Watling Street

The Mysterious Affair at Stony Stratford

Aug 30, 2021

anniversaries, Book Reviews, law, religion, sources, travel

Agatha Christie, ambush, Angelo Cato, Annette Carson, Crowland Chronicle, Crowland Continuator, Domenico Mancini, Dr. John Argentine, Edward IV, Edward V, fishing, Grafton Regis, Great North Road, Henry of Buckingham, James Gairdner, John Speed, Lord High Constable, Lord Protector of the Realm, Louis XI, maps, Marie Barnfield, market days, Mid-Anglia Group, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Richard III, Richard III Society, Sir Anthony Wydeville, Sir Richard Grey, Sir Thomas Vaughan, Stony Stratford, The Maligned King, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, Watling Street, Weedon Bec, will of Edward IV, William Lord Hastings, Wydevilles

This excellent blog post by Annette Carson, based on a presentation given to the Society’s Mid-Anglia Group, summarises the events of 29th-30th April 1483, as Edward V and Anthony Woodville (Earl Rivers), together with Sir Richard Grey and others, met the Dukes of Gloucester and Buckingham as the Great North Road and Watling Street converged.…
THE ANCIENT GATES OF OLD LONDON

May 7, 2021

buildings

Aldersgate, Aldgate, Anne Sutton, Bastard of Fauconberg, Bethnal Green, Bishopsgate, Cripplegate, Ealdred, Edmund the Martyr, Edward IV, Edward V, gates, Geoffrey Chaucer, Great Fire of London, Henry I, John Stow, London, Ludgate, Moorgate, Newgate Prison, Old London Bridge, past maps, Peter Hammond, Richard III, Southwark, Watling Street

REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI THE ANCIENT GATES OF LONDON Old London Map c1572. Franz Hogenberg And so Dear Reader, we are going to take a break from murderous queens, scheming duchesses, bad kings, good kings, missing royal children and silly bishops. We are going to take a look at London’s Old Gates. Where were…
Dan Jones hits the road …

Dec 17, 2020

archaeology, battles, buildings, humour, law, religion

5Select., Bath, bath houses, Dan Jones, David Starkey, Dere Street, Ermine Street, Exeter, Hadrian’s Wall, Leicester, Leicester cathedral, Lincoln, London, Richard III, Roman culture, Roman invasion, tattoos, Walking Britain’s Roman Roads, Watling Street, York

… Walking Britain’s Roman Roads, in fact. It is quite a good series, in which Jones explores some of the most important of these, together with some aspects of Romano-British Society. The first episode takes him the length of Watling Street, the first part of which is now he M2, during which he visits the…
Oh where, Oh where, has Chaucer’s “Foul Oak” gone….?

Sep 6, 2020

anniversaries, buildings, travel

A2, Anne of Bohemia, Baginton Oak, Canterbury, Christ Church Greyfriars, Dover, Eltham Palace, executions, Foul Oak Hatcham, Geoffrey Chaucer, highway robbery, Nicholas Brembre, Old Kent Road, Palace of Westminster, Richard II, Smithfield, St. george’s Chapel, St. Paul’s, Tower of London, Warwickshire, Watling Street, Windsor Castle

According to Project Gutenberg, on 6th September 1390 Geoffrey Chaucer was mugged at a place called the Foul Oak, but not the Baginton Oak. Rather was it on what we now call the Old Kent Road but was originally the Roman Watling Street, leading out of London, on the way to Canterbury and…
Joan of Arc or Boudicca? Boudicca every time for me, I fear….

Jul 17, 2020

anniversaries, battles, law, religion

Charles VII, coronations, executions, France, Gilles de Rais, Henry VI, heresy, Iceni, insanity, Jean II Count of Luxembourg, Jeanne d’Arc, John Duke of Bedford, Roman Empire, siege of Rouen, Watling Street

Joan of Arc means a great deal to France, but I’m afraid I have never really cottoned on to her. Perhaps because I’m a little uncomfortable when it comes to people who “hear voices”. Not that I’m saying she deserved her horrible death. Far from it. No one deserves that. But when it comes to…
Britain’s Lost Battlefields (with Rob Bell)

May 29, 2020

archaeology, battles, television reviews

“Tudor” era, 5Select., arquebus, Bannockburn, Battle of Hastings, battlefields, Boudicca, Channel Five, Charles I, Colchester Castle, Edward II, English Civil War, handguns, Harold II, Iceni, Kett Rebellion, Maurice, Mousehold Heath, muskets, Naseby, Nero, Norwich, Oliver Cromwell, Parliamentary army, Rob Bell, Robert I, Robert Kett, Roman Empire, Rupert, Sir thomas Fairfax, Watling Street, William I, Wymondham

Channel Five’s reputation for history programmes has risen greatly over the past few years. At the heart of this, first in a Great Fire of London series with Suzannah Lipscomb and the ubiquitous Dan Jones, has been the “engineering historian” Rob Bell, who has toured bridges, ships, buildings and lost railways in his own amiable,…
Where was Henry (Percy)?

Dec 26, 2019

archaeology, battles, sources

Ambion Hill, Atherstone, Battle of Bosworth, battlefields, Burgundy, Coventry, Crowland Chronicle, Dadlington, Edward IV, Henry Percy, Henry VII, interpretation, John D Austin, London, Lynda Telford, Merevale, Michael K Jones, Milford Haven, Richard III, Stanleys, Watling Street

After reading Michael Jones‘ book “Bosworth 1485 The Psychology of a Battle”, I have leaned towards his site of the Battle of Bosworth. Since the book was published more evidence has come to light that shows that the battle probably did not take place around Ambion Hill. I have also read John D Austin’s book…
How did the Black Prince’s funeral procession cross the River Darent….?

Oct 10, 2018

anniversaries, battles, buildings, religion

bridges, burials, Canterbury, Dartford, Edward the Black Prince, past maps, River Darent, roads, Watling Street

Does anyone out there know the answer to a puzzle that has cropped up in my research? Watling Street, the Roman road, was the main route between London and Canterbury, Dover, etc. This made it very important. Watling Street passed through Dartford, crossing over the tidal River Darent. But wait, there wasn’t a bridge there until…