<rss xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" xmlns:nm="http://www.newmind.co.uk/rssmodules/tourism" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" xmlns:xCal="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:xcal"
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    <title>Visit Heritage</title>
    <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk</link>
    <description>Visit Heritage Blog</description>
    <language>en-GB</language>
    <pubDate>Sat, 04 Jan 2025 23:26:33 GMT</pubDate>
    <lastBuildDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT</lastBuildDate>
    <docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
    <ttl>60</ttl>
    <item>
      <title>The murder that rocked the Middle Ages</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/12/the-murder-that-rocked-the-middle-ages-b411</link>
      <description>Just over 850 years ago, on 29 th December 1170, a murder changed the course of history and marked the downfall of a monarch – here’s the story of Thomas Becket.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just over 850 years ago, on 29<sup>th</sup> December 1170, a murder changed the course of history and marked the downfall of a monarch &ndash; here&rsquo;s the story of Thomas Becket.</p>

<p>At one time, Thomas Becket was one of the most powerful figures of his age. His murder, which took place in Canterbury Cathedral, is something that remains just as shocking now as it was at the time. While you might have been visiting Canterbury Cathedral to enjoy the festivities at this time of year, let&rsquo;s not forget what happened to Thomas Becket, former Archbishop of Canterbury.</p>

<h2>Who was Thomas Becket?</h2>

<p>Thomas Becket, later known as St Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and Thomas &aacute; Becket, was born in the Cheapside area of London in 1120. His parents and grandparents were Norman, and had come to London following the Battle of Hastings. His father, Gilbert Becket was a well connected merchant and it is believed that there was some relation to Theobald of Bec, Thomas&rsquo; predecessor as Archbishop of Canterbury. Despite having connections, the Becket family were not known to be particularly wealthy or powerful, though Thomas was of a high enough status to receive an education, studying at Merton Priory and attending a grammar school in London, possibly the one at St Paul&rsquo;s Cathedral. While at school, he was known to have studied grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. He even went away to Paris for a year to continue his studies, though it was said that he never had any real education in church affairs and his Latin wasn&rsquo;t the best.</p>

<p>His education was cut short when his father&rsquo;s fortunes changed and Thomas had to return to England and find work. He began to clerk for Theobald of Bec, the Archbishop of Canterbury and was described as being intelligent and charming. Thomas was trusted with several important tasks for the Archbishop, including visiting Rome, and Theobald instructed him in the study of canon law. Not long after starting this work, Thomas was named the Archdeacon of Canterbury and held several ecclesiastical offices around England. Theobald became so impressed with him, that he recommended him to King Henry II for the vacant post of Lord Chancellor.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-normandy/henry-ii-the-first-plantagenet">Henry II</a> was also impressed with Thomas and appointed him Lord Chancellor in January of 1155. The pair became close friends, going hunting and gaming together. It is said that Thomas thoroughly embraced court life and his friendship with the king. He took on several residences, all of which were lavishly decorated and was known to throw huge parties.</p>

<h2>But&hellip; What is a Lord Chancellor?</h2>

<p>As Lord Chancellor, Thomas Becket&rsquo;s main role collecting and administrating the money that the crown took from all landowners around England &ndash; this included the churches and bishopricks. That&rsquo;s important, so keep it to hand for later.</p>

<p>During this time, Thomas became incredibly rich and powerful and was even trusted with the care of King Henry&rsquo;s son, also Henry, who went to live in Becket&rsquo;s household. Though the pair were friends, Thomas maintained his relationships with those he met through the church, so when Theobald of Bec passed and the position of Archbishop of Canterbury became available, Thomas was one of those nominated for the role. This pleased King Henry, who was keen to appoint someone who would allow him to exert more power over the church and on 23<sup>rd</sup> May 1162, Thomas was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, something he would do alongside his role of Chancellor.</p>

<h2>The great falling out</h2>

<p>So, Thomas Becket is now Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury, besties with the king and enjoying an elevated level of power and wealth. How did it all go wrong?</p>

<p>Well, for a time, it was all rosy. Thomas continued in his role as Chancellor and took on the duties of the Archbishop, however, he found himself leaning further into the church and began to pull away from the king. He wanted to protect church interests and against King Henry&rsquo;s wishes, resigned as chancellor. This was the beginning of the end.</p>

