Places, people or events associated with the Dark Age period in Britain, in the early medieval period after the end of Roman rule.
It is hard to wrap your brain round, but the small Cumbrian village of Eamont Bridge was once an international frontier crossing. Well – kind of. At first glance, it seems a nondescript sort of place, stretching along the A6 in typically linear northern fashion, so that both ends of the village could be blocked
The importance of Eamont Bridge Read More »
North West England
I’m driving through the terraced urban landscape of South Shields, in search of a Roman fort. It is called Arbeia, a name believed to be a Latinised form of the Aramaic for ‘the place of the Arabs’, because the last known unit stationed there was a company of bargemen – possibly some kind of specialised
Eilean Donan Castle, ubiquitous star of movies, calendars, biscuit tins and tea-towels, is pretty much a 20th-century creation. Rescued from almost total ruin, it says something for its rebuild, and the success of Scottish tourism, that it is not only one of the most photographed and visited castles in Scotland, but also one of the
Is Eilean Donan Castle a fake? Read More »
Scotland
Scarborough Castle dominates the Victorian Yorkshire seaside resort from a massive precipitous headland bulging up from the North Sea. The fortress has a fascinating three and a half thousand year, often bloody, story to tell, but one of its more dubious charms seems to be that the ghost of Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, and
Who haunts Scarborough Castle? Read More »
Yorkshire and the Humber
Glasgow, one of Britain’s great cities and Scotland’s largest, is famous for many things; but probably not for its cathedral. Indeed, at first glance, Glasgow Cathedral appears a little drab compared with some of its squeaky-cleaned up, maybe wealthier, siblings elsewhere; there is not much trace of a busy, comfort-blanketing close, or precinct, as you
Mungo’s Glasgow Cathedral Read More »
Scotland
The Yorkshire coastal town of Whitby is celebrated for its fish and chips, the semi-precious gemstone, jet, its associations with the explorer Captain Cook, Dracula – and its abbey. It is less well-known as the place where the timing of Easter was decided. “When is Easter this year?” I hear you say; I’m very glad
Whitby Abbey and the Easter problem Read More »
Yorkshire and the Humber
Legendary Britain is a more illusive place than it once was. But there are still places where it is sometimes hard to tell where fact ends and fiction begins. Mysterious Glastonbury Tor, a natural feature rising some 500 feet above the watery Somerset Levels, has been a sacred site since before the Romans came. It
A journey to Glastonbury Tor Read More »
South West
The British Museum is regularly at the top of the list of the most visited attractions in Britain. Something in excess of 6 million people – considerably more than the population of Denmark – walk through its doors and tour its galleries every year. It is an astonishing place which, in its own words, tells
The British Museum – origins, controversy and internationalism Read More »
London
Above is a representation of the warrior’s helmet from Sutton Hoo. That helmet has a challenging appearance. Fearsome, haunting and spine-tingling, it demands that you imagine the man who may have worn it, and picture what he and his world were like. The image has drifted in and out of my dreams for years, such
Stories behind Sutton Hoo Read More »
East of England
The River Eden begins life high on the moors above the valley of Mallerstang. It’s a remote place, harshly beautiful. The water bubbles northward on its journey to the Solway Firth, flanked in these parts by Wild Boar Fell to the west and Mallerstang Edge to the east. Alongside the Eden in the valley bottom
Castle of the Pendragon? Read More »
North West England
The River Alun trickles through the neat Cathedral Close, between the Cathedral Church of St Davids and the majestic ruins of the 14th century Bishop’s Palace. In this little green valley, tradition says that St David, son of King Sant and St Non (sainthood ran in the family) and Patron Saint of Wales, established a
St Davids, too much beer and the lost apostrophe Read More »
Wales
There are few things more agreeable than pootling around and about a medieval cathedral. I found Lichfield’s reflected in the Minster Pool, a small reservoir which has been used by the city since the 11th century. You’d think it couldn’t get any better, wouldn’t you? Then you wander up the Cathedral Close, past Erasmus Darwin’s
Ladies of the Vale Read More »
West Midlands