Page:Hutton, William Holden - Hampton Court (1897).djvu/55

Rh window at the south-east was evidently intended to light the daïs. It was here, tradition says, that Surrey the poet wrote with a diamond some lines on the fair Geraldine.

From the hall we pass into the Withdrawing-room, more properly named the Great Guard or Watching-chamber. By this, access to the great hall was obtained from the royal apartments, which in Henry's day extended to the east of the Clock-court. Here the guards waited, and through this passed the applicants for an audience. It forms really an ante-chamber to many different parts of the Palace—to the Queen's lodgings, the "haunted gallery" and chapel, to the Horn-room, which leads to stairs down to the kitchen, as well as to the King's rooms. The room is over sixty feet long and nearly thirty wide, and its height is twenty-nine and a half feet. It is thus in striking contrast to the great hall. Its low flat ceiling, with oak pendants with the arms of Henry VIII. and Jane Seymour, is full of character and richness. The old tapestry still hangs on the walls, and the room is chiefly lighted by the great bay window, which extends to the whole height.

From the Watching-chamber the Horn-room is entered. Through this the dishes were brought up to the high table on the dais of the hall. The three rooms together give the happiest example left in England of a great dwelling-place of Henry VIII.'s day.