In July 1535, Henry VIII set out from Windsor Castle in Berkshire on what would become one of the longest and most politically significant progresses of the king’s reign.
Name and Title: John Beaufort and Margaret Beauchamp, 1st Duke (also 3rd Earl of Somerset) and Duchess of Somerset (also Lady St John and Lady Welles).
Born: John Beaufort b.1404; Margaret Beauchamp c. 1410
Died: John Beaufort Died: 3 May 1444, London. Margaret Beauchamp Died: before 3 June 1482.
Buried: Wimborne Minster, Dorset.
Read more and see images of the tomb here…
The next significant stop on the 1502 progress after Woolaston was Berkeley Castle, where the royal couple stayed for five days from 29 August to 4 September.
Berkeley Castle still stands largely untouched since it was set in stone during the eleventh, twelfth and fourteenth centuries.Â
Berkeley Castle is highly distinctive in appearance. Built on a typical Norman motte and bailey design during the early and mid-medieval period, it has been constructed from local pink, grey, and yellow Severn sandstone, with its roofs mainly made of Cotswold stone, slate, or lead.Â
To read the entire article, join the membership by clicking the red button in the top right hand corner of this page.
We visit the Old Palace of Hatfield, one of the most significant places in the life of Elizabeth I. It was here that the 3-month old princess was brought from London to establish her first household under the watchful eye of Sir John and Lady Shelton, the uncle and aunt of Anne Boleyn. Some twenty-five years later, it was reputedly while sitting under the gnarled oak tree in the Great Park at Hatfield that Princess Elizabeth heard of the death of her sister, Mary, and therefore of her accession to the throne of England.
In this episode, I head to West Horsley Place in Surrey, southeast England. After being seized by Henry VIII, he gave the estate to his cousin and childhood friend, Henry Courtenay who lived in the house with his wife, Getrude until his death in December 1538.
Name and Title: John Beaufort and Margaret Beauchamp, 1st Duke (also 3rd Earl of Somerset) and Duchess of Somerset (also Lady St John and Lady Welles).
Born: John Beaufort b.1404; Margaret Beauchamp c. 1410
Died: John Beaufort Died: 3 May 1444, London. Margaret Beauchamp Died: before 3 June 1482.
Buried: Wimborne Minster, Dorset.
Read more and see images of the tomb here…
In this guide, we travel to York, the capital city and crowning jewel of North Yorkshire. It is one of the ‘must visit’ destinations in the North of England, with its history stretching back to the Roman conquest It is among a select handful of English cities to have most of its medieval walls still intact, and within those walls, wonky medieval buildings and higgledy-piggledy streets abound.
We visit Arundel Castle, a historic castle and stately home located in the town of Arundel in West Sussex, England. It is one of the country’s most iconic and well-preserved medieval castles, boasting a rich history that spans over a thousand years. Arundel Castle has been the ancestral seat of the Howard family, the Dukes of Norfolk, since the sixteenth century. Today, Arundel Castle is open to the public.
In this episode, I head to Warwick to visit the Lord Leycester, one of the most important examples of intact medieval architecture in Britain. Recently restored, the Lord Leycester has an incredible history spanning 900 years. Today it is open to the public, where the ex servicemen who reside there serve as guides for visitors.
Today, Hever Castle is a quintessential fortified medieval manor house, nestled in the bottom of an idyllic, gently sloping valley. The setting makes the picture-perfect English postcard; sculpted lawns with pretty lily-covered moats; all around you, immaculately tended flower and herb gardens abound. We discover how the castle looked in Anne Boleyn’s day as we travel back to the sixteenth century…
