MIDDLESEX, ENGLAND—The removal of squeaky floorboards from a room used by the Royal School of Needlework at Hampton Court palace revealed the foundations of the royal apartments built for Anne Boleyn when she became queen in 1533. This is the first time that the Tudor brickwork has been recorded by researchers, who could see evidence of its hasty construction and later repairs. Problems with the foundation in 1536 required the construction of a new inner wall, and renovations for another new queen. Jane Seymour’s son then lived in the rooms after her death in October 1537. The Tudor apartments were eventually demolished and the foundations covered up by Christopher Wren in the late seventeenth century. The new floor was laid on supports to keep it off the historic bricks. “It’s taken far longer, and cost a lot more, than originally expected, but it’s been worth it,” Dan Jackson, curator of historic buildings for Hampton Court, told The Guardian. To read about a suprising royal discovery beneath the floorboards of another English palace, see "Treason, Plot, and Witchcraft."
