abbeys
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Here is a link (We travel back in time to the scene of one of England’s bloodiest battles (yahoo.com)) to someone’s account of attending the annual Tewkesbury Medieval Festival. It is very interesting and worth reading. However, something that is repeated about events in the aftermath of the battle is that the sanctuary of Tewkesbury…
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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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“….The [former Cistercian] Abbey at Coggeshall isn’t your average home — even by the standards of the sort of homes featured in Country Life. It’s a historic former monastic complex of immense character and charm set in 25 acres of beautifully landscaped gardens on the banks of the River Blackwater, less than a mile from the…
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London created champagne before the French….!
abbeys, Anglo-Saxons, Bermondsey, Bishops of Ely, champagne, Christopher Hatton, Christopher Merrett, churches, Duchy of Cornwall, Elizabeth I, Farringdon Road, France, Gloucestershire, Hatton Garden, Henry VI, Holborn Viaduct, Kennington, Kent, London, methode champenoise, Piccadilly, Rocque’s Map, Romans, Saffron Hill, Samuel Pepys, secondary fermentation, Smithfield, Southwark, St. Andrew Holborn, St. Augustine’s Abbey, The Oval, Vindolanda, Vineyard Walk, vineyards, Wales, WestminsterYes indeed, it seems that Londoners invented champagne. It’s a claim that won’t go down well across La Manche, and I found it at this site, which is also where I found the illustration from Rocque’s Map below. “…If you could time travel back to medieval London you would [find it] awash with vineyards at…
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While watching the first episode (entitled “A Dragon’s Inferno”) of a documentary series called Mythical Beasts, viewers’ attention was drawn to the abbey library of St Gallen in Switzerland. What an absolutely breathtaking place, containing many rare, centuries-old books, manuscripts and other items. To read more about it, go to this site.
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I’ve written before about the food eaten by medieval monks, and have now come upon another article, this time in The Guardian. It tells of the dire consequences that followed when monks eventually had a meat-rich diet. The Guardian article was prompted by English Heritage research into “the day-to-day lives and digestive troubles of…
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We’re all accustomed to the wonderful gargoyles adorning our churches, abbeys and cathedrals, illuminations on manuscripts and the beautiful carvings on misericords, but sometimes they are truly amusing. On this occasion the apparently comedial figures are pigs playing the bagpipes. Yes, really. And not only in Scotland, I hasten to point out, because bagpipes are…
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6th July is a day of three saints, St Godelva (d. 1070), St Sexburga of Ely (679-700) and St Merryn of Andresey. I have only previously heard of St Sexberga. Were they all celebrated on this day in medieval churches? (The above illustration is merely an example of an early church – the building depicted is…
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Read here to learn about Edwin Ridsdale Tate, the man who created the magnificent drawing above, showing medieval York.
The New Murrey and Blue blog 