How did Lord Sandys try to impress Henry VIII?

/ The Vyne/

The Vyne, originally a Tudor mansion but now showing 500 years of development and set in 13 acres of beautiful gardens. On a typical wet winter’s day, the walk from the car park to the mansion is still beautiful. Inside, are a whole variety of fascinating objects to observe in a series of rooms from various periods. We particularly liked the Tudor sections and discovering references to Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon. What is ironic is that the house has numerous emblems of Catherine of Aragon in the “Long Gallery” and in the chapel and yet Anne Boleyn visited it twice and must have seen them! In the Long Gallery, you will see emblems or heraldry of numerous Tudor notables and it is fun discovering and recognising as many as you can. Another high point of the Vyne is the beautiful chapel and its stained glass windows.

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Why did Henry VIII build Southsea Castle and what has it to do with his wives and the Mary Rose?

/ Southsea Castle/

Why did Henry VIII build Southsea Castle and what has it to do with his wives and the Mary Rose? All these questions and more are answered in this blog. Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon caused him grave problems with the Pope and Kings of France and Spain. To save his throne from disaster, he built Southsea Castle to a new revolutionary design. Only a year after it was completed, a French fleet was present in the solent ready to attack and disaster struck. Henry based at Southsea Castle saw his premier ship, the Mar Rose, sink in front of his eyes without a shot being fired. Post Tudor history of Southsea Castle is also covered along with information and photos of what visitors to Southsea Castle can expect to see on a visit.

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Explore Salisbury Cathedral and also see the best preserved copy of Magna Carta.

/ Salisbury Cathedral/

See a beautiful, gothic cathedral with the tallest spire in the country and see the best preserved of the four surviving original copies of Magna Carta, one of the most important documents in the world. The cathedral stands alone in its own beautiful grounds so that you can have an unimpeded view all the way around and even enjoy a picnic. The cathedral that John Constable loved to paint. Go on a tower tour and climb stairs to over 200 feet above ground level. Stroll around the biggest cloisters in Britain. See a beautiful interior and, as it lacks an interior screen, you can see from one end to the other. See the oldest working medieval clock in the world. If you are there when the choir is rehearsing, you will experience mindfulness and be at peace with the world.

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Salisbury has the best doom painting in Britain. A mind blowing piece of medieval art in the Church of St Thomas a Becket.

/ St Thomas's church/

St Thomas’s houses the largest, most complete and best preserved Doom painting in the UK. It is a great representation about what was going on in the Medieval mind, especially with regard to religious views and teachings. The painting is huge and probably totally different from what you would expect to be on a church wall. It is absolutely stunning or to use a modern overused phrase, awesome. To put it simply, it is a wonderful piece of medieval art and is in excellent condition. The detail and story will entice you to stay studying it for quite some time.

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Bones, stones , pots and relics, one of the best museums to get close to your ancestors at Corinium museum in the Cotswolds.

/ Corinium museum/

Bones, stones , pots and relics, one of the best museums to get close to your ancestors at Corinium museum in the Cotswolds. It is , by far, one of the best museums to get see prehistoric, Roman and Saxon remains. There are so many things to see and so many information boards that it is impossible not to learn a huge amount about our ancestors. It gives visitors an opportunity to handle replicas such as in the two photos above. You will be able to get a close look at archaeological discoveries that are regularly discovered with great excitement on tv programmes but then are taken off to be studied in private at universities. The Neolithic and Beaker people pottery are good examples of this, whilst at this museum, you can see all the decoration on their pots and begin to see how different decorations show different periods of prehistory. You can see various graves that have been reconstructed and appreciate the work of archaeologists carefully uncovering such finds to get the full picture and maximum information from their dig.

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Butser Ancient Farm, five thousand years of history.

/ Butser Ancient Farm/

Where did our ancestors live when they came down from trees? Where did Cave men live if there weren’t any caves about? They had to build them. At Butser Ancient Farm, you will see an amazing collection of reconstructed houses from the Neolithic period, five thousand years ago to the Saxons in the early medieval period. You can look closely at the building techniques, styles and materials from the different time periods. It is one thing to see artist versions in books but it is a very different thing to see a reconstructed building based on actual examples and then walk inside it. At Butser you can also see how the interiors were furnished and decorated. There is even an amazing reconstructed Roman villa for you to wander through. Butser Ancient Farm is full of exceptionally friendly and helpful staff who love the place, are very knowledgeable and are very keen to tell you all about it. You will come away with an improved knowledge of living spaces over thousands of years, an enhanced love of history and some excellent stories.

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A little gem in Anglesey - Din LLigwy hut group, an amazing 3rd -4th century settlement that few people have heard of or visited!

/ Din LLigwy/

Din LLigwy hut group is an amazing 3rd -4th century settlement that few people have heard of or visited! The foundations of two round huts and several rectangular buildings surrounded by a five feet high stone wall. The whole thing covers an area of approximately half an acre and is situated on a low hill that once had good views over Anglesey but now is partly secluded by a small wood. This is an incredible site when considering all of the buildings on view. All of it can be explored in a very peaceful part of the countryside. In our opinion, if this was in mainland Wales or in a populated area elsewhere in Britain, this large archaeological site would be a very popular tourist destination with an exhibition centre and and an entrance fee.

