Hello, I'm Lucy Worsley, chief curator at Historic Royal Palluses.

You're listening to our podcast that explores the history and stories of our six palaces.

These talks are a collection of some of our best live events.

I really hope you enjoy listening.

The history of the English Garden reveals more than expected about the past and its people.

This series explores the theme of gardens as places of work, rest and leisure.

In this talk, historian Alison Simm reveals how the Tudors used gardens as places for play,

pleasure and power. When Henry VIII took over Cardinal Woolsey's already very impressive

palace, he not only made the building larger, he extended the gardens and all the leisure facilities,

so he was a man who took his pleasures very seriously.

One of the most impressive parts of the garden was right down by the river, and this was a big

heraldic garden.

It looked totally different from anything that's there today.

There's a little tiny reconstruction of it, if you happen to have visited the palace,

just beside the doorway to the chapel these days in one of the courtyards.

But it's all made up of wooden poles painted in the Tudor colours of green

and white. And there are poles with heraldic beasts on it. And this was the part of the garden

where it was our patriotic duty, as good English men and women, to admire it. Now, if you happen to be a

foreign visitor, it's your duty to not only admire it, but to write home to your relatives and admire it

in letter form. And that's because this particular garden wasn't just about relaxation, walking around in the fresh air.

It was reminding you that Henry had the perfect right to be king of England, although quite a few people thought he hadn't in actual fact.

But that's another story.

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