Today I’m starting way back in time before “our” period. Into the mists, in fact. I live next to the western edge of the Cotswolds (to the right of the isolated hill in the above view), and we have numerous prehistoric sites in Gloucestershire that are, perhaps, not quite as famous as they ought to…

I love to poke around other people’s houses. Well, wealthy people’s houses. You know, those properties that cost £ millions and (preferably) have a history a mile long. So nothing modern, please. Perhaps I should explain that breaking and entering isn’t my modus operandi, rather do I stick to scouring glossy magazines like Country Life…

Castle Camps in Cambridgeshire is probably best known today for its World War II RAF airfield, and the heroic squadrons that operated out of it. There is certainly little sign now of the castle from which the Cambridgeshire village of Castle Camps acquired its name. If you go to this link you’ll read: “….The village…

In researching for a novel set in the reign of Richard II, it’s inevitable that I’ve encountered Chaucer and the pilgrim route along the road from London to Canterbury and Dover. And not only pilgrims, but travellers of all kinds, including those going to and from the Continent. In these days of the internet it’s…

I’ve written before about The Hound of the Baskervilles (see here https://murreyandblue.org/2024/08/24/buckfastleigh-wicked-squire-cabell-and-the-hounds-of-the-plantagenets/) but not about Black Shuck. Until now, that is. Both are based on legends of hellhounds and wild huntsmen, but Black Shuck (from the Old English “scucca” or “devil”) can be first dated rather precisely to Peterborough on 6 February 1127. If you…

This is early notice, I know, but there is a reason for this, as you’ll read at the end. The Canterbury Christmas Fair will be held again this year, BUT, for the first time in 211 years it will be expanding into Canterbury Cathedral’s grounds. A Christmas market was first held in the precincts 600…

As I may have mentioned (cough, cough) before, I have two favourite kings, Richards II and III. This post concerns the former. Mainly. “….The treasure roll [see top left] of Richard II, compiled in 1398/9, offers a rare insight into the magnificence of a late medieval English king. The roll, unknown until it was rediscovered in the…

Norwich, of course, fair bulges with history, what with its wonderful cathedral and castle, as well as numerous other fine old buildings and streets. To say nothing of the museums and records. But those who don’t live there might not know that among its attractions is a 15th-century flint ferry house and watergate that once…

The great seal of Richard III has been auctioned in the US. “….The seal, dating to 1485 and five inches in diameter, accompanies a Grant of Lieutenancy of the castle and county of Guise to Sir James Tyrell, a loyal knight who fought many battles at Richard III’s side. It was bought at auction for…

Recently I wrote about Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick, Henry VI and the anchoress Emma Roughton of All Saints-North Street York, see here (https://murreyandblue.org/2024/09/11/the-13th-earl-of-warwick-henry-vi-and-the-anchoress-of-all-saints-york/). It was intended to be a single stand-alone post….until I realised there was conflicting information about the whereabouts of Emma’s cell. It wasn’t important, exactly, but something about it soon…