religion
-
By Susan Lamb It was a bright Saturday morning and the Richard III Society was totally buzzing with excitement. It hadn’t seen this much excitement since Richard’s new wig in the museum. But today was the launch of a brand‑new apple variety, grown right there in Leicester, named after our good king Richard III. It…
-
“….In the summer of 1553, a dying boy sat on England’s throne….” Edward VI was dying. He was only fifteen and unmarried, (https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Edward-VI/) so there was no chance of him producing a son or daughter. This left his two older half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, as heirs to the English throne. We all know the story…
-
It was a blisteringly hot summer day — the kind that made even the cathedral’s cool stone feel faintly warm to the touch. The vicar sat slumped in a pew, his collar limp, fanning himself weakly with a service sheet. Around him, several electric fans whirred in a tired, half‑hearted way. Richard drifted over, frowning…
-
“….A 14th Century church has been saved from closure after the discovery of a ‘miracle’ hoard of gold coins worth nearly £30,000 found hidden under the altar….” Hallelujah (some might say! 😇). St Wilfrid’s Church, Melling in Lancashire has been saved from closure by the discovery of a £30,000 hoard of gold coins hidden under…
-

The 15th century tower of St Nicholas’s Church, Canewdon, rises on high ground. Legend has it that while the tower stands tall and firm, six witches will be found living in Canewdon village, three in silk and three in cotton (i.e. three rich and three poor). It is said that every time a stone falls…
-
By Susan Lamb. Richard was going for a nice quiet walk… until it was not. Richard slipped out of the peace of the cathedral for a rare moment of solitude. The gardens were quiet, the early spring air crisp, and his statue was standing in its usual heroic pose — the one he privately thought made…
-
There are actually very few ‘English’ names that originally arise from Old English / Anglo Saxon. My own comes from the bible, so Hebrew, and is the feminine form of John, which means ‘God is gracious’. What about Richard? As a name it has been popular here for centuries (if not in the Royal family),…
-
By Susan Lamb Richard was feeling very bored and restless. A medieval ghost-king in a cathedral is never a good thing, especially when he’s bored. The congregation left their coats and hats neatly on the pews while they were rehearsing songs for an event in the local home for the bewildered and lost. Richard drifted…
-
I’m afraid that to my mind Thomas Arundel was a very unpleasant creep. Given full rein, he’d have been England’s Torquemada! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom%C3%A1s_de_Torquemada) The fellow had no redeeming features that I could see. He was everything that was vile and obnoxious about the high-ranking Men of God of his time. More the Baby-eating Archbishop of Bath…
-
A 900-year-old Anglo-Saxon place of worship has been discovered underneath a church during excavation work. St Cuthbert’s (one of Richard III’s favourite saints) in Darlington has been undergoing a £2.5m restoration project to make it more accessible and the archaeological discovery was made while lowering the Victorian floor. Read more from the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2eyn755gxo