<p>From the end of 1162 onwards, their relationship deteriorated to the point where Thomas was summoned to appear before the King&rsquo;s Council and surrender all his property as punishment for upsetting the king. Thomas refused, choosing instead to flee the country, landing in France.</p>

<h2>Thomas in exile</h2>

<p>Thomas Becket remained in exile in France for the next six years, under the protection of King Louis of France.</p>

<p>While he was out of the country, King Henry continued to try and gain a stronghold in the church. At one point, he snubbed Thomas by having his rival, the Archbishop of York, crown his son, Henry &ndash; the very one that Thomas helped raise &ndash; early as a co ruler, making him Henry the Young King. This caused a whole load of problems &ndash; not just with the King and Thomas&rsquo;s relationship, but that&rsquo;s a story for another time. Having the Archbishop of York crown Henry the Young King, breached Canterbury&rsquo;s privilege of coronation, something that soon became the business of the Pope himself.</p>

<p>Thomas appealed to the Pope, who put enough pressure on King Henry that he agreed to negotiate Thomas&rsquo; return to England. In the summer of 1170, the pair spoke for the first time in six years, with King Henry assuring that Thomas could come home and have his powers as Archbishop of Canterbury fully restored. Though Thomas took the olive branch offered to him, he was keen to have the last word, using his reinstated powers to excommunicate the Archbishop of York and the others that had been involved in the coronation.</p>

<h2>The lead up to the murder</h2>

<h2></h2>

<p>Thomas Becket returned to England on 1<sup>st</sup> December 1170, apparently to cheering crowds. However, several members of the clergy were upset with his actions and complained to the king.</p>

<p>King Henry, who was in France himself at the time was outraged. It was here that he supposedly declared: &ldquo;Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?&rdquo; in front of a group of knights. Contemporary reports say what he actually said &ldquo;What miserable drones and traitors have I nourished and brought up in my household, who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low born cleric?&rdquo; &ndash; a reference to Thomas&rsquo; humble roots. Though King Henry later claimed that this wasn&rsquo;t an order, it prompted four knights, Reginald FitzUrse, William de Tracy, Hug de Morville and Richard le Bret (or Breton) &nbsp;to travel to Canterbury in search of Thomas.</p>

<h2>The murder</h2>

<p>Unlike most murders, there were a number of witnesses to Thomas&rsquo;. One key account is from a man called Edward Grim, who was so close to the killing, he was actually wounded by one of the knight&rsquo;s swords.</p>

<p>On the day of the murder, Thomas was at the Archbishop&rsquo;s palace. The knights initially left their weapons outside and hid their armour under cloaks before entering the palace. They approached Thomas and told him he was to go to Winchester to give his reasons for the excommunication. He refused and the monks at the palace, advised him to go to the Cathedral for sanctuary.</p>

<p>With Thomas&rsquo; refusal to submit to the king&rsquo;s will, the knights retrieved their weapons and followed him to the Cathedral. The monks tried to bolt the doors for safety, but Thomas reportedly said that it wasn&rsquo;t right to make a fortress out of a house of prayer and refused to let them shut the doors.</p>

<p>The knights burst in and attempted to forcibly remove Thomas from the building. He again refused, holding to one of the pillars to prevent from being taken away. Realising he wasn&rsquo;t going to come quietly, the knights drew their swords, FitzUrse appeared to be the ringleader and delivered the first, but non fatal, blow to Thomas&rsquo; head. This blow apparently sliced off the top of his head, and motivated the other knights to also begin to attack, which caused injury to Edward Grim, and leading the others in the cathedral to flee. The third strike, thought to have been dealt by Richard le Breton, was the killing strike and left him with a broken sword. At this point, the top of Thomas&rsquo; head had been completely removed, exposing his brain. A clerk who accompanied the knights was said to have put his foot on Thomas&rsquo; neck as he lay dying, kicking at his damaged head before saying: &ldquo;Let us go knights, this fellow will not get up again.&rdquo;</p>

<p>After the murder, the knights returned to the Archbishop&rsquo;s Palace, plundering Papal Bulls, Charters, gold, silver, vestments, books and utensils.</p>

