buildings
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Last night I watched (on PBS America) a BBC2 Timewatch episode entitled The Mysteries of the Medieval Ship. It concerned the discovery, in June 2002, of a foundered/scuttled medieval vessel of some size, buried in the oozing mud of the Severn Sea – well, the oozing mud of the River Usk, at Newport, to be…
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A fascinating article from the Royal Berkshire History site on the preserved hand of St James, which was discovered in 1796 walled up in the ruins of Reading Abbey and now resides in the Catholic Church in Marlow. Recently,this medieval artefact has undergone scientific analysis with interesting results. Reading Abbey was a highly important place…
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13 of the biggest mysteries of the British monarchy….
Albert Victor Duke of Clarence, Amy Robsart, Edward Duke of Kent, Edward IV, Edward V, Elizabeth I, Ernest Augustus Duke of Cumberland, George V, illegitimacy, Jack the Ripper, John Brown, Joseph Sellis, Lord Dawson, Prince Albert, Prince Alfred, Princess Alice, Princess Louise, Reader’s Digest, Richard III, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal mysteries, Three Estates, Tower of London, Victoria, Whitechapel murdersOh, dear. The fate of Edward V (if he ever was a king) tops the Reader’s Digest list of 13 of the ‘Biggest Mysteries Surrounding the British Royal Family’. Hm. As the following quoted paragraph is a sample of the article’s accuracy, I won’t be bothering to read the other twelve. “….In April 1483, King…
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Below is a rather amusing recently discovered account of a young nun in York called Joan of Leeds, who escaped her convent in the early 15th c by pretending to be dead and leaving a fake body in her place. Many monks and nuns, especially those who had entered a monastic house at a very…
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As always, while poking around the web for information about one thing, a site of great interest pops up unannounced. On this occasion, the site is this one, which can be delved into at leisure. It is amazing that so many ancient alleys are still there to be walked, and that their history can be…
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Sometimes, a glance up at the TV screen captures the attention unexpectedly. This happened when Most Haunted was on, and the episode concerned Hellens Manor, Much Marcle in Herefordshire. Hellens is an ancient manor house set in the heart of one of our most picturesque counties. So I took a look at its website which…
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Doggeing “Tudor” footsteps?
“Lambert Simnel”, “Lovell our Dogge”, Battle of Bosworth, books, Colchester, doggerel, executions, Francis Viscount Lovell, Henry VII, James III, John Earl of Lincoln, Michele Schindler, Minster Lovell, Richard III, safe conduct, Sauchieburn, Scotland, Sir Humphrey Stafford, Sir Richard Ratcliffe, skeletons, Stoke Field, William Catesby, William ColyngbourneMichele Schindler’s seminal biography of Francis Viscount Lovell, one of the trio named in Colyngbourne‘s doggerel, is published today. Hopefully, it will go towards solving the great mystery of his fate. Could he really have suffocated in a Minster Lovell chamber, after the estate was given to Jasper “Tudor”? Could he have ended his days…
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Until now, I have not encountered any of the books of Gilliam Tindall, but some of them look as if they may be of interest to us. The one I came upon is here, which I intend to get, because I have always loved the beautifully detailed work of Wenceslaus Hollar, about whom I…
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“….The Holy Trinity Church in the small town of Rothwell [Northamptonshire] houses the corpses of 2,500 ancient men, women and children in a mysterious “hall of bones….” I, um, hate the thought of being in a church with all those bones under it, but it is a mystery, all the same. Nothing would persuade me…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 