Royal court place. One of the criteria of Norbert Elias' concept of a court society is that it existed in space.. The German word "Hof", meaning an enclosed courtyard, can also apply to a rural farmstead with outbuildings and walls forming the perimeter. It has also been used for the palatial seat where the court was held. Thus "Hof" or "court" can become transferred to the building itself. For example, the grand residence Hampton Court Palace on the River Thames above London was where Thomas Wolsey held court as Catholic cardinal (built after the Italian ideal for a cardinal's palace) until his
Hampton Wick Lower Teddington Road) while waiting for Hampton Court Palace to be built. The parish of Hampton was split in the century after this time to form Hampton Wick. Sir Richard Steele also lived in Hampton Wick, in a house he whimsically called "The Hovel". He dedicated the fourth volume of "Tatler" to Charles, Lord Halifax "from the Hovel at Hampton Wick, April 7, 1711", around the time he became Surveyor of the Royal Stables at Hampton Court Palace, Governor of the King's Comedians, a Justice of the Peace and a knight. The architect Edward Lapidge both designed and donated the