artefacts

Whose wheatear badge was found in the Thames….?

Jul 14, 2024

art, battles, buildings, culture, genealogy

artefacts, Coldharbour, dartington, Dartington Hall, Dukes of Exeter, Edward III, Edward of Woodstock, Henry Holland Duke of Exeter, Joan of Kent, Pleshey Castle, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Thames, Thomas of woodstock, usurpation, wheat ear, white hart

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…
THE SECRETS OF BRITAIN’S ‘POMPEII’

Apr 17, 2024

archaeology, buildings, culture, Science

artefacts, axes, Black Shuck, bones, Bronze Age, Cambridgeshire, fire, jewellery, Lantern Man, legends, Must Farm, parasites, Peterborough, Peterborough Museum, pots, spears, swords, textiles, Toad Man, wheels

The fenland around Peterborough is a liminal place, a world of still, deep water, rustling reeds, flat land and a big sky. A place full old legends of the Lantern Man and the Toad Man and the spectral dogs known as Black Shuck. A place full of memories, of hidden secrets… In 1999, a major…
The Wanderings of King Henry VI

Aug 12, 2021

anniversaries, archaeology, art, battles, buildings

Alfred Wainwright, artefacts, Bolton Hall, Bolton-by-Bowland, Bracewell Barn, Clitheroe Castle, Henry VI, Hexham, Lake District, Luck of Muncaster, Muncaster Castle, Ravenglass, Readeption, Richard of Warwick, royal burials, Sir James Harrington, Sir Ralph Pudsey, Sir Thomas Talbot, Tower of London, Waddington Hall, Wasdale Head Inn

After the Battle of Hexham (15 May 1464) Henry VI very wisely made himself scarce. His first recorded place of refuge was Muncaster Castle in what is now Cumbria. The distance involved is roughly 90 miles, but anyone who has read Wainwright’s Guides to the Lakeland Fells will appreciate that this would include many…
A late mediaeval “decade ring”

Aug 5, 2020

art, buildings, religion

artefacts, Colchester Castle, decade rings, Epping Forest Museum, jewellery, religious devotion

Here is a guest post on the Colchester and Ipswich Museums website, by Jill Holmen, Collections Manager of Epping Forest Museum. It depicts a “decade” ring, used for a form of devotion in ten stages and dates from 25 years either side of 1500, recently borrowed by Colchester Castle Museum and was on display there…
MORE TREASURES FROM LEICESTERSHIRE: AN IRON AGE SHIELD FROM THE SOAR

Nov 13, 2019

archaeology, art, religion

artefacts, Battersea Shield, Chthonic gods, Iron Age, Leicestershire, shield, Soar, wood

Leicestershire seems to be a county that just keeps ‘giving’ to archaeologists, from the discovery of Richard III’s remains (naturally) in 2012 to gigantic Roman structures under Leicester…and now, moving back in time, an Iron Age shield has been found in, of all places, the River Soar. (Everyone was wrong about Richard being in the…
Handmade in Bolton

Nov 3, 2019

art

alabaster, artefacts, Bolton, carving, Egypt, Haddon Hall, Janina Ramirez, renaissance, Shaun Greenhalgh, Visigoths

This is a short BBC4 series about the Lancashire craftsman Shaun Greenhalgh’s attempts to recreate historic artefacts using modern methods. Co-presenting with Janina Ramirez, Greenhalgh seeks authentic materials, where possible and safe, trying to put them through the right processes. Not all of these work immediately, although the end result closely resembles the original. The…
Where a refugee from Towton fled

Mar 29, 2019

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings

artefacts, BBC2, Cumbria, Henry VI, Lake District, Muncaster Castle, Paul Rose, Pennington family, Sir John Pennington, Towton, Yorkshire

Today in 1461, which was Palm Sunday, the Battle of Towton was fought, resulting in a Yorkist victory with large scale casualties. Legend has it that Henry VI fled to Muncaster Castle, then in Cumberland, where he gave his host Sir John Pennington a glass drinking bowl. It became known as the “Luck of Muncaster”…
When Robert Curthose Sat On The Throne

Sep 9, 2017

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy

artefacts, Cardiff Castle, Chapel of St. Edward the Confessor, Devizes Castle, Dukes of Normandy, Gloucester Cathedral, Henry I, Normans, rebellions, Robert Curthose, St. Edward’s chair, Stone of Scone, Tinchebray, Westminster Abbey, William II, World War Two

It is perhaps not a well-known fact that during World War II, many priceless historical treasures were crated up and shipped out of London for safe storage. At least, I wasn’t particularly aware of something that now makes perfect sense. I found out about this whilst visiting Gloucester Cathedral and touring the amazing crypt beneath…