museums

A Lovell’s House in Fossgate, York

Oct 7, 2025

buildings, culture, history, medieval characters, research, Richard III

Fossgate, Francis Lovell, museums, York

by Maria Leotta The very day I started working for the Trust Museum, I had my induction at the Castle Museum. On the first floor, just above Kirkgate also called Victorian streets, there are four beautiful period rooms, mostly Victorian, that reproduce how those rooms would have appeared to contemporaries. However, the room that mostly…
CROWN IN EXILE: A NOVEL OF RICHARD AND EDWARD IN BURGUNDY

Jun 27, 2023

anniversaries, art, battles, travel

“Beauforts”, Anthony Wydville, Barnet, Belgium, Bruges, Burgundy, Charles the Bold, Crown in Exile, Edward IV, Edward of Lancaster, exile, George Duke of Clarence, Gruuthuse, Henry IV, Jehan de Wavrin, John Ashdown-Hill, King’s Lynn, Lord Hendrik van Borselen, Louis de Groothouse, Louis XI, Margaret of Burgundy, museums, Netherlands, novels, Princes of Wales, publishing, Ravenspur, Readeption, Richard III, Richard of Warwick, William Caxton, William Lord Hastings, York

A part of Richard III’s life often overlooked in fiction is the brief time he spent in exile with his brother, Edward IV, from October 1470 to March 1471. Usually, this event is a mere footnote in most novels, no doubt because it might be seen as ‘slowing down the action’ and also…
THE MYSTERIOUS CHEAPSIDE HOARD, DISCOVERY AND FURTHER ADVENTURES….

Apr 11, 2023

archaeology, art, buildings, sources

Cheapside, Cheapside Hoard, Friday Street, George Fabian larence, Goldsmiths Row, Great Fire of London, John Stow, London, Museum of London, museums, Thomas Wood, Viscount Harcourt, Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com The Cheapside Hoard. Discovered beneath the floor of an ancient cellar during the demolition of 30-32 Cheapside in 1912. How the owners of such jewels must have shimmered in the candlelight. Photo 1websurfer@Flikr. The Cheapside Hoard as it has become known was discovered in June 1912 at 30-32 Cheapside when…
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…
Torquay and Torre Abbey

Jan 12, 2023

anniversaries, buildings, law, religion, travel

abbeys, Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie Mile, Babbacombe murder, Barons Hunsdon, Careys, Carys, crime, Dissolution of the Monasteries, First World War, Jacobites, museums, poisons garden, Premonstratensian order, priests, recusants, Royal Navy, the Green Ginger, The Legendary Ten Seconds, Torquay, Torquay Crime Museum, Torre Abbey, Viscounts Falkland

Thanks to our friends at the Legendary Ten Seconds, I had heard of Torre Abbey but didn’t realise that it was open to visit, as convenient or spectacular as it is. Half of the original building remains, on three floors including an art exhibition, whilst the other half (including the church) is a ruin, complete…
Another “Mary Rose” is found….

Dec 11, 2022

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, religion, Science

Abdication, Cromer, Gloucester, Great Yarmouth, Henry I, Henry V, Henry VIII, Holighost, James VII/II, Leicester, Mary Rose, museums, Norfolk, Norwich Castle, Portsmouth, Raedwald, Richard III, Samuel Pepys, shipwreck, Sutton Hoo, The White Ship

I well remember all the excitement when Henry VIII’s Mary Rose was found and brought to the surface for the first time since his reign. The event was broadcast live and we watched as she reappeared inch by slow inch. Yes, it was quite a story. But then, Henry VIII (love him or hate…
Richard III and the Augustinian Friary in York

Oct 2, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, religion, sources

Augustinian Order, Dorothy Mitchell, Friends of Richard III, Henry III, Lendal, Micklegate Bar, Middleham, museums, Richard III, Richard III Society, visits, Worcestershire Branch, York, York House Books, York Minster, York Records

During a branch visit to York during the 1990s the Worcestershire Branch went on a tour of York led by Dorothy Mitchell. Dorothy was the Chairman of The Friends of Richard III, which was based in York. We met her at the Minster which was our first port of call and then we went on…
Tour the world’s twelve greatest museums from the comfort of your armchair….

Jul 24, 2020

art, buildings

British Museum, Edward III, Guggenheim Museum, J. Paul Getty Museum, MASP, Musee d’Orsay, museums, National Gallery of Art, National Museum of Anthropology, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Pergamon Museum, Uffizi Gallery, van Gogh Museum, Waterford Museum

Well, these days some of us might be stuck at home rather a lot, and even if we aren’t we may not find a museum of other attraction actually open. So the advent of “virtual yours” is a great help. There we are, in our comfortable armchair, sauntering around the like of the British…
Mont-St-Michel and its history as you’ve never seen it before….

May 1, 2020

buildings

France, HoloLens, Mont-Saint-Michel, Musee des Plans-Reliefs, museums, virtual reality

“….The historic island commune of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France, is a stunning visual display, with its medieval monastery rising up out of the sea. Four hours away in Paris, the Musée des Plans-Reliefs offers its own captivating look at the landmark with a meticulously handcrafted 300-year-old relief map. “….Now the museum is partnering with Microsoft…
Another Richard III Coin – Museum Seeks Funding for Purchase

Mar 8, 2020

art, buildings

Buckingham, Buckingham Old Gaol Museum, coins, half angel, museums, Richard III

Buckingham Old Gaol Museum (which is an interesting little museum situated in a fortified lock-up in the town centre) is seeking to purchase a rare Richard III coin found this September by a local metal detector. The gold half-angel was found only one mile from the town centre of Buckingham (some people have all the…