The New Murrey and Blue blog

buildings

The denouement at Penmaenhead in 1399….

Aug 16, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, sources

Clwyd, Colwyn Bay, Duchy of Lancaster, duel, duplicity, Earl of Northumberland, exile, Flint Castle, Henry IV, Ireland, Isabella de Valois, Milford Haven, Monty Python, Paul Murray Kendall, Penmaenhead, Pontefract Castle, property, Richard II, St. Albans Chronicle, Terry Jones, The Chronicle of Jean Creton, The Yorkist Age, Thomas Mowbray Earl of Norfolk, usurpation, Wars of the Roses

When we think of Colwyn Bay today, we don’t think of vital historic events in August 1399, when a King of England, Richard II, was captured. This fact led to his deposition, imprisonment and suspiciously convenient death…culminating in the rise of the House of Lancaster in the form of his usurping first cousin, Henry…
THE BISHOP’S PALACE IN WIVELISCOMBE

Aug 15, 2021

buildings, law, religion

archways, Bishop Drokensford, Bishop Ralph of Shrewsbury, Bishop’s Palace Wiveliscombe, Bishops of Bath and Wells, Oliver King, Reformation, Robert Stillington

The remains of a summer Palace belonging to the Bishops of Bath and Wells has been discovered in the village of Wiveliscombe in Somerset. The 13th century palace had fallen into disuse after the Reformation and lay in ruins by the 1700’s…when the site was built over and subsequently lost, with the exception of an…
A PERIOD DEPICTION OF EDWARD IV & ELIZABETH WOODVILLE

Aug 14, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, religion, sources

Barnard Castle, double chin, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, illuminated manuscripts, John Rylands Library, stone corbel, University of Manchester

Recently I came across these two roundels from a late medieval manuscript, held in the John Rylands Library, which depict Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville seated on thrones, crowned and holding their sceptres. These two miniatures are extremely colourful even after the intervening 500 + years and hold lots of interesting details, including, in the…
The Wanderings of King Henry VI

Aug 12, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, art, battles, buildings

Alfred Wainwright, artefacts, Bolton Hall, Bolton-by-Bowland, Bracewell Barn, Clitheroe Castle, Henry VI, Hexham, Lake District, Luck of Muncaster, Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass, Readeption, Richard of Warwick, royal burials, Sir James Harrington, Sir Ralph Pudsey, Sir Thomas Talbot, Tower of London, Waddington Hall, Wasdale Head Inn

After the Battle of Hexham (15 May 1464) Henry VI very wisely made himself scarce. His first recorded place of refuge was Muncaster Castle in what is now Cumbria. The distance involved is roughly 90 miles, but anyone who has read Wainwright’s Guides to the Lakeland Fells will appreciate that this would include many…
A VINTAGE CARTOON OF EDWARD IV

Aug 11, 2021

anniversaries, art, buildings, humour

barrel, cartoons, Edward IV, executions, George Duke of Clarence, Margaret of Salisbury, Richard III, symbolism, Tower of London

I seem to collect pictures of Edward IV. He’s quite searchable online and has many various portraits come up, ranging from small illuminations in manuscripts to copies of copies of copies. They range from the sublime to ridiculous, as they rather do with Richard, but there are a lot more of them, as one might…
Walking “Tudor” England

Aug 10, 2021

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews, travel

“Bloody Mary”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Ashdown Forest, attainder, Austin Friars, bear-baiting, Bishops of London, Bridewell Palace, brothels, Cambridge, cannon, Channel Five, Christopher Hatton, Clifford’s Tower, conspiracies, dancing, de heretico comburendo, Dutch refugees, East Midlands, Edmund Bonner, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, excommunication, executions, exile, fire, Framlingham Castle, Fulham Palace, Greenwich Palace, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Hampton Court, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hever Castle, James VI/I, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Foxe, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Katherine Howard, Kenilworth Castle, Kenninghall, Kett Rebellion, Leicester, London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Guildford Dudley, Margaret Clitherow, Mary Stuart, Mass, Michelham Priory, naval power, Nicholas Ridley, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Norwich, Penshurst Place, Pilgrimage of Grace, Pontefract, Portsmouth, recusants, Ripon Cathedral, Robert Aske, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal barges, royal hunting estates, Rushton Triangular Lodge, severed heads, Sir Henry Dudley, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Walter Raleigh, Southwark, St. Mary’s Abbey, Stamford, Suzannah Lipscomb, The Globe, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Stafford, tobacco, torture, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Will Kemp, William Cecil, William Shakespeare, Wyatt Rebellion, Yorkshire Museum

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…
A new documentary about Shakespeare….

Aug 9, 2021

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion, The play’s the thing

Alice Loxton, Dan Snow, secret marriage, Stratford, William Shakespeare

Dan Snow (who married in secret, although nobody has ever done that) and Alice Loxton have been filming in Stratford-upon-Avon for a new documentary about Shakespeare, to be released in September. I do hope it’s sensible!
The story of Queen Margaret’s Gate, York….

Aug 8, 2021

anniversaries, buildings

“Tudors”, Bootham Bar, Henry VII, James IV, King’s Manor, Queen Margaret’s Gate, royal marriages, royal visits, Scotland, York

“….[Queen Margaret’s Gate, Bootham Bar] was supposedly intended as a short-cut for King Henry VII (the man who had defeated Richard III) when he was visiting York and stayed at the Abbot’s Lodging, now King’s Manor. The short cut would have made it quicker for him to get from the abbey to the Minster….”…
An excellent site dealing with the history of Chester….

Aug 4, 2021

anniversaries, battles, buildings

Battle of Evesham, Cheshire, Chester, Chester Castle, Chester Cathedral, Chester city walls, Earls of Chester, Grosvenor Museum, Minerva Shrine, Old Dee Bridge, Simon de Montfort, The Rows

When roaming around the internet it’s always satisfying to come upon a site that is well worth recommending. The history of Chester has been dealt with thoroughly at this website. So if you want to know about that city (and its county) please pay an e-visit!
The lost city …

Aug 3, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings

Berwick, Borders towns, David I, Floors Castle, James II, Lancastrians, Richard III, River Teviot, River Tweed, Roxburgh, Scotland, Scottish campaign 1482, siege of Roxburgh, Time team

… of Roxburgh, one of David I’s auxiliary capitals, in Border country, was visited by Time Team in 2004. Now we can all have a better vision of the scene of the 1460 siege and understand how Richard’s 1482 invasion of Scotland hastened its end.