Well, as Ricardians we all know what supposedly happened in the Tower of London in 1483. Everyone else knows about it too, usually the wrong version. As a result Richard III gets the blame for the “murders” of his child nephews. Never mind that there’s no evidence they died before their time at all. You…

I DEDICATE THIS, AND EVERYTHING ELSE AT THIS SITE, TO ITS OWNER, STEPHEN LARK (SUPER BLUE), WHO HAS PASSED AWAY. HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED. REST IN PEACE, STEPHEN. This article has been prompted by reading the following link: https://www.sciencealert.com/hidden-chapel-of-disemboweled-saint-found-in-the-old-lore-of-westminster-abbey. Elizabeth Woodville, the queen of Edward IV, died on 12 June 1492 and was buried…

Question: “….What do a small market town, a church in ruins, and Sherlock Holmes have in common?….? Answer: “….The fact that the graveyard in the church precinct was the burial place of a sinister [17th-century] squire whose story is said to have inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write The Hound of the Baskervilles….” Doyle’s Baskerville…

This bed was recently on display in Manchester Cathedral. Although it’s elaborately carved, it’s also surprisingly small. No larger than a standard double. I imagine the ‘brown’ effect is modern and that originally it would have been painted. This would have brought out the carvings to best advantage.

I have always wondered what J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, thought of the Tudor Era. Apparently, he sometimes spoke of the Norman invasion with such pain, he made it sound as if it had happened in his lifetime! Being a devout Catholic, I surmise he would not have been much of…

Now, why would an article about a Scottish dean begin with a photograph of Ludstone Hall in Shropshire? Read on, and all will be revealed Nowadays Ludstone Hall appears to be Jacobean, but it began life back in 1086 when—known as Luddesden and part of the “ancient royal manor of Claverley”—it belonged to the then…

Now the venue for weddings, Westenhanger Castle in Kent was once visited—and owned—by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The latter was an honour, the former was not. In my opinion anyway. The Great Storm of 1987 did untold damage across the country. Don’t we all remember it? It certainly made no exception of Westenhanger, especially…

Sir William Carey was another of the Lancastrian knights executed after the Battle of Tewkesbury. Carey was the son of Philip Carey and Christian Orchard. He was born on 12 August 1437. His father died soon afterwards. From an early age, William was in the service of Queen Margaret of Anjou. He was knighted by…

Well, I own up to never having heard of the Cathedral Ceilings Campaign (see Cathedral Ceilings Campaign – Milestone Reached – The Association of English Cathedrals) but it was a pleasure to learn of some of the things that our cathedrals reveal if we only bend our necks to look UP. It seems that the…

Box/cupboard/alcove beds have been mentioned in other articles on this blog, the subject of early sleeping arrangements always being fascinating. I first saw some of these enclosed, built-in beds when I was a child in 1953 and was lucky enough to be taken to the Folk Museum at Cloppenburg in Lower Saxony in the then…