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Head north to Beamish for an industrial age experience never to be forgotten.

/ Beamish museum/

Take a time machine trip back to the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian times as well as World War Two, at Beamish,”the living museum of the North”. Many visitors leave Beamish with the view that they needed four days, not one to get the complete experience and vow to take advantage of the free return ticket before the year is out. A full day can involve rides on trams, trains and buses, visits to sweet shops, a bank, a grocer’s store, a pit village with miners cottages a school and a 1940’s farm to name but a few! For an extra fee, adults can enjoy extra experiences such as driving the colliery railway locomotive and blacksmithing as well as experiencing war time cookery in the 1940’s Farm Kitchen. Beamish’s “Period Food Team” state that they will “teach you everything you need to know to make a selection of delicious, traditional sweets and treats including cinder toffee, coconut delights, rum truffles and sweetmeats.”

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Bryn Celli Ddu a neolithic burial chamber that you can go inside and henge monument.

/ Bryn Celli Ddu/

Visiting Bryn Celli Ddu takes you back to the Neolithic period, 5000 years ago when farming had come to Britain . Cadw who look after this monument describe it as the best known prehistoric monument on Anglesey and one of the most evocative archaeological sites in Britain.You have a wonderful opportunity to go inside a Neolithic tomb burial chamber. Inside the mound is a narrow passage which ends in a small chamber where human bones, arrowheads and carved stones were found. If you visit Bryn Celli Ddu before sunrise on the longest day of the year, aka the summer solstice, you will see that the rising sun’s rays shine directly down the passage way to illuminate the chamber where the human remains were once placed. This is the only example of this alignment in Anglesey.

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Hampton Court; Kings, Cardinals and Queens plus the occasional ghost!

/ Hampton Court Palace/
Hampton Court; Kings, Cardinals and Queens plus the occasional ghost!

Hampton Court Palace is the most awesome Tudor palace that you will be able to see (many of Henry’s palaces have been partly or totally destroyed). The preservation of the building is remarkable. Unlike many well known places, Hampton Court Palace is not a romantic ruin! It has been described as history in colour. The Great Hall and Chapel Royal will take your breath away. There are many things stand out and are simply stunning. Hampton Court is the centre of a fantastic period of history with fascinating characters like Thomas Wolsey, Anne Boleyn and of course Henry VIII. Most people know a few things about Henry and his six wives and here is the place where a lot of it took place.There are so many badges, emblems and physical references to Henry VIII’s life story that it would take a day to search them all out!

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Castles in North Wales

/ Caernarfon Castle/

Here you will find the best 4 castles in rank order, that you should visit North Wales. A short stay in North Wales can be a castle hunter’s dream. Short car rides from a central location such as Bangor can present you with four of the best preserved medieval castles in the country.North Wales is a very special area for anyone with an interest in medieval history, and the four we’ve mentioned here were described by UNESCO as “the finest examples of late 13th and early 14th century military architecture in Europe.These castles remain in remarkable condition and they give you the opportunity to see the work of one of the greatest castle builders in history: Master James of St George. The castles here are unlike any you will see anywhere else and the Iron Ring of Castles in North Wales are the lasting legacy of Edward I - one of the greatest castle building kings in history.

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Is "The Dig" true?

/ British Museum/

Is “The Dig” true?Netflix has recently released a brilliant film called “the Dig” where a rather rich English lady hires a self taught amateur archaeologist to excavate some mounds on her land only to discover in a rather short period of time, an Anglo-Saxon ship burial together with 263 items which can only be described as “treasure”. Some archaeologists have described the discovery as Britain’s version of the discovery of Tutanhamon’s tomb! The film is set in the year 1939 just before Nazi Germany invaded Poland and the whole of Europe embarked on World War Two. Questions immediately arise, did such an event happen? How could an amateur discover such an amazing find and was it really on the eve of World War Two. Were the main characters based on real people and did they really act according to the script. The core of the story is just as it is portrayed in the film but to add interest and excitement, the story has been tweaked! How much is under the heading “dramatic license”.

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Sutton Hoo, “One of the most spectacular and important discoveries of British archaeology”', according to the British museum.

/ British Museum/

The Sutton Hoo treasure, one of the greatest hoards of treasure found in Britain. See a window into the Anglo-Saxon world after the Romans had left and before the Vikings arrived. The ship burial of a mighty warrior.

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Why did people build castles?

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Why did people build castles in England? Did the reasons for building later versions of castles change and when did they begin building castles are all key questions to be answered in this blog.The story of castles in England really begins with William the Conqueror and his victory in the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Before 1066, a couple of Normans living in England and friends of the English King, Edward the Confessor had built castles but on the whole, castles were not part of the English landscape. When William won the battle, he only had about 8 000 men but unfortunately for him, there were 2.5 million Saxons who loathed him and were prepared to take him on despite him defeating Harold Godwinson, the former king of England. This conquest by a foreigner was not to be tolerated. William knew this and so the main reason for building castles was for his protection and control of the English. William was not only a foreigner, he had a terrible reputation. On arrival in England his men destroyed property in Sussex, pillaging, raping and killing as they went. His cruel reputation was created before he arrived however, with stories of “skinning people alive” and putting out men’s eyes! Protective castles were therefore needed to safeguard a man and his Norman followers from rebellious and vengeful Saxons.

