Court Palace ‘wrap’ which now covers the famous Great Gatehouse while restoration work is carried out.
They depict the craftsman of the day in their working dress as well as the historic tools and the lack of Health and Safety!
The aim was to show how the Gatehouse might have appeared while it was under construction for Cardinal Wolsey in the 16th century during the reign of Henry VIII who lived at the Palace off and on between 1528 and 1546.
According to the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP ) “Production of the wrap was a complex endeavour and a close collaboration between Chris Wormell and the Palace’s Curatorial, Interpretation and Building Conservation teams.
A spokesperson added: “Nothing of this size had been done before so it was important to get the measurements and historical details as precise as possible.
“The end result has been wonderful to see, but with some unexpected new understanding: Normally the Great Gatehouse is hidden from view by the treeline along the river – but with the temporary wrap erected at its original height, we can see that the Great Gatehouse would have once been quite striking, viewable from as far as East Molesey.
“The current programme of conservation and care required a massive scaffold to be erected, and Historic Royal Palaces wanted to use this special opportunity give visitors a sense of the original scale of the Great Gatehouse. So the scaffold was specially designed to the height of the original towers, and a custom-made wrap created.”
Chris Wormwell, 70, from London, who has had no formal training as an artist and had spells working as a road sweeper, a rubbish collector, postman and a factory worker told Teddington Town: “This was a fantastic project to work on and I’m super happy with the way it has turned out.
“I created the original image digitally using scanned printed layers in Photoshop in the same way I would produce a lino cut.
“The file size was at a ratio of 1 to10, so, as the final wrap was to be about 30 metres tall, my file was roughly 3 metres square at 300dpi, so quite large!
“It took a few months to complete with lots of toing and froing of sketches between the experts at Hampton Court and myself.
“Once everyone was happy with the illustration I’d produced a digital file was sent to a company called Embrace, who make wraps for scaffolding and buildings.. They printed the image on to PVC and erected it.
“I’m not sure what will happen to the wrap once restoration work is complete, that will be up to Hampton Court.”
HISTORICAL NOTE:
- Constructed in the early sixteenth century for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey during the reign of Henry VIII.
- It has been the main entrance to the Palace for over 500 years and bears Henry’s coat of arms.
- The moat was filled in with building rubble by William and Mary in the 1690s and the bridge removed in order to create a sweeping drive for carriages. This was reversed around 1910 and moat bridge with its beasts re-created.
- The Great Gatehouse was originally five storeys tall but reduced down to three storeys in the 1770s due to structural issues caused by the heavy weight of the structure.
- By then, George III was king, and the Palace was no longer in use as a residence of the monarch. The result was a somewhat squatter appearance to what was originally intended.
- The current programme of building conservation work will involve replacing the failing lead roof, reconstructing the stone oriel window, undertaking brick, timber and glazing repairs, and conservation of the enormous Tudor West Gates.
- Building conservation work is scheduled to be completed by late Spring 2026.
Christopher Wormell – Wikipedia