Summer visitors to the Park watch the Shakespeare play Midsummer Night's Dream, a comedy telling how the Queen of the Fairies fell in love with a donkey.  Humphrey the Lord of the Hampton deer and Head of the Herd finds the play absolutely ridiculous.  He stamps his hoof during the performance and bellows loudly, "The queen of the fairies would never fall in love with an old donkey, not when the park is so full of such handsome deer with such magnificent crowns of horns."

They do say that Shakespeare came to Hampton Court on Midsummer's Eve to see the magical statues come to life, but because the event is a very private affair, he did not see the magic, and so instead wrote Midsummer Night's Dream.

Hector's midsummer madness Jo Rutherford 2010

Hampton Manor purchased by the Order of St John's Hospitallers 1236

The 1338 Survey of Hampton
 Prepared for the Order of St John's Hospitallers
1338

Living Medicine: Digestive Discomforts - Sunday 12th May
Living Medicine: Sleep, Anxiety & Fatigue - Sunday 14th July
Living Medicine: Skin & First Aid - Sunday 8th September
Living Medicine: Coughs, Colds & Allergies - Sunday 10th November

Hector goes wild at Hampton Court

Hector is a happy house rabbit until Foxy chases him through the hedge and into the wild where he is saved by the wild rabbits of Hampton Court.

Hector goes wild Jo Rutherford 2010

Across the Park moonlight danced and glinted on a golden statue above a silvery pond.
“That is the Fountain of Diana,” whispered Tom, “the Goddess and Protector of the Moon and the Creatures of the Wild.  All the statues in Hampton Court are magical.   And they do say that when an animal is in danger Diana’s statue comes to life, and darts like a streak of lightning through the trees, to raise the alarm.”

Hector's midsummer madness

The magical myths of Hampton Court Warren

The King's Beasts at Hampton Court

The mythical magical King's beasts who come to life on Midsummer's eve to cast a spell of protection on Hampton Court Palace

A little of the history influencing the warren at Hampton Court

Hampton Court Palace has developed since the 11th Century from a medieval manor with farm into a magical Tudor palace.  From 1236 the farm was occupied by the Hospitallers of St John, and became a Priory, caring for travellers and growing food and medicinal supplies for St John headquarters in Clerkenwell, London.
http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/detail.php?aid=80&ctid=3&cid=49

You can visit the St John Museum in Clerkenwell, to learn about the history of hospitals and the St John Ambulance Brigade
http://museumstjohn.org.uk/


In 1250 Henry III gave the prior the right to hunt (known as free warren which was for more than rabbits). In 1338 the Priory had 840 acres of land , a war and various buildings.  Cardinal Wolsey took the property and demolished most of it, to create Hampton Court Palace.  The only remaining relic of the order in the palace, still rings for service in the chapel, and has the following inscription on it:-
STELLA , MARIA, MARIS, SUCCVRRE, PIISIMA, NOBIS,
(Mary most gracious, Star of the Sea, come to our assistance)

The date of the bell is fixed by the letters 'T. H.' stamped on it, which are the initials of a famous bellfounder, Thomas Harrys, who lived about 1479.

In 1528, Henry VIII took the palace and spent more than £62,000 on extensions.
In the Middle Ages, the park reared rabbits for food in artificial warrens. You can still see signs of the warrens. The best examples are at Warren Plantation and north of the junction between Lime Avenue and Chestnut Avenue.

Resources for children - Shakespeare at Hampton Court

https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/explore/great-hall/#gs.1qesa6

https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/schools/key-stage-2/in-shakespeares-shoes/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b078jltg/cbeebies-presents-a-midsummer-nights-dream

https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/explore/the-magic-garden/#gs.1qkzpp

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol2/pp327-371

Pietro Antonio Rotari - Diana, goddess of the hunt

Hector the house rabbit becomes a proud Coney the Pine Cone Club of Hampton Court Warren

Hector goes wild Jo Rutherford 2010