ABSTRACT
The best-known buildings of Tudor England are among ‘the most magnificent,
romantic or ingenious houses in England’.2 Hampton Court or Longleat or
Hardwick have scarcely lost their power to impress today. But what can such
buildings tell us about royal and noble power? Do styles of building hint at
political values? What problems are raised by attempts to give studies in power
a visual dimension by a consideration of architecture?