<h2>A sidenote on the murderers</h2>

<h2></h2>

<p>The four knights who set off in search of Thomas Becket were Reginald FitzUrse, William de Tracy, Hug de Morville and Richard le Bret (or Breton).</p>

<p>These knights were all high ranking individuals. Hugh de Morville also held the title of Lord of Westmoreland and Knaresborough. His father was also the Constable of Scotland and offered them sanctuary following the murder. The four of them sought refuge at Knaresborough Castle, which was owned by the de Morville family, for some time.</p>

<p>William de Tracy lends his name to the town of Bovey Tracey in Devon, where his family seat originated. He also founded his own church at Nymet Tracey.</p>

<h2>The aftermath</h2>

<p>After the knights had left, the clergy at Canterbury were in shock. The body was left where it fell for several hours, with several people coming to the cathedral to collect vials of Thomas&rsquo; blood, under the belief that he would become a martyr. He was later moved to the high altar over night, before being buried the following day in the cathedral&rsquo;s crypt.</p>

<p>Almost as soon as news of the death began to spread, people began to report witnessing miracles, which led to the monks being pressured to open up the crypt so that people could visit the tomb, which resulted in even more miracles being reported. Something that continued for several years.</p>

<p>The fact that an Archbishop was murdered, apparently by order of the king, in a holy place, is what made something that was already quite gruesome, even more so. There was increasingly public pressure on King Henry to acknowledge the murder and take accountability for it. He was threatened with excommunication and did public penance in several cathedrals, as well as being forbidden from attending Mass.</p>

<p>On 21<sup>st</sup> February 1173, Thomas Becket was officially canonised by the Pope, one of the fastest canonisations in history. This meant that his reputation as a miracle worker spread quickly, with people coming from all over Europe in the hope that his spirit could heal them. Canterbury became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations, with visitors coming from all over to purchase bottles of Thomas&rsquo; blood mixed with water, that was sold by the monks as St Thomas&rsquo; Water.</p>

<p>The following year, in another act of public penance, King Henry visited the tomb.</p>

<p>And what about the knights that actually killed him? Well, the four of them fled first to Scotland where they were protected by Hugh de Morville&rsquo;s father, the Constable of Scotland. From there, they made their way to Knaresborough Castle in Yorkshire, another of the de Morville&rsquo;s residences.</p>

<p>All four were excommunicated by Pope and were ordered to undertake penitentiary pilgrimages to the Holy Land, where they were to spend 14 years. However, none of them were arrested and the crown did not confiscate their lands. However, he did refuse to help them when they sought his protection in the summer after the murder.</p>

<p>The four of them attempted to appeal to the pope, three of them, De Morville, le Breton and de Tracy built a church near Scunthorpe, but this did not impress anyone. They were ordered to go to Rome, though their departure was delayed by a rebellion against the king. Finally, after four years, they were all granted an audience in Rome and were banished to Jerusalem. There are conflicting accounts about what happened to each of the knights after this, it is thought that de Tracy died of leprosy before reaching the holy lands, but it is thought that le Breton completed his exile and eventually retired to Jersey. The others were believed to have died in Jerusalem, their remains were thought to have been sent to Brean Downs in Somerset.</p>

<p>In 1220, Thomas Becket&rsquo;s body was moved from the crypt to a new purpose built shrine on the upper floor of the cathedral and continued to bring visitors to Canterbury until 1538 when Henry VIII ordered the destruction of the shrine during the dissolution of the monasteries. He also destroyed Becket&rsquo;s bones and ordered all mention of his name to be removed from texts. Henrys clearly have it in for Thomas Becket.</p>

<p>There are several churches across the UK that are dedicated to Thomas Becket that you can visit, including:</p>

<p>Cathedral Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, Portsmouth<br>
St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Canterbury<br>
Church of St Thomas the Martyr, Monmouth<br>
St Thomas &aacute; Becket Church, Pensford<br>
St Thomas &aacute; Becket, Widcombe<br>
Church of St Thomas &aacute; Becket, Capal<br>
St Thomas the Martyr, Bristol<br>
St Thomas the Martyr&rsquo;s Church, Oxford</p>

