buildings
-
Here’s a new suggestion – that Richard’s crown might be under the Esplanade at Rochester. Well, the idea is dismissed because the English Civil War saw an end to the original crown jewels – but who is to say Richard’s crown was destroyed too? But, big but, why on earth would his crown be in…
-
Tutbury Castle is being investigated by a team of young people from the Prince’s Trust, who have exposed a 17th-century floor. But Tutbury’s earlier history is mentioned, including Richard III’s 3-day visit from 22nd-26th October 1484. It is believed he went there to inspect building work, upon which £919 had been spent. I hope they’d spent it…
-
This article is quite interesting, although Richard only gets a brief mention, for moving Henry VI from Chertsey to Windsor. Edward IV is in there, of course, and Henry VII’s endeavours too, although he’s not buried there, of course. Wasn’t it grand enough for him? Whatever, he built himself an extravagant but truly beautiful resting place…
-
In life, Henry VII was renowned for fighting his battles from a deckchair, behind a pike wall with a telescope. Even some of his statues are behaving similarly now. The best example is, or was, in Exeter. It commemorated the two sieges of the city in 1497 when the two Cornish Rebellions were kept out…
-
The last few times I’ve gone to visit the other half’s family in Somerset, we’ve driven through the town of Langport, a small place now but once an actual port and quite an important site in the Middle Ages. As we rounded the corner in the car, I kind of obliquely wondered why there was…
-
Echoes of Minster Lovell?
Act of Settlement, Anne Bronte, Count Konigsmarck, Francis Viscount Lovell, George I, James Francis Edward, James IV, Jasper “Tudor”, Kind Hearts and Coronets, Leine Castle, Mary II, Minster Lovell Hall, mystery, New York Times, safe conduct, Sauchieburn, Scotland, skeletons, Smithsonian Institution, Sophia Dorothea of Celle, Sophie Electress of Hanover, Stoke Field, William III, William of GloucesterIn 1708, a skeleton is supposed to have been found in a secret chamber of the ruins of Minster Lovell Hall. The legend is that this pertains to Francis, Viscount Lovell, who was known to have fought at Stoke Field in 1487, suggesting that he may have fled back to his home to hide and…
-
The above illustration is by Hans Holbein the Younger – Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk (Royal Collection) This post, about Edward IV’s daughter Catherine, prompted me to post this, about the husband of another of Edward IV’s daughter, Anne, Countess of Surrey. Thomas Howard, eventually 3rd Duke of Norfolk, was the grandson of…
-
Back in April we reported that Bridport had recently discovered that in 1483 Richard III had visited the city on his way to Exeter to crush Buckingham’s rebellion and decided to commemorate this with a stone memorial. We are pleased to reveal that the initiative was successful and that the memorial will be revealed to…
-
Late September saw some dramatic developments at Wakefield’s important Wars of the Roses and English Civil War site, Sandal Castle. It’s been making the news for all the wrong reasons: increasing levels of abuse and misuse from littering to anti-social behaviour, joyriding, and damage to the monument culminating in a load of horrible graffiti in…
-
When the Normans came to England they built their stern castles upon huge mounds that gave them clear views across the countryside from the height of the donjon or keep. For many years, it was thought these mottes were mostly of Norman date, contemporary with the castle structures, or else were natural, glacial features utilised…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 