Conservation of a Tudor ceiling at Hampton Court Palace

The conservation team investigated the magnificent ceiling of the Wolsey Closet at Hampton Court Palace.

The exact date and origin of the ceiling are a mystery. For many years, it was thought to be made of a material called leather maché, but it was revealed that this is not the case. In order to conserve this glorious craftwork for another 500 years and choose the best conservation methods, conservators need to know about its history and its condition.

In this film, conservator Amy Anderson explains more about the work.

The ceiling of the Wolsey Closet is one of the finest examples of Tudor interior design at Hampton Court Palace. The richly decorated ceiling provides a glimpse of what Henry VIII’s private apartments, now mostly demolished, would have originally looked like.

View the details of the ceiling in high definition in this Gigapixel image below.

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Listen to the podcast

This is the third part of our mini-series on spaces we love. In this episode, we’ll be joining curator Charles Farris who has chosen to take us on a gentle stroll into a small but rather special Tudor space, hidden away in the depths of Hampton Court Palace. Charles will help us imagine how this space may have witnessed some of the biggest moments in Henry VIII’s reign.

Palace Tudor