buildings
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I haven’t seen this for myself yet – but I’ve seen plenty of photographs and a good deal of huffing and puffing over the replica of Richard III’s suit of armour at the recently-opened Visitor Centre in Leicester. The bone of contention, (apart from the replica’s authenticity, on which I don’t feel qualified to comment),…
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Unlike some people – who from their certainty were not only alive at the time, but high in King Richard’s confidence – I honestly do not know what became of the two boys we call for convenience ‘The Princes’. I have read all sorts of theories about what happened to them and none entirely convinces…
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http://nerdalicious.com.au/history/fit-for-a-king-the-burial-and-reburial-of-richard-iii-with-john-ashdown-hill/ This article brims with interesting information relating to the form Richard’s burial may have taken at Grey Friars, Leicester. It raises more questions in my mind, not least that Richard may indeed have originally been placed in a coffin, as in the accompanying illustration, but that if the grave was too small for him,…
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So, Leicester it is. After all the furore, delay, money spent and suffering (if bones can suffer) of Richard himself, we are back where we started. If it were not for this judicial challenge, he would be buried now and at rest. But, Spring 2015 is when he is to be finally shown the honour,…
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With Whitsuntide approaching, thought I’d share what I’ve been exploring regarding the events of Whitsunday 1426, the 19th of May that year, that took place in the city of Leicester, in the Church of St Mary de Castro. Parliament was convened that year at Leicester Castle, and the Regent to young King Henry VI, John…
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Many of you will remember reading, perhaps in “The Last Days of Richard III”, how John Speed went to Leicester looking for the site of the Greyfriars but confused it with the Blackfriars which was in a far worse state of repair thus no royal body could possibly have survived. Yesterday, I lunched at the…
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We all know when Richard was born – 2 October 1452 (10 by the new calendar) and we thought this was at Fotheringhay in Northamptonshire. Now page 37 of Ashdown-Hill’s “The Third Plantagenet” suggests that it might have been Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire. We all know when he died – 22 (30) August 1485 at Bosworth…
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Arlington Court is not a particularly old building but it commemorates a family that can be traced back to the Battle of Hastings, with a twentieth century twist. It dates from 1820, however it is the third or possibly fourth grand house to occupy the same site since the sixteenth century. The grounds are extensive…
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Anniversary watch Having marked the anniversaries of Rowland Taylor’s execution (Hadleigh 1555) and Thomas Stafford’s landing (Scarborough 1557); I took the train to Hatfield yesterday. The estate is immediately opposite the station, on a Cambridge-London line, and the house is ten minutes’ walk from the entrance. It is E-shaped and guided tours explore all except…
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Orford Castle is still standing, more than eight centuries since it’s construction, a short distance from the North Sea. Through the Bigod connection, it is a twin of Framlingham Castle, although that has decayed further. Consequently, Orford is much easier to visit on a wet day although an east wind is more troublesome. The…
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