bells

When did Thorney Island, Westminster, cease to be an island….?

May 29, 2024

buildings, law, religion

bells, Big Ben. Great Tom, fishing, outer courtyard, River Tyburn, St. Edward the Confessor, Thorney Island, Westminster, William II

My research sometimes turns up something that makes me smile. This time it happened because I want to know exactly when the two branches of the River Tyburn that enter the Thames at Westminster (and thus formed Thorney Island) were actually covered over. The abbey and palace at Westminster once stood upon this island, of…
Picking the Bones….

Apr 8, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, genealogy, heraldry, religion

Anne Neville, artillery, Barnet, bells, bigamy, cavalry, Charles Dickens, coronations, Coventry, Easter, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, emblems, fog, George Duke of Clarence, Henry VI, Holy Saturday, Isobel Neville, John Neville Marquis of Montagu, Lent, Middleham Castle, murder, poison, pre-contract, Richard III, Richard Woodville, rivers, Robert Stillington, supernatural, Thames Valley, Westminster Abbey, Wydevilles

This ghost story was inspired after reading this post by my good friend sparkypus. And the Battle of Barnet just happened to take place at an earlier Easter. Oh, and there’s a nod toward Dickens, but the facts don’t cooperate with Christmas! The eve of the Battle of Barnet, Holy Saturday, 13 April, 1471 It was…
The bells ring for Cardinal Wolsey

Mar 15, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, Events, religion

bells, Edinburgh Woollen Mill, films, Ipswich, St. Lawrence’s Church, statues, Wolsey 550, Wolsey College

On Friday, I was in St. Lawrence’s Church, now a cafe, in the town centre when the meeting I was at was punctuated by the ringing of bells just above the front door. We assumed at the time that this was practice for the for the forthcoming coronation. However, as this article shows, it was…
Great Tom came before Big Ben….!

Jul 27, 2021

buildings, religion

bells, Big Ben. Great Tom, Edward I, Edward III, Elizabeth Tower, Middlesex Guildhall, St. Paul’s, Temple Bar, towers, Westminster Hall, William III

Now that it seems probable/possible that “Big Ben” will not be fully restored and ringing again until 2022, perhaps it is….ahem….timely to remember that he was not the first such huge bell, nor was the Elizabeth Tower the first bell tower to be erected close to Westminster Palace and Hall. There was a predecessor,…
The amazing bells of England….

May 29, 2021

buildings, religion

bells, Dissolution, Henry VII, Henry VIII, St. Mary in Castro Dover, World War Two

“….Then came the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1509 [???!] as a result of the feud between King Henry [VIII] and The Pope. In his rage he [Henry] vandalised all the external fabric and internal property but he stopped short of the bells as he was aware of their potency with the people. Instead…
Visit to Rayleigh and Hadleigh – 20th July 2019

Mar 23, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, heraldry, religion

“Princes”, Anne, bells, Colchester Castle, Edmund Bonner, Edward III, Elizabeth Wydeville, Essex, executions, Hadleigh Castle, Hadleigh Essex, Henry III, heresy, Holy Trinity Church, Hubert de Bergh, Hundred Years War, hunting, John, Kent, Martyrs’ Memorial, Queenborough Castle, Rayleigh, Rayleigh Mount, Rayleigh Museum, Rayleigh Windmill, Richard III Society

via Visit to Rayleigh and Hadleigh – 20th July 2019
Great St Mary’s Church, Cambridge and its Royal Patrons

Apr 14, 2017

buildings, religion, travel

Anne Neville, Anne Sutton, bells, Cambridge, Cambridge University, Charles II, Christ’s College, churches, Easter, Edward III, Elizabeth Wydeville, Erasmus, Grey Friars, Henry VI, Henry VII, Henry VIII, heraldry, Jewish community, John Fisher, King’s College Chapel Cambridge, Lady Margaret Beaufort, Leicester, Livia Visser-Fuchs, Margaret of Anjou, Martin Bucer, Mary I, Matthew Parker, Michaelhouse, Peasants’ Revolt, portcullis, Queens’ College Cambridge, Richard III, St. John’s College, Thomas Barowe, Thomas de Chiveley, Thomas Rotherham, tomb, Trinity College

Originally posted on Giaconda's Blog: ? ? ? In the very heart of historic Cambridge, stands a tall and elegant late Perpendicular Gothic church, sandwiched between the colleges and market square. The church of St Mary the Virgin has stood on the site since 1205; the first recorded rector being Thomas de Chiveley who was…