buildings
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Below is an interesting little snippet from the Calendar of Patent Rolls for 1382: You’ll find the original record here. And so Sheriff Hutton was born! Who would have thought that from such beginnings would rise one of the most important castles in Yorkshire? A plot on which to enclose a wall of stone and…
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The Bishop’s Palace in Salisbury is one of its oldest buildings…but it is not at all well known. Hidden behind tall walls and gates, with only faint glimpses of stonework through the trees planted in front of it, the Palace is better known today as ‘Salisbury Cathedral School.’ There is no access, other than for…
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We have written twice before about non-existent historical children somehow finding their way into works by a certain modern writer, who is often cited on Wikipedia and repeated by others. In these posts, we referred to “Joan of York”, ostensibly a sister of Richard III, together with those attributed to Henry IV and Mary de…
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This two part series was originally shown on 5Select during December 2021, presented by Tracy Borman from the Tower of London. It went beyond the cliched story of: the brewery in Putney, service to Wolsey, surviving him, the Dissolution, outmanoeuvring Anne Boleyn, setting up the Cleves “marriage” and being sent to the block to encounter…
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My latest target for research is the English garrison/bastion of Brest, on the coast of Brittany, specifically the final years of the 14th century before it was handed back to the Bretons. My interest had been aroused when reading Ducal Brittany 1364-1399, by Michael Jones. In it I learned of the practice of…
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Another handsome property with a Wars of the Roses connection has come on the market–Warblington Castle in Hampshire. Being a private home, it is little known outside the local area but it has strong connections with Richard Neville-Warwick the Kingmaker and his family. Although it had been a manor from at least Norman times, Warblington…
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On the BBC news channel recently there was an item about Pete Waterman (of Stock Aitkin and Waterman fame) and his beloved model railway, which is spectacular and will feature in an upcoming showing of Timeshift on BBC 4. The episode in question is in Series 12, episode 7 of 10, entitled “The…
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A mystery at the Swan Inn at Clare, Suffolk….
Anne Morimer, cadency, Clare, Clare Castle, de Burgh arms, Edmund Earl of March, Henry IV, Henry V, Ireland, John of Gaunt, Lancastrian propaganda, Lionel of Antwerp, Mortimer arms, Mortimer History Society, mulberries, Richard Duke of York, Richard Earl of Cambridge, Richard II, Roger Mortimer 4th Earl of March, Suffolk, Swan InnOn reading the February 2021 edition of the Mortimer History Society’s publication, Mortimer Matters, I was intrigued by an article (by Hugh Wood) about a curious piece of carved and painted wood. “….Brightening up the front of the Swan Inn in Clare in Suffolk is this colourful piece of carved wood. Its shape suggests that…
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While looking for examples of medieval curses, e.g. the terrible doom-laden threats screamed from someone burning at the stake, I came upon this site. Considering how close to the surface the well is, I find it astonishing that all those years of ploughing haven’t wrought more damage, but then I’m told that in the…
The New Murrey and Blue blog 