<p>So there you are, while visiting Canterbury to enjoy the festive season, spare a thought for the hideous murder of Thomas Becket, that took place in the cathedral itself.</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/12/the-murder-that-rocked-the-middle-ages-b411#comments411</comments>
      <pubDate>Mon, 16 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Britain’s forgotten Christmas traditions</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/11/britains-forgotten-christmas-traditions-b407</link>
      <description>We all have our own traditions when it comes to Christmas, maybe you all get new pyjamas to go to bed with on Christmas Eve, maybe you leave out a treat for Father Christmas or if you don’t celebrate or celebrate a different holiday in your house hold, there are other traditions that are special to you. Did you know though that Britain’s general Christmas traditions have changed throughout the years and some have disappeared completely.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We all have our own traditions when it comes to Christmas, maybe you all get new pyjamas to go to bed with on Christmas Eve, maybe you leave out a treat for Father Christmas or if you don&rsquo;t celebrate or celebrate a different holiday in your house hold, there are other traditions that are special to you. Did you know though that Britain&rsquo;s general Christmas traditions have changed throughout the years and some have disappeared completely.</p>

<p>Here are some of the forgotten traditions that would have been part of the Christmas celebrations in years gone by.</p>

<h3>The Lord of Misrule</h3>

<p>This is something the royal family would have definitely done back in the day &ndash; especially pre Tudor England. Under the tradition, a member of the royal court would be made Lord of Misrule, allowing them to be mayor of their town or city for the Christmas season and would provide entertainment to all who lived there. Henry VIII ended up banning the practice but Elizabeth I and the Stuarts did bring it back briefly.</p>

<h3>First footing</h3>

<p>In a tradition that was observed mainly in England and Scotland, first footing was the idea that the first person to cross the threshold on Christmas Eve brought good luck with them. Personally, we think this one should come back!</p>

<h3>Going to bed with an onion</h3>

<p>Yes, you read that right. For over three centuries, women in Britain would take an onion to bed with them on St Thomas&rsquo; Eve (that happens right before Christmas Eve). The tradition says that on this day, you have to peel an onion, wrap it up and then put it under your pillow. If you pray to St Thomas, it is said that your lover will be brought to your arms that night.</p>

<p>That wasn&rsquo;t the only tradition on St Thomas&rsquo; Day&hellip;</p>

<p>St Thomas&rsquo; Day was traditionally a day where the less fortunate would go house to house and ask for food or money for Christmas. The practice had several different names depending on where in England you were, in Kent it was known as a-Thomasing and a-mumping in parts of Herefordshire.</p>

<h3>Goose dancing</h3>

<p>This didn&rsquo;t actually involve geese, but it did involve dancing. Apparently, on the Isles of Scilly, people would dress up in clothes associated with the opposite gender. They would then knock on doors and dance with whoever opened up. Women would typically dress as sailors and men as aristocratic ladies and they would jokingly flirt and banter with each other, which sounds like lots of fun to us!</p>

<h3>Eating a mince pie a day</h3>

<p>

<p>While an apple a day is said to keep the doctor away, in the Middle Ages the tradition was to eat one mince pie every day from Christmas Day until 6<sup>th</sup> January, that&rsquo;s one mince pie for the 12 days of Christmas. This is another one we can get behind!</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/11/britains-forgotten-christmas-traditions-b407#comments407</comments>
      <pubDate>Wed, 27 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Stir up Sunday – a winter tradition</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/11/stir-up-sunday-a-winter-tradition-b406</link>
      <description>It won’t be long before the Christmas decorations are up, Michael Buble is thawed out and crooning from our speakers and the shops start advertising Christmas Puddings.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img alt="" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/2(27).jpg"></p>

<p>It won&rsquo;t be long before the Christmas decorations are up, Michael Buble is thawed out and crooning from our speakers and the shops start advertising Christmas Puddings.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It&rsquo;s the time of year for celebrating tradition and enjoying the nostalgia of season but there is one very important tradition that kicks off the season and we&rsquo;re here to help you get involved too!</p>

<p>Stir Up Sunday takes place on 24<sup>th</sup> November, the last Sunday before Advent and is an important date in the Christmas celebration because it&rsquo;s the day that Christmas puddings are prepared ready for the big day! Though you might think the name comes from the actual act of stirring together the ingredients but it actually comes from the Book of Common Prayer.</p>

