Hello listeners and welcome back to the new series of a space I love on the Historic Royal

Palaces podcast where we immerse you in history where it happened.

This week we're taking you back in time in multiple ways with a re-released episode that

uncovers a part of Hampton Court Palace that few people get to see.

I'm stood here on tennis court lane, so this is the back entrance to Hampton Court.

It's a very grey and drizzly August day. Sadly, I'm definitely dressed for the summer,

but have been presented with the autumn. Today we're going to go on a little explore and find

part of the palace that in theory our visitors could discover themselves, but often we'll

miss because it's tucked away and hidden by the centuries

of different building events that have happened here at Hampton Court Palace. But once upon a time

it would have been one of the most important elements of the exterior of Hampton Court.

My name is Dan Jackson. I'm the head of historic buildings here at Historic Rall Palaces.

I look after a team of building curators and archaeologists and we make sure that anything that happens at

Historical Palaces is done so with the setting and significance of the buildings being taken into account.

So whether that's

a new shelf in a bathroom or a new roof on a great hall, my team will do lots of

research into the building that's being affected and then work with our surveyors and

our conservation team to make sure that all of that work happens in the most

appropriate way. So now let's walk down tennis court Court lane heading towards the tennis court, but we're going

to take a right and make our way into one of the back doors of the palace to find our

destination.

So we've now come into the palace and we're open to the public today so you might hear people having a terribly nice time in the background.

...