Places, people or events associated with the Stuart monarchs, or the Stuart period in Britain,
Note: This article is largely based on a visit made in 2012. In 2022, the attraction was rebranded as ‘The Children’s Country House at Sudbury’, which includes the museum, focusing on the experience of childhood, the hall and garden. The hall is now specifically aimed at younger visitors, with over 12 rooms created with and
Sudbury Hall and the Museum of Childhood Read More »
East Midlands
Builders in the past were very selfish people. They put their buildings up without considering for one moment that, one day, their structures might inconveniently stand in the way of a new road, town centre development or shopping centre. Fast forward to an intriguing museum on the South Downs in West Sussex, near the village
Weald and Downland Read More »
South East
Head west out of London Bridge Station. If you’re very careful, you will discover London’s third Anglican cathedral, Southwark; it’s easily missed. Hemmed in between the colourful and vibrant Borough Market and the occasionally vulgar Montagu Close, and often hidden by dark Victorian railway arches over which trains ceaselessly rattle and clunk in and out
London’s forgotten cathedral Read More »
London
What might be called ‘the Royal Oak Incident’ took place when the future King Charles II hid in an oak tree after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. This was a real event, which might have had a very different outcome, and is a fascinating story. You can visit the spot where it happened, Boscobel
Why 467 pubs are called the Royal Oak Read More »
West Midlands
The Tower of London has been sitting on the north bank of the Thames, watching the tides of a great city ebb and flow, for around a thousand years. The city has grown up around it and it is part of it; it is impossible to imagine London without the Tower. Think of all that
Visit the Tower of London Read More »
London
Threave Castle was the stronghold of the Black Douglases and built by the 3rd Earl, Archibald the Grim. If that isn’t romantic enough for you, it stands on an island in the middle of the River Dee and, unless you think you can navigate your way safely across an ancient underwater causeway, the only way
This is a story about bravery and love. It covers just one chapter in the long history of the village of Eyam (pronounced ‘Eeem’ *), tucked away in Derbyshire’s Peak District just north of Bakewell. Casual travellers between Chesterfield and Chapel-en-le-Frith would pass it by without comment – unless they knew: in that case, they
There’s a story behind every garden. To avoid disappointment, I have to tell you right away that Tintinhull’s is frustratingly elusive. Let’s start with the basics. Tintinhull is a small village in Somerset, not far from Yeovil, with roots dating back to at least Saxon times. It sits on the route of the Fosse Way,
Britain wakes up to reason Exploring new lands, making new scientific discoveries, questioning long-held religious doctrines – even getting rid of the odd king or two – all of these things were part of Britain’s story between the 16th and 19th centuries. Creative energy, though, was certainly not unique to Britain; there was so much
“The greatest happiness of the greatest number” Read More »
History
Failed attempts to restore a Catholic Stuart to the British throne The Jacobites, those loyal to the deposed James II and his successors, just wouldn’t go away. When James died in 1701, support switched to his son, James Francis Edward Stuart, ‘the Pretender’ (not to be confused with ‘The Great Pretender’, which was a hit
The last Stuart and a unified kingdom Queen Mary died of smallpox in 1694 and, in 1702, William died after his horse tripped over a molehill. Jacobites raised a toast to ‘the little gentleman in a black velvet waistcoat’ – a typically futile, and puerile, gesture. Next in line to the throne after WilliamandMary was
When Britain got a German king Read More »
History
Hedonism, big hair and the end of Popery Negotiations with the exiled Charles II in March 1660 resulted in the Declaration of Breda, in which the king promised a general pardon for those that had participated in the war, a degree of religious toleration, acceptance of the supremacy of Parliament and the settlement of soldiers’
Restoration and Glorious Revolution Read More »
History