For sale: The history of the de Vere Earls of Oxford….

  The present Priory House at Earls Colne (judged Best Village in Essex in 2015) may be early 19th-century but has a great history because it’s “….built on the site of a Benedictine priory founded by the de Vere family, Earls of Oxford, in the early 12th century, the remains of which lie buried under…

Grey Friars building and car park up for auction in Leicester….

With a guide price of £4 million there will be an auction of this large edifice (the Grey Friars Building) that stands right next to where the remains of Richard III were found. The auction is to be on Wednesday, February 15. It’s Grade II listed, but not only because of its proximity to where…

ASTLEY CASTLE – HOME TO SIR JOHN AND ELIZABETH GREY nee WYDEVILLE.

Astley Castle and church..photo taken 1976. Courtesy of Will Roe, Nuneaton Memories. Astley Castle, Warwickshire, was the marital home of Sir John and Elizabeth Grey nee Wydeville.  Sir John often comes across as a shadowy figure, outshone in eminence by his wife, and later widow, who went on to catch the eye of a king.  This…