'Eavesdroppers' - carved and painted heads - decorate the roof of the Great Hall.

 

 By the time that Henry VIII's carpenters began working on the huge timber roof of the Great Hall at Hampton Court Palace in 1533, the King had divorced his first wife Katharine of Aragon and had moved on to wife number two, Anne Boleyn.

 To celebrate Henry and Anne's marriage, the carpenters added Anne's coat-of-arms to the roof.

Carved entwined letters of H & A were added to the wooden screen at the end of the Great Hall.

Also featured in the roof is Anne's falcon badge, and the initials AR for Anna Regina.

 Henry VIII chose the nostalgic hammerbeam style to evoke the great halls of his medieval predecessors.

Henry was attracted by tales of their chivalric deeds, and modelled himself and his palace on them.

'Eavesdroppers' - carved and painted heads - decorate the roof of the Great Hall.

The Tudor Intruders (and more)

.
 Source - Historic Royal Palaces.
.
 Picture credit - ArtefactPorn.