<p>Anyway, let&rsquo;s take a look at the tradition of the Christmas Pudding and how you can get involved with Stir Up Sunday.</p>

<p>As we&rsquo;re sure you know, the Christmas Pudding as we know it today was introduced to British culture by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. He usually gets the credit for lots of our Christmas traditions, but George I was actually the first person to introduce the concept of a meatless Christmas Pudding. We have him to thank for a lot of our traditional puddings, so many in fact that he ended up being nicknamed the Pudding King!</p>

<p>Anyway, the original Christmas Pudding contained meat and was eaten as a starter, though thankfully, that died out. The pudding as we know it today contains spices, dried fruit and brandy &ndash; traditionally there were 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples and silver coins were added into the mixture. Whoever found it on Christmas Day was said to receive health, wealth and happiness in the common year. Though, for health and safety reasons, it probably isn&rsquo;t a good idea to add coins to your puddings these days!</p>

<p>Tradition states that on Stir Up Sunday, families gather together to mix the pudding&rsquo;s ingredients, with everyone taking a turn to stir while making a wish. It must be stirred from east to west in honour of the Wise Men who visited the baby Jesus.</p>

<p>And why the last day before Advent? Well, it is because Christmas Puddings need around 5 weeks to fully infuse all those flavours! In fact, any Christmas treat involving dried fruit and alcohol takes several weeks to fully prepare, so you might as well make yourself a Christmas Cake while you&rsquo;re at it.</p>

<p>Want to get involved this Stir Up Sunday?</p>

<p>Here&rsquo;s a traditional Christmas Pudding recipe, though don&rsquo;t worry, we don&rsquo;t expect you to use a cloth to steam it!</p>

<p><strong>Ingredients:</strong></p>

<p>50g blanched almonds<br>
2 large Bramley apples<br>
200g candied peel<br>
1 whole nutmeg<br>
1kg raisins<br>
140g plain flour<br>
100g soft white breadcrumbs<br>
100g light muscovado sugar<br>
3 large eggs<br>
2 tbsp brandy<br>
250g butter</p>

<p><strong>Method:</strong></p>

<p>Chop the almonds; peel, core and chop the apples. If the candied peel is not already chipped, do this and grate around &frac34; of the nutmeg. Mix these together with the raisins, flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, eggs and 2 tbsp of brandy in a large bowl.</p>

<p>Get the butter straight out of the fridge and grate around &frac14; into the bowl. Stir everything together and then grate the rest of the butter in quarters until all in the bowl and then stir for around 4 minutes. The mixture is ready when it subsides slightly after each stir. If you&rsquo;re doing Stir Up Sunday the traditional way, get everyone in the family to take a turn stirring and making a wish until you get to this point.</p>

<p>Grease two 1.2 litre bowls and add a circle of baking parchment into each one.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Fill the bowls with the pudding mixture and cover with a double layer of baking parchment, pleating it to allow for expansion and then tie with string. Trim off any excess paper.</p>

<p>Stand each bowl on a large sheet of foil and bring the edges up over the top. Add another sheet of foil over the top and bring it down underneath to make the puddings water tight, tie these with string, making sure to create a small handle to allow you to easily lift in and out of the pans.</p>

<p>Now, boil or oven steam the puddings for 8 hours, topping up the water when necessary.</p>

<p>Once cooked, remove from the pans and leave to cool overnight. When cold, discard the wrappings and rewrap in foil and baking paper and store in a cool dry place to mature ready for Christmas!&nbsp;</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/11/stir-up-sunday-a-winter-tradition-b406#comments406</comments>
      <pubDate>Mon, 11 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Cornish monument discovered to be older and more unique than originally thought</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/11/cornish-monument-discovered-to-be-older-and-more-unique-than-originally-thought-b410</link>
      <description>Archaeologists have found that King Arthur’s Hall, a stone and turf structure on Bodmin Moor is much older than originally thought.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Archaeologists have found that King Arthur&rsquo;s Hall, a stone and turf structure on Bodmin Moor is much older than originally thought.&nbsp;It had been believed to be a medieval animal pen, but recent studies have discovered that the structure is actually Neolithic and is unique in Europe, with nothing similar being uncovered.</p>

