buildings
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Corfe Castle is not only one of our most beautiful castles, rising above its namesake village in Dorset, it has also featured dramatically throughout our history, as you can read here https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/corfe-castle/the-history-of-corfe-castle. We are right proud of our heritage, which gives us so much, but we’re not always too hurried about looking after it. Corfe…
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I had never heard of a pro cathedral before, and so had to look it up. According to Wikipedia, it’s the following: “….A pro-cathedral or procathedral is a parish church that temporarily serves as the cathedral or co-cathedral of a diocese, or a church that has the same function in a Catholic missionary jurisdiction (such as an apostolic prefecture or apostolic administration) that is not yet entitled to a proper cathedral. A…
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In spite of Henry VIII’s best efforts in the Dissolution of the mid-16th century, there are still a huge number of habitable abbeys dotted around our countryside, and one is Beeleigh Abbey in Essex, until 2022 the home of the late Christopher Foyle, of Foyle’s Bookshop fame. The abbey is a very beautiful place, a…
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According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Olde_Murenger_House) in Newport, South Wales, there stands Ye Olde Murenger House. It is a 19th-century public house with a mock Tudor façade that stands on the site of the 17th-century Fleur de Lys, “…a single-storey stone structure that was demolished in 1816….” Should you wonder what murenger means, it’s the name given to…
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As you have probably gathered by now, I’m rather partial to a spooky story, and one that appears in The Folklore of Oxfordshire by Christine Bloxham is that of the very early 16th-century Lord and Lady Tanfield and their ghostly chariot, in which they reportedly haunted Burford and Great Tew in Oxfordshire. A bit out…
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This post has nothing to do with present-day politics or the recent attempt of the life of a former US President. It’s about the word assassination, and whether or not it applies to two of our medieval monarchs. It was prompted by this link: US and World: Latest US and World News | Times of…
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There are to be free walks around the Tewkesbury Battlefield, starting on Thursday, 1 August 2024. See here Walk Dates — Tewkesbury Battlefield Society “….The walks last approximately 2 hours and are free, although donations to the Society are welcome. Just turn up and walk, dogs on leads welcome. The walk starts at the short…
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Well, now the General Election is over and done with, and regardless of the result, something about the whole business caught my attention. Muchelney Abbey in Somerset was a polling station! Can you imagine it? Not your usual school or village hall, but an exquisite medieval abbey said to have been founded by King Athelstan!…
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When Archbishop of York Richard Scrope was beheaded on 8 June 1405 he gained the distinction of being the first prelate of such high rank to be executed for treason. I can think of at least two more who should have suffered a similar fate, Thomas Arundel (Thomas Arundel, Archbishop of Canterbury (1353-1414) (luminarium.org)) and…
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On 2 August 2019 I wrote this post—which contained the following link https://x.com/liz_lizanderson/status/1016611053394976768 concerning a portion of medieval livery badge thought to be that of Henry Holand, 3rd Duke of Exeter. The 3rd duke fought for Henry VI and died mysteriously at sea, it’s thought at the instruction of the very Yorkist Edward IV. The…
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