Visitors to Hampton Court Palace’s Chapel Royal are being given the opportunity to see rare and long-awaited conservation work underway.

First built more than 500 years ago, in 1514 for Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the Chapel Royal was then enlarged and embellished for Henry VIII, and later modified for Queen Anne in 1710.

Now, for the first time in over 20 years, an expert team is getting up close to Queen Anne's baroque redecoration inside the Chapel.

Ascending a 10-meter-high bespoke scaffold, conservators, curators, surveyors, and engineers are inspecting wall paintings by Thomas Highmore and Sir James Thornhill, both appointed Royal Painters of the time. As well as wooden altarpiece carvings designed by architects Nicholas Hawksmoor and William Dickinson, brought to life by woodcarver Grinling Gibbons.

“This is a space that's seen some of the most important moments in British history,” said Dan Jackson, Head of Historic Buildings for Historic Royal Palaces.

"There's a huge layer of cleaning work to do, but it's really incredible to see some of the fineness of the carvings, some of the real incredible innovation that is being used by the designers and the craftspeople at the time to create this beautiful woodwork," he added.

Visitors to the palace on the outskirts of London can watch the conservation work underway from the Royal Pew, while the Chapel itself continues to serve as a place of worship. -Report from Reuters