Base Court at Hampton Court and Astronomical Clock:

Base Court at Hampton Court is completed for Cardinal Wolsey in 1520. It was mainly grass, the legacy of a mistaken Victorian restoration. Research has shown to be in the time of Henry VIII the courtyard had a cobbled surface, It will be replaced around 1700 by paving,now Historic Royal Palaces in wish to pave it in stone again, completing the project in time for the 500th anniversary of Henry coronation, in 2009.
Prior to paving, OA South have to be a team of 20
archaeologists on this site, who will be there for 3 months. The archaeology is complicated and more recently surprising. A number of buildings relating to the pre Wolsey medieval manorial complex have been revealed surviving under a sequence of the Palace courtyard surfaces. The team are using techniques developed by OA at other deeply stratified sites, on a project which would stretch any archaeological organisation.
The Anne Boleyn Gatehouse, Inwhich to be separates Base and Clock Courts, underwent an extensive programme of repairs and conservation which was completed in May this year. There OA South was involved in all of the works, whether recording the diaperwork on Wolsey brickwork, providing a watching brief for the removal and eventual reinstallation of the famous Astronomical Clock or exploring turrets which had been blocked for many years. Lead and stonework removal revealed many surprises including the Wren designed ball finial and graffiti carved by workmen in 1711.