The house with the elusive history….

As a friend has pointed out, how very pleasing to see an old house like this without an ugly topping of huge Tudor chimneys. What a difference it makes. Sharrington Hall, near Holt in Norfolk, is a truly beautiful old property which the agents Savills describe as a “….Historic Grade II* Jacobean Hall dating back…

Did Edward III have any energy left for his Crécy campaign….?

We all know that Edward III and the Hundred Years War go together, not quite like peaches and cream, but together all the same, and during a truce with France he began to prepare for renewed hostilities when the truce ended. After many long weeks of delay, the date of embarkation for his great army…

The new 2025 Bosworth Trail….

Next spring (2025) will see the launching of another attraction set around the Battle of Bosworth and the fate of our favourite king, Richard III. It is to be called Bosworth1485. Not only will the trail take people to the places and through the countryside of relevance, but there will be “interpretation panels” at each…

The mystery castle I didn’t know I was passing in 1957-1960….

In 1958-1960, when I lived just outside Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, I remember that about 1.74 miles/2.80 kilometres from my home I often passed an old farm close to a parish church. I simply noticed, that’s all. Back then I wasn’t particularly interested in history. I was a teenager, more concerned with the likes of Buddy Holly,…

Disappeared in Europe 500 years apart – the eyes have it?

First we have “Perkin Warbeck”, who the 1493 Trois Enseignes Naturelz , as found by the Missing Princes Project in the Austrian State Archives, has confirmed to be Edward V’s brother Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York. The document title is a reference to his distinguishing features, as obliterated by the torture he underwent so…

The real Babes in the Wood of the 14th century….

In 1374 the Langley estates in Lancashire were left to 9-year-old Roger de Langley. On behalf of the boy’s guardian, John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the Sheriff of Lancashire took control of the Langley estates and its young heir during the boy’s minority. It was the law for heirs who were minors to be…

Conisbrough Castle and the House of York.

Conisbrough Castle originates in the Norman period, but the existing structure is largely the work of the Warrenne family, with the keep, by far the most important of the surviving buildings, dating from the 12th Century. When the Warenne family died out in the 14th Century, their lands escheated to the crown and a large…

The Middle East in mediaeval times

As Ascension Day arrives once again, we are reminded of the history of the Holy Land in Richard III’s era – that the Mamluks had displaced Saladin‘s heirs after the latter had defeated the Crusaders under Richard I and Philip Augustus. Of course, we have almost all watched Ivanhoe or read of Richard III meeting…

If Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” were to be first published today….

On 17 April 1387, as part of the annual St George’s Day festivities, it was before the court of Richard II that Chaucer first performed his masterpiece, the Canterbury Tales. It was clear even then that he’d produced a very important work, but it’s only today that we appreciate it to the full—and are still…

The largest brick-built Tudor barn in England….

I know how we often grin when speaking of brick-built outhouses, but in this case it’s a lot bigger than the edifices we laugh about. Hales Hall in Norfolk has a barn-and-a-half. And it really is the largest in England. However, I fear that in order to read about it to the full in this…