<p>&nbsp;The new research now means that King Arthur&rsquo;s Hall&rsquo;s original purpose is a mystery. The monument, which is on Bodmin Moor, close to Helstone, consists of a banked enclosure that measures around 49m x 21m and features 56 standing stones lining the inside. The new study was commissioned by Cornwall National Landscape, after initial investigations by locals called the medieval origins into question. The study, undertaken by the Cornwall Archaeological Unit and experts from the universities of Reading, St Andrews and Newcastle, has now found that the interior of the monument dates back to around 3000 BC.</p>

<p>Speaking about the find, lead archaeologist, James Gossip, told reporters: &ldquo;There isn&rsquo;t another one of these anywhere. There is nothing built at that time or subsequently in prehistory that is a rectangular earth and stone bank with a setting of stone orthostats around the interior. There is no other parallel.&rdquo;</p>

<p>When asked about the reason for the structure, he told reporters he believed it functioned as a place for the community to gather. The middle Neolithic period, which King Arthur&rsquo;s Hall dates back to, was a time where communities started to form and buildings began to appear. Gossip said: &ldquo;The thinking is that these are meeting points for communities, perhaps to mark special occasions or to carry out ceremonies. It remains an enigma, but now we know a little more about it, and we can firmly place it in the prehistoric landscape context of Cornwall.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Cornwall is important in the myths of King Arthur, though the structure didn&rsquo;t receive its name until around the 1580s, so even if he did exist, it wasn&rsquo;t built for him.&nbsp; It is generally believed that people attributed ancient monuments and unexplained sites to King Arthur because of his association with something mythical and powerful.</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/11/cornish-monument-discovered-to-be-older-and-more-unique-than-originally-thought-b410#comments410</comments>
      <pubDate>Fri, 08 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>National Lottery Heritage Fund awards grant to celebrate Devon’s heritage</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/11/national-lottery-heritage-fund-awards-grant-to-celebrate-devons-heritage-b409</link>
      <description>The Devonshire Association has received a grant of £39,936 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to raise awareness of the heritage of six outstanding assets in the county which have been designated as having global significance by UNESCO.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Devonshire Association has received a grant of &pound;39,936 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to raise awareness of the heritage of six outstanding assets in the county which have been designated as having global significance by UNESCO.</p>

<p>The Devonshire Association, a charity with over 150 years of experience in championing science, art and literature in Devon, will use the grant to put on events aimed at engaging the public with the county&rsquo;s unique heritage. There will be a number of free talks and events taking place across the six areas recognised by UNESCO. These areas include:</p>

<p>Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site<br>
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape Heritage site<br>
North Devon Biosphere Reserve<br>
The Exeter City of Literature<br>
Exeter Cathedral&rsquo;s Exeter Book<br>
English Riviera Geopark.</p>

<p><img alt="Exeter street showing the cathedral and Tudor style houses" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/1(32).jpg"></p>

<p><em>Image: Exeter Cathederal and Tudor houses</em></p>

<p>As well as these events, there will also be a number of talks celebrating Devon&rsquo;s World Class Heritage and a celebration of Exeter Cathedral.</p>

<p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/11/national-lottery-heritage-fund-awards-grant-to-celebrate-devons-heritage-b409#comments409</comments>
      <pubDate>Mon, 04 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Get into the festive spirit at Syon Park</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/10/get-into-the-festive-spirit-at-syon-park-b408</link>
      <description>Grab your festive treats and stock up on the Christmas cheer at Syon Park this November with the Two Day Festive Market.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Grab your festive treats and stock up on the Christmas cheer at Syon Park this November with the Two Day Festive Market.</p>

<p>Curated by Dapper and Suave and taking place in Syon Park&rsquo;s Great Conservatory, you&rsquo;ll find 49 small businesses offering a range of high quality items, perfect for stocking fillers, gifts, decorations and food for the festive season.</p>

<p>The Two Day Festive Market is running on 22<sup>nd</sup> November, from 3pm &ndash; 8pm and 23<sup>rd</sup> November, from 10 am &ndash; 4pm.</p>

