The art that made us

This is another fascinating BBC2 series, illustrating English and British history through the evolution of our art. The eight one-hour episodes, narrated by David Threlfall (Men of the World), feature:The Roman and pre-Roman periods, Beowulf, the Norman conquest and the Bayeux Tapestry;     The Black Death, Wilton Diptych, Piers Plowman, Chaucer, Julian of Norwich,…

The stained-glass windows at Canterbury Cathedral are among Europe’s oldest….

Thanks to a TV documentary involving student stained-glass glaziers this viewer was taken to Canterbury Cathedral to see its astonishingly beautiful windows, some of which we learned have now been dated as early as the mid-1100s, maybe even the 1130s.. Léonie Seliger, the head of stained glass conservation at the cathedral, and part of the…

Which Master Crafter will win this new series….?

  According to The Prince’s Master Crafters: The Next Generation (Sky Arts), a new young generation of crafters is desperately needed to halt a virtual haemorrhage of endangered skills, and who better to drum up support than His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales, who is always at the forefront of matters concerning our heritage. The…

Edward V, the Coldridge Mystery and the Telegraph article

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Stained glass image of Edward V in the Evans chapel at Coldridge Church.  Image has been verified as being of Edward V by stained glass experts Brooks and Cherry as well as the Keeper of  Ceramics at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Photo  Photo Dale Cherry Here is a…

This Union: The Ghost Kingdoms of England

This is an excellent series on BBC4 about the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that eventually evolved to fill the vacuum left by departure of the Roman legions. In the first episode, Ian Hislop visits East Anglia, particularly Colchester, Ipswich and Sutton Hoo, viewing some coins with Philip Wise and hearing about the Wuffingas, apparently descended from a…

More technology reveals …

… that Canterbury Cathedral has some of the world’s oldest stained glass. The “windolyser”, which is a new non-destructive technique designed to date windows in situ, has placed some of the  “Canterbury Ancestors” some years before both Becket‘s matyrdom and the fire, four years later, that destroyed the building around them, showing that they were…

A PORTRAIT OF EDWARD V AND THE MYSTERY OF COLDRIDGE CHURCH…Part II A Guest Post by John Dike.

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com   EDWARD V – STAINED GLASS COLDRIDGE CHURCH  A guest post from John Dike who is leading Philippa Langley’s Missing Princes Project team in Devon and following on from my post A Portrait of Edward V and Perhaps Even a Resting Place?  :- The window in the Evans Chantry, St…

SIR JAMES TYRELL – CHILD KILLER OR PROVIDER OF A SAFE HOUSE ?

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com  15th century stained glass from  great east window St Nicholas Chapel, Gipping.  Did Elizabeth Wydeville gaze up at this very window if the family tradition is correct.    Photo thanks to Gerry Morris @ Flikr While there is much information on Sir James  Tyrell, c.1455-1502  available,  unfortunately some of…

A Portrait of Edward V and Perhaps Even a Resting Place?- St Matthew’s Church Coldridge

Reblogged from A Medieval Potpourri sparkypus.com Stained glass image of Edward V Coldridge Church, Devon,   This wonderful church in Devon contains some little gems including a charming portrait of the young Edward V  in  a stained glass window,  king for such a short while.   The story of Edward and his brother, Richard of…

Was the 3rd Duke of York like his youngest son in appearance….?

  When I posted on my Facebook page that it had been suggested to me I write an M&B article about the physical appearance of the 3rd Duke of York, a friend commented: “. . . .According to John Ashdown Hill’s biography of Cecily, he was probably tall because of some poem written about how…