Places, people or events associated with the Tudor monarchs of England, or that period generally in Britain.
We are in the east of England, on the Suffolk coast. The town of Aldeburgh was once a thriving Tudor port; that’s where we’ll find the fort. And Thorpeness, well – Thorpeness was purpose-built in the 20th century – and that’s where we’ll find our house in the clouds. Few people now will have heard […]
From a house in the clouds to a fort Read More »
East of England
From the moment we stepped into its kitchen garden, everything about Barrington Court made me want to linger. But don’t visit to savour the great moments that took place at this beguiling Somerset estate, because, so far as I know, none did. Nor should you go to take a peek at the sumptuous interiors and
Barrington Court: bring on the empty mansion Read More »
South West
The guy behind me, approaching the rather unwelcoming gatehouse, grumbled, somewhat disparagingly, “Well, it’s just a ruin.” He was evidently a reluctant visitor to Helmsley Castle, poor soul. He was half-right – Helmsley Castle is a ruin – and Britain does have more than a few wrecked castles. Maybe our fellow-traveller was merely out-ruined, couldn’t
Helmsley Castle and a canter through British history Read More »
Yorkshire and the Humber
I was looking for Geoffrey Chaucer’s Granddaughter – as you do. In the process, I discovered a unique church and the last resting place of Jerome K Jerome. Let’s start with Chaucer’s granddaughter, Alice de la Pole. Alice was quite a lady, a duchess, with extensive lands in the Thames Valley, East Anglia and overseas.
Visiting Alice de la Pole and St Mary’s, Ewelme Read More »
South East
Tucked neatly away in the Weald of Kent is a little dream medieval moated manor house called Ightham Mote. It is closer to the hamlet of Ivy Hatch than to the village of Ightham. Before we go any further, let’s make it clear that Ightham is pronounced ‘item’. Of course it is. It is derived
Ightham Mote, medieval, Tudor and American Read More »
South East
Peeking past the porter’s lodge is looking through a window into another world; a world of privilege, beauty, tradition, history and at least a thousand stories. Here is a bit about Balliol College, one of more than thirty academic communities that make up the University of Oxford. Across the quad from the porter’s lodge, cascades
The house at Baddesley Clinton is a neat example of medieval-Victorian style. Fortunately, successive owners were never what you might call filthy rich. Had they been, doubtless another Jacobean or Georgian pile would have been constructed (really, don’t we have quite enough of those already?) and a delightful moated manor house would have been lost,
Baddesley Clinton – medieval manor, murder, mayhem and mellowness Read More »
West Midlands
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
I found Rufford Old Hall rather like nouvelle cuisine; it looked interesting, but a little over-hyped. It was good, but there should have been so much more to it and at the end I was left feeling vaguely dissatisfied. I imagine the estate agent’s blurb something along the lines of: “Well-presented one-bedroom detached house in
Wandering around Rufford Old Hall Read More »
North West England
It’s hard to forget your first sight of Linlithgow Palace. Off the merkat, up cobbled Kirkgate, past St Michael’s, through the impressive outer gateway – and the palace fills your vision. It is massive, literally awesome, so obviously a ruinous shell – and yet there’s a niggling hint of what it once was, or might
Linlithgow – Scotland’s Royal Pleasure Palace Read More »
Scotland
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