The lease of Hampton was obtained by Cardinal Wolsey in 1514, early in the reign of Henry VIII. At the height of his power the Cardinal was able to build a magnificent palace. Only sections of Wolsey's original palace remain today as it was altered by Henry VIII after the Cardinal's fall from favour and later in the seventeenth century. Wolsey lived at the palace even after the estate was taken by Henry. It became a favourite residence of the King and it is here that Henry built a royal tennis court. It was here at Hampton Court that Edward IV was born in in 1537 and where his mother, Jane Seymour, died a few days after the birth. Henry VIII married Catherine Parr at Hampton Court in 1543. In around 1540 a clock was installed at the palace for Henry which shows not only the time of day but the phases of the moon and other astronomical information.
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