Hertfordshire

The terrible tempest that seemed like the final straw after the Black Death….

Jan 15, 2025

anniversaries, art, battles, buildings, religion

Ashwell Herts, bad weather, Black Death, Breughel the Elder, british History Online, Calais, calendars, churches, Edward III, Edward of Woodstock, Edward the Black Prince, feast days, Francis Pryor, Gregorian Calendar, Hertfordshire, Julian Calendar, Peasants’ Revolt, st. maurus

While reading Francis Pryor’s book Britain in the Middle Ages: An Archaeological History, I came upon an example of medieval graffiti that is to be found in the Church of St Mary, Ashwell, Herts. Inside the wall of the west tower is a Latin verse which captures the horror, fear and guilt felt by survivors…
Pinpointing the Battle of Barnet….

Apr 14, 2023

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, heraldry

badges, Barnet, Barnet Battlefield Project, battlefield archaelogy, Edward IV, Elizabeth Wydeville, fog, George Duke of Clarence, Hadley Green, Hertfordshire, John Neville Marquis of Montagu, Nevilles, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, Wars of the Roses, weather

On 14th April 1471, Easter Sunday, in thick fog, was fought one of the pivotal battles of the Wars of the Roses, when the Yorkist Edward IV took on and defeated the by-then-Lancastrian Earl of Warwick, who was killed in the aftermath while trying to escape. His brother Montagu was killed as well. The…
The “awkward mediaeval cities” (3) : St. Alban’s

Feb 17, 2023

anniversaries, battles, buildings, religion, travel

battlefields, blue plaque, Boudicca, Colchester, destruction, Edmund Duke of Somerset, Eleanor Crosses, Elizabeth I, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Humphrey of Gloucester, Jean II, John Ball, London, Luton, martyrs, museums, Northampton, Oxford, Poitiers, Roman Britain, Roman theatre, Second Battle of St. Albans, Skipton Building Society, St. Alban, St. Albans, St. Albans Cathedral, Thameslink, Verulam Park, Verulamium Roman Museum, Victoria Street, Wars of the Roses, Watford Junction

Unlike Northampton and Oxford, St. Alban’s (City) is on the Thameslink network and also has a branch line to Watford Junction. Accommodation can be expensive but the less historic Luton is surprisingly convenient as a base, being about fourteen minutes away on the same line and costing about five pounds for a day return. Turning right…
On the wall of a pub …

Apr 5, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, art, buildings, heraldry

Earls of Salisbury, Hertfordshire, Hoddesdon, JD Wetherspoon, Lord High Treasurer, Mildred Cooke, murals, pubs, Restoration, Robert Cecil, William Cecil

… was discovered this painting of people including William Cecil, Baron Burghley, senior adviser to Elizabeth I and father of Robert. The pub in question is the Star, a Wetherspoon in Hoddesdon formerly known as the Salisbury Arms (left, after Robert’s earldom), which was undergoing some internal restoration work.
There’s a dentist in … Hertfordshire

Apr 24, 2020

buildings, law, religion

Barron Knights, Bishop of London, dentists, dispensations, Edward IV, Elizabeth Lambert, Hertfordshire, Hinxworth Church, John Ashdown-Hill, non-consummation, Richard III, St. Albans, The Private Life of Edward IV, Thomas Grey Marquess of Dorset, Thomas Lynom, William Lord Hastings, William Shore

{with apologies to the Barron Knights} Back in August of last year I drove over to a dental practice in St Albans for my annual check-up. Yes, it is a long way from where I live in Yoxford but the dentist and I go back a long way. I have actually been his patient since…
Does Richard II lie in an obscure grave in Stirling….?

Feb 14, 2019

anniversaries, archaeology, buildings, religion, Science

Anne Neville, Anne of Bohemia, Edward II, Edward III, Gloucester Abbey, Henry IV, Hertfordshire, Pontefract Castle, Richard II, Richard III, Richard Maudelyn, Ron Page, royal murder mysteries, royal tombs, Shakespeare, Sir Piers of Exton, Stirling, Westminster Abbey

“There was nothing at Westminster Abbey yesterday to alert visitors to the renewed speculation that one of its most revered sites may not be what it seems. To the unwary, King Richard II still lies in the south aisle of the Lady Chapel just where he has for nearly six centuries. A sign points out…
Now the search is on for Harold Godwinson….!

Oct 13, 2017

anniversaries, battles, genealogy, Science

Anglo-Saxons, archaeology, Battle of Hastings, Bayeux Tapestry, Harold II, Hertfordshire, Richard III, royal burials, St. Edmund

Another exciting search for a very important king in the annals of our land, this time at Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire. Harold Godwinson reigned for even less time than Richard III, i.e. nine months and eight days, and his sovereignty too ended in a vital battle that let “the enemy and its foreign army” in. In his case,…
Arthur Capell, Baron Hadham – the accidental traitor

Jun 17, 2014

battles, genealogy, religion

Anne of Exeter, Arthur Capell Baron Hadham, baronies, Capells, castles, Catherine Manners, Charles I, Charles II, Civil War, Colchester, Earls of Essex, Elizabeth Morrison, English Civil War, escape, executions, Hadham, Hertfordshire, MPs, Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Queens’ College Cambridge, Restoration, Royalists, Rye House Plot, sieges, Sir Charles Lucas, Sir George Lisle, slightings, Stoke-by-Nayland, Tower of London, Welsh Marches

Introduction The middle of the seventeenth century was a turbulent time and it would be very surprising were not some remnants of the House of York involved. Indeed, Ashby de la Zouch Castle, property of Ferdinando, Earl of Huntingdon, was slighted during this time as a result of his participation. Another Royalist partisan was Arthur…