Severn Estuary

A circumstantial but viable clue to the eventual death of Edward II….

Mar 6, 2024

anniversaries, archaeology, battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, Science, sources

Abdication, adam murimuth, Auramala Project, Battle of Sluys, Berkeley Castle, berkeley pill, Canada, Corfe Castle, david tandy, Edmund Earl of Kent, Edward II, Edward III, Edward IV, Edward V, elizabeth comyn, escape, evidence, executions, Fieschi Letter, fundy bay, Glenn Moran, Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucestershire, Hugh Despencer the Younger, Ian Mortimer, Isabelle de France, Joan of Kent, John Ashdown-Hill, John of Gaunt, Kathryn Warner, Lady Eleanor Talbot, mtDNA evidence, richard barber, Richard II, Richard of Shrewsbury, Richard Talbot, Roger Mortimer, Salisbury Cathedral, secret marriage, Severn Estuary, Thomas Lord Berkeley

In a way the mystery of Edward II is not unlike that of the Princes in the Tower (see here). In both cases supposed royal murders have turned out to be untrue and the victims have escaped to the Continent. Also in both cases the murder aspect has been unchallenged until relatively recently, with all the old…
What ancient Celtic wonders did the Romans encounter beyond the estuary of the Severn….?

Feb 26, 2024

buildings, religion

Arthur, Celtic myths, Christianity, Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, J.R.R. Tolkein, King Lear, Lludd Llaw Ereint, Lydney, Lydney Park, Mary Stewart, Merlin, Nennius, Nodens, novels, Nuada, R.E.M. Wheeler, Roman Britain, Severn bore, Severn Estuary, Shakespeare, temples, Wales

Before I go any further, let me say that the above image is more or less the first view I had back in the 1970s of the Romano-British temple of Nodens, at Lydney Park near the town of Lydney in Gloucestershire. The temple is on a hillfort site on a bluff where the River Severn…
No roads to or from Berkeley in Gloucestershire….?

Jan 24, 2024

anniversaries, Book Reviews, buildings, genealogy, travel

A38, barges, Berkeley Castle, berkeley pill, Bristol, david tandy, Edward III, Edward the Black Prince, Gloucester, Henry II, Henry III, isabellle de france, maps, Marshes, richard barber, roads, Severn Estuary

You all know the old saying “Curiosity killed the cat”. I’m one such cat and often see something funny or odd in the blandest of sentences. I just can’t help it. Well, this irrepressible curiosity has been pricked again. At the age of 10, in the summer of 1340, Edward of Woodstock, the young…
The importance of fish in the medieval diet….

Jan 23, 2020

culture, religion, sources

Advent, Anne Boleyn, dietary laws, Edward VI, fish, fishing, fishtraps, food preservation, Henry VIII, Joan de Valence, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Kathryn McGowan, Lent, mediaeval food, pike, ponds, predators, salting, Severn Estuary

There is no disputing that fish was very important to the medieval diet. The Church ruled that not only was it required food on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, but also for Advent and the forty days of Lent. And I’m sure there were other days when it was mandatory too, but the previous sentence covers…

Severn Estuary

A circumstantial but viable clue to the eventual death of Edward II….

What ancient Celtic wonders did the Romans encounter beyond the estuary of the Severn….?

No roads to or from Berkeley in Gloucestershire….?

The importance of fish in the medieval diet….