Wars of the Roses Delights in Suffolk

After over a year, I have finally been able to go on another holiday in which to indulge in my passion of church and castle crawling. I haven’t spent much time in Suffolk before–it’s just a little too far–but there were some places I really wanted to visit, so off we went, braving a crazed…

Jankyn Smith of Bury St Edmunds, a contemporary of John Howard, Duke of Norfolk….

  Learning the details of one particular 15th-century man’s life isn’t always an easy matter. One such man whose existence is known in some depth is one John (Jankyn) Smith of Bury St Edmunds. He was very important to his home town, where he is still remembered now. To read about Jankyn, you’ll find a…

St Edmund, patron saint of pandemics….

And now we have a search for St Edmund, one of England’s early patron saints. As pandemics were one of his concerns, I certainly trust they find him. We could do with his services at the moment! Here’s hoping he’s located. To read more, go here.

Medieval monks often lacked all trace of holiness….

It is a fact that the medieval Church was ruthless in its acts and ambitions. We all know of particular popes, cardinals and archbishops who would stop at nothing to achieve their own personal and political ends, but it came as a surprise to me to discover just how brutal the Church could be on…

Will they dig down for St Edmund, do you think….?

Searching for historic remains seems to be the thing now. More than ever since Richard III. I hope that the work of the folk who went to the Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds on International Dowsers Day will lead to another great discovery.  

St Edmund, the king under a tennis court…?

A wall painting at St Mary the Virgin church in Lakenheath which depicts King Edmund “November 20 is St Edmund’s Day, the feast day of the ‘last king of East Anglia’ and – some would say – England’s proper patron saint. But where do his bones lie? Trevor Heaton explores the twists and turns of…

A Bayeux Tapestry replica comes to Woodbridge

This EADT article explains how, with help from the writers Michael Linton and Charlie Haylock, together with the Mayor and themselves, have ensured that a metal replica of the tapestry will be on show in Woodbridge for two months:

Anyone for tennis?

There is an issue with Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia, who was shot and beheaded by Vikings, today in 869. He isn’t England’s patron saint, although he is far more English than St. George, who is thought to have originated in modern-day Turkey or Syria. However, unlike St. Edward the Confessor, whose brother-in-law…

Where another Duke of Gloucester died

To find the incongruous ruins of this Bury St. Edmunds building, stand on Fornham Road, facing the supermarket car park with the car dealership and the bottom of Station Hill behind you then walk a few paces to the left. St. Saviour’s Hospital dates from about 1184 and was probably founded by Samson, the town’s…

The Fall of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester

Whilst researching my biography of Richard, Duke of York I found myself drawn by a bitter feud that lasted for years and which in many ways was a kind of prequel to the Wars of the Roses. The more I learned about the acrimonious dispute between Cardinal Henry Beaufort and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester the…