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The lowdown on English castles. What to look out for in a castle?

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The lowdown on English castles. What to look out for in a castle? Many people wander around a castle and complete their visit in a matter of minutes, sadly not knowing about what they have just looked at. This guide will help you to recognise castle features and why the castle builders constructed them. Have this guide ready on your phone and have a quick look at it before you step inside these amazing buildings. You will get a lot of enjoyment out of recognising features and your visit to the castle will be far more rewarding and worth the journey. If you plan to visit a castle with your children, use the guide on your phone and make a discovery game trying to find examples of my top 19. The person who finds the most wins. You can even devise your own points competition.

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Did you know that the bombing of Pearl Harbor was repeated against Darwin in World War Two? Guest contributor Jolyon Bird of Walkmyworld.com tells us all about it.

/ Darwin military museum/
Did you know that the bombing of Pearl Harbor was repeated against Darwin in World War Two? Guest contributor Jolyon Bird of Walkmyworld.com tells us all about it.

The Second World War has several events that are widely known that made it a global conflict - the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Battle of Stalingrad, D-Day and Okinawa to name a few, but it wasn’t until I emigrated to Australia that I learned that the Second World War even touched the Land Down Under. The Bombings of Darwin are the largest attacks by a foreign power on Australia and it not only had a lasting impact on the city of Darwin, but it transformed Australian foreign policy forever. As the USA had declared war on Japan in 1941 after the bombings of Pearl Harbour, the American craft based in Darwin posed a potential threat to the Japanese empire. The bombing of Darwin was seen as a way of taking Timor, showing it’s domination to Australia and taking out America planes and ships.

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The Weald and Downland Museum; a wonderful journey back in time to get a taste medieval life.

/ Weald and Downland Living Museum/
The Weald and Downland Museum; a wonderful journey back in time to get a taste medieval life.

Seeingthepast.com gives you tons of information to help you plan a very successful visit to the Weald and Downland Living Museum. The museum is large and spread out and so planning your visit will improve your day. At the museum you can discover numerous historic buildings set in forty acres of the beautiful South Down’s National Park surroundings. Explore a collection of over 50 restored and replica buildings from a time period stretching from Anglo-Saxon to Edwardian times (approximately 950 AD to 1910 AD). Visitors can have a friendly and informative chat to numerous guides waiting to enthral you with the stories of these incredible structures. You can go inside and see the different kitchens, bedrooms and heating arrangements. Watch various demonstrations taking place and discuss with some highly skilled craftsmen and women what they are doing.

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Stokesay Castle; "The finest and best preserved fortified medieval manor house in England",-English Heritage

/ Stokesay Castle/
Stokesay Castle; "The finest and best preserved fortified medieval manor house in England",-English Heritage

English Heritage states on its website, Stokesay Castle is the finest and best preserved manor house in England and they are the experts. English Heritage also states ,” it remains a treasure by-passed by time, one of the best places to visiting England to experience what medieval life was like.” They own a huge amount of properties and so they would not make this claim lightly. There is an air of tranquility when wandering around Stokesay Castle on a summer’s day. Very little has changed over the past 700 years and it is easy to imagine life in the medieval world especially festivities in the amazing great hall.

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Beaumaris Castle; possibly the greatest British Castle if only it had been finished.

/ Beaumaris Castle/
Beaumaris Castle; possibly the greatest British Castle if only it had been finished.

Beaumaris castle is possibly the greatest British Castle if only it had been finished. It is a brilliant example of a concentric castle, ie, a castle with walls within walls , loads of round towers, a moat, barbicans and no keep. It was built by one of the greatest castle builders, Master James of St George, at a time just before cannons put an end to the first phase of castle building. He attempted to create the ultimate castle. Master James was given a clean canvas on which to design and construct there best ever castle. There is good access to both sets of wall walks and so plenty to explore. It is easy to see all the defensive features and how they added to the overall effectiveness of castles. This was Edward I’s last Welsh castle in his iron ring and initially, money was no object.

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Harlech castle; a fascinating castle with an awesome view

/ Harlech Castle/
Harlech castle; a fascinating castle with an awesome view

Harlech castle; a fascinating castle with an awesome view. Harlech is a beautiful castle and very different from castles nearby and elsewhere in Britain. Approaching the entrance with four majestic round towers in front of you creates an awesome medieval scene. You can walk nearly a whole circuit around the wall walk and get spectacular views of Snowdonia, the sea and the interior of the castle. Harlech has an amazing twin towered gatehouse and is concentric in design. Looking at Harlech from the shore, Harlech is at the top of a rocky promontory and towers over everything. It can be seen for miles. It is one of Edward I’s “Iron Ring” of castles in his quest for the English to control Wales in perpetuity.

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