
When to Travel to the UK on Vacation: Travel Essentials
Welcome to the Tudor History & Travel Show: Travel Essentials! This is a new addition to The Tudor History & Travel Show for 2021. it is specifically for all you Tudor time-travellers out there who want inspiration for your Tudor road-trip. We will be answering your most pressing travel-related questions and provide top tips for …

Middleham Castle: Daunting Fortress, Luxurious Home and One Priceless Jewel!
Middleham Castle sits in the wide-open, rugged and beautiful landscape of North Yorkshire, about 230 miles north of London and 45 miles northwest of York. It was recounted by Tudor antiquary, John Leyland, as ‘a pretty market town, and standith on a rocky hill, on the top whereof is the castle meately welle dyked with …

Kimbolton Castle: The Final Days and Death of Katherine of Aragon
On 7 January 1535, a beleaguered Katherine of Aragon died at Kimbolton Castle in Cambridgeshire. She had spent the final years of her eventful life in exile, abandoned by her husband, Henry VIII, on account of the king’s quest for a legitimate son and heir. Katherine’s is a sorry tale and her end at Kimbolton …

Rievaulx Abbey & the Brutal Dissolution of the Monasteries
This blog is adapted from an ‘on-location’ interview for my podcast, The Tudor History & Travel Show, recorded at Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire. Our guide is Michael Carter, a senior properties curator at English Heritage. He specialises in English Monasticism and the Cistercian order. Read through to the end to find out Michael’s top …

Venison Pie: A Christmas Tudor Treat
Christmas is fast approaching and after the end of a difficult year for most of us, some feasting and merriment will be most welcome. Well, in this month’s Great Tudor Bake Off, Brigitte Webster, our Tudor chef, here at The Tudor Travel Guide, treats us to a savoury Tudor dish for the dinner table: Tudor …

Tudor ‘Houses of Power’ with Prof Simon Thurley
In this month’s episode of The Tudor Travel Show: Extra! Sarah is in conversation with Professor Simon Thurley, a pre-eminent architectural historian, specialising in Britain’s built environment. Sarah talks to Simon about the Boleyn properties of the early sixteenth century when the family was at the height of its power. She also explores with Simon the …

Hampton Court: The Emergence of a Tudor Palace
The 30 November (2020) sees the 490th anniversary of the sad demise and death of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey at Leicester Abbey. This followed his arrest for treason at Cawood Castle in North Yorkshire earlier that month. To commemorate this event, The Tudor Travel Guide team are holding a virtual summit over the weekend of the …

Luscious Tudor Pears In Conserve
Many of you will have been as sad as I was to learn that, here in the UK, we have just lost one of our most ancient pear trees to a new railway project. In honour of this tree, and as pears are currently seasonal and easy to obtain, I have chosen the pear as …

Esher Place: House of Mourning
The tragic and untimely death of Jane Seymour 483 years ago today devastated Henry VIII. Although Jane died at Hampton Court Palace, as we shall hear in this week’s guest blog from Sylvia Barbara Soberton, Henry retreated to grieve at nearby Esher Place to mourn his loss. Now you can learn more about this narrow …

Harvington Hall: House of Secrets
If you want to explore a Tudor ‘house of secrets’ then the subject of today’s blog, Harvington Hall in Worcestershire, is going to be right up your street. As you will hear, this incredibly raw and authentic Elizabethan moated manor house was designed with the utmost subterfuge in mind. In exploring the history of the …

Mary Howard: The Indomitable Tudor Duchess
Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond, was a force of nature. The youngest daughter of the 3rd Duke of Norfolk, she was at odds religiously with most of the rest of her Howard family, went head-to-head with Henry VIII in a battle for money and flatly refused to be pressured into remarriage when three of the …

The Tudor Travel Show – Episode 27: The Royal Mile and Holyroodhouse
Part Three: The Royal Mile and Holyroodhouse This month sees the launch of a special celebration of the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, here, on The Tudor Travel Show. Throughout September, I will be publishing one episode a week, as I follow ‘In the Footsteps’ of this legendary Scottish queen, visiting some of the most …

The Tudor Travel Show – Episode 28: Edinburgh Castle and an Audience with Marie Stuart
Right, now for my Tudor Rose ration fo the Old Palace of Hatfield. Now this specifically applies to the Old Palace and not Hatfield House. For Historical Significance: 5 Tudor roses. This place was Elizabeth’s refuge and she lived there over a considerable period of time, on and off from being a baby. I consider …

Tudor Apple Fritters: The Perfect Autumn Treat
Welcome to this month’s Great Tudor Bake Off! Once again, Brigitte Webster takes us on a culinary journey through Tudor England. last month our seasonal ingredient was the plum and we learned to make a fabulous Tudor Plum Tart. As it is September, this month, our seasonal ingredient will be the humble apple. Make sure …

HolyRoodhouse: Pleasure Palace of the Stuarts
It is impossible to write a series of blogs about Mary, Queen of Scots without talking about Holyroodhouse, also known as The Palace of Holyrood. It was one of Mary’s most favoured residences. It was the place in which she spent her first night on Scottish soil after her return from France in 1561; the …

Jedburgh and the Mysterious Near-Death of Mary, Queen of Scots
For a fleeting period of time, in the autumn of 1566, those standing around the bed of Mary, Queen of Scots thought she was dead. Her near demise has often been blamed on an extraordinary 50-60 mile round-trip that Mary undertook, on horseback, from the town of Jedburgh to visit the badly wounded Earl of …

Inchmahome Priory: The Romantic Refuge of the Scots Queen
This month, The Tudor Travel Show podcast celebrates the life of Mary Queen of Scots. We will be delving into some of the most iconic places in which she lived during her time in Scotland. Of course, the tale is one of two halves. Mary’s first stint in Scotland covers her early childhood. In the …

Tudor Plum Tart: The Irresistible Sweetness of Summer
As summer here in England begins to draw to an end, we have one final chance to savour one of its fleshy delights: the plum. In this month’s Great Tudor Bake Off, Brigitte Webster, from TudorExperience.com takes us through the Tudor history of the plum and shows us how to bake a Tudor plum tart. …

Dreamy Anne Boleyn Locations for the Discerning Time Traveller
What are your favourite Tudor locations associated with Anne Boleyn? Where do you dream of visiting? Hever Castle? Well, of course! Hampton Court? Without a doubt! But what about some of the less often visited places? Well, in today’s blog, I wanted to share some of my favourite Anne Boleyn locations. This piece that was …

In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn: Behind the Scenes!
As I continue my travels on the road this month, I wanted to share with you what went on behind the scenes when my co-author and Tudor partner-in-crime, Natalie Grueninger and I, set out to write our first ‘In the Footsteps’ book together: In the Footsteps of Anne Boleyn. So, have you ever wondered how …