buildings
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Here is a Guardian article about Arthur Hughes, who qualifies for the role in that he is male, disabled (in a subtle way) and was only thirty when chosen by the Royal Shakespeare Company, as was Richard III in June 1483 when chosen by the Three Estates. He isn’t an octogenarian, a woman or pretending…
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Coldharbour – An Important Medieval London House
Aldgate Ward, All Hallows the Less, Antony van den Wyngaerde, City of London, Coldharbour, Cuthbert Tunstal Bishop of Durham, Earls of Shrewsbury, Edmund of Langley, Edward III, Edward of Woodstock, Elizabeth of York, Great Fire of London, Henry VII, John Holland, John of Gaunt, John Stow, Kingsford, l’Erber, Lady Margaret Beaufort, London Topographical Society, maps, Marjorie Honeybourne, Mondial House, Pountney’s Inn, Reginald Bray, renovation, Richard II, Samuel Pepys, Sir Robert Cecil, Wolsey LaneReblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com A segment of the Visscher Panorama of London 1616 showing Coldharbour after the earlier medieval house had been demolished by the Earl of Shrewsbury c.1585 and rebuilt up to the waterfront. The rebuild incorporated many tenements ‘now letten out for great rents to people of all sorts’ (Stow). …
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Recently I went on a little jaunt to visit some fine Welsh Castles. One of those happened to be Carew in Pembrokshire, an impressive limestone fortress overlooking Carew inlet, which is part of the Milford Haven Waterway. Built by the Norman Gerald of Windsor, the site stands on the lands of his wife, the…
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The present Priory House at Earls Colne (judged Best Village in Essex in 2015) may be early 19th-century but has a great history because it’s “….built on the site of a Benedictine priory founded by the de Vere family, Earls of Oxford, in the early 12th century, the remains of which lie buried under…
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Scandal in Salisbury
Church House, Earls of Castlehaven, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Elizabeth I, executions, Ferdinando Stanley, Henry of Buckingham, Lady Eleanor Talbot, Lords Audley, Margaret Darrell, Mary “Tudor”, Mervyn Tuchet, rape, Salisbury, smallpox, sodomy, Stanleys, Sudeley Castle, Tower Hill, William Lightfoot, workhousesRecently I had a rare opportunity to visit Church House in Salisbury. Used for administration of the diocese today, it is an attractive medieval/post-medieval building retaining many original features, and has an interesting but sometimes rather murky past. Originally it was built in the 15th century by a merchant called William Lightfoot, and was known…
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The “awkward mediaeval cities” (3) : St. Alban’s
battlefields, blue plaque, Boudicca, Colchester, destruction, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Eleanor Crosses, Elizabeth I, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Humphrey of Gloucester, Jean II, John Ball, London, Luton, martyrs, museums, Northampton, Oxford, Poitiers, Roman Britain, Roman theatre, Second Battle of St. Albans, Skipton Building Society, St. Alban, St. Albans, St. Albans Cathedral, Thameslink, Verulam Park, Verulamium Roman Museum, Victoria Street, Wars of the Roses, Watford JunctionUnlike Northampton and Oxford, St. Alban’s (City) is on the Thameslink network and also has a branch line to Watford Junction. Accommodation can be expensive but the less historic Luton is surprisingly convenient as a base, being about fourteen minutes away on the same line and costing about five pounds for a day return. Turning right…
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Even as a child, I was fascinated by Lyme Cage. It stands on high ground, and to a casual observer has no obvious purpose. I remember being told it was used as a prison for poachers – hence the name – but this was neither its primary nor original function. A mere glance at a…
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With a guide price of £4 million there will be an auction of this large edifice (the Grey Friars Building) that stands right next to where the remains of Richard III were found. The auction is to be on Wednesday, February 15. It’s Grade II listed, but not only because of its proximity to where…