series of buildings around the Cloister Green
Court, and forming the south-eastern portion in which were the royal
rooms that formed the residential centre of the extensive palace.
Where this large part of the old edifice had been razed Wren erected,
in striking contrast to the Tudor portions left standing north and
west of it, the Renaissance building, which is probably remembered by
many visitors as the chief feature of Hampton Court. Contrasting
strongly with the earlier portions of the Palace the new fronts and
the beautiful Fountain Court yet do not clash with them, thanks to the
way in which the architect carried out his work.

While the new additions were being made to the Palace King William and
Queen Mary frequently stayed at Hampton Court, the Water Gallery--a
detached portion of the Tudor buildings standing on the riverside at
the end of what is now the Broad Walk--being furnished and decorated
to afford a temporary residence. Not only were the State Chambers
rebuilt in this reign, but the gardens were newly laid out and
planted--a work in which the Queen greatly interested herself. Despite
these vast changes yet more were contemplated, for Sir Christopher
Wren had planned a new approach and entrance on the north side. Her
Majesty did not live to occupy the State Apartments, and her death in
1694 delayed for several years the completion of the work. As for King
William, he, too, did not live long to enjoy his new palace, for
having come hither on 21 February, 1702, from Kensington Palace for a
day's hunting, his horse stumbled--presumably in Hampton Court
Park--throwing the King so that he broke his collar bone. William had
for some time been suffering in health, but when the broken bone was
set he insisted on returning to Kensington, and there he died on 8
March, just over a fortnight later.

Queen Anne was at Hampton Court many times during her reign of a dozen
years, but the story of that reign is not much associated with the
Palace, though that association is immortalized in a couplet of Pope's
_Rape of the Lock_, the scene of which comedy-narrative is set here.
Here the bold baron of the poem cut one of the tempting locks from the
fair Belinda's head, and a family feud followed which was only stopped
by Pope's delightful poem.

With the coming of the Hanoverians the importance of the Palace as a
Court centre dwindled. It is true that George the First and his son,
while Prince of Wales, were often at