<p>Find out more <a href="https://syonpark.co.uk/events/festive-market/">here.</a></p>

<p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/10/get-into-the-festive-spirit-at-syon-park-b408#comments408</comments>
      <pubDate>Thu, 31 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Horrific History | Spooky stories from across the UK</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/10/horrific-history-spooky-stories-from-across-the-uk-b405</link>
      <description>With spooky season nearly upon us, it’s time to get cosy and tell a ghost story or two and here in the UK, we’re never short of a few of those.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With spooky season nearly upon us, it&rsquo;s time to get cosy and tell a ghost story or two and here in the UK, we&rsquo;re never short of a few of those. From the stories of beheaded queens running around the Tower of London to the witch trials and the horrors of Jack the Ripper, there are plenty of spooky tales to tell throughout history. We&rsquo;ve told you several of them over the years, but we thought for this edition of Horrific History, we&rsquo;ll be delving into some of the spookiest stories from across the UK.</p>

<h2>The hairy hands of Dartmoor</h2>

<p>Dartmoor National Park in Devon is home to some really creepy stories. Not only did it inspire Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write the Hound of the Baskervilles after hearing about so called Yeth Hounds, which are said to roam the moor at night and are considered harbingers of doom, but there are also stories of giants, witches and ghostly visitors to graves. One of the best known spooky stories from Dartmoor however involves a pair of hairy, disembodied hands. Supposedly, people travelling along a stretch of road near Postbridge on Dartmoor have been terrorised by the apparition of a pair of hairy hands that come out of nowhere and attempt to force them off the road. While you might think this is a way to explain dangerous driving, stories of these hands have been popping up since the early 1900s. Everyone from army captains to staff at Dartmoor prison and holiday makers have reported seeing the hands &ndash; they don&rsquo;t always go for moving vehicles either, one woman reported that the disembodied hands attempted to gain access to her caravan after she had set up camp for the night.</p>

<p>While some claim that the incidents can be attributed to people who aren&rsquo;t familiar with the narrow roads around Dartmoor, others say that the hairy hands are just one of the many spirits that call the moor home. After all, there are many tales of witches, giants, pixies and more from those that live on Dartmoor.</p>

<h2>Edinburgh&rsquo;s underground vaults</h2>

<h2></h2>

<p>You might have heard of Paris&rsquo; catacombs, but did you know there is some spooky underground goings on much closer to home? Beneath Edinburgh&rsquo;s Old City, there are a collection of underground vaults and passageways which you can visit as part of a tour via the team at the Real Mary King&rsquo;s Close.</p>

<p>These vaults were at one time the home to the city&rsquo;s poorest and were dark, dank and had little in the way of ventilation. The deepest and most extensive of these can be found at Blair Street, with one of the rooms being used as a tavern dealing in illicit whiskey. Unlike the catacombs in Paris, there has been no discovery of human remains, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean that people didn&rsquo;t live and die down there, one particularly restless spirit is a little girl known as Abandoned Annie, who likes to grab the hands of visitors. Today, there is a little altar dedicated to Annie, where you can leave donations which then go towards helping Edinburgh&rsquo;s sick children.</p>

<h2>The Hellfire Caves</h2>

<p>No, we&rsquo;re not talking Stranger Things, we&rsquo;re talking about actual Hellfire Clubs, a series of secret societies for high ranking individuals in England during the 18<sup>th</sup> century. The first official Hellfire Club was founded in London in 1718 by the Duke of Wharton but the most famous is the Order of the Friars of St Francis of Wycombe, which was founded by Francis Dashwood and included the Earl of Sandwich as a member. This particular Hellfire Club originally met at a nearby pub before moving into the Hellfire Caves, a series of man made caverns near Medmenham Abbey in West Wycombe.</p>

<p>The caves are now a tourist attraction and are supposedly a hot bed of paranormal activity thanks to the stories of the debauchery that went on there. Records show that the members performed parodies of religious rites, held public sacrifices to Pagan Gods and took part in orgies and other bacchanalian activities. Much of the atmosphere in the caves comes from the insinuation that devil worshipping and blood sacrifices took place here, but there are some stories about ghostly goings on that don&rsquo;t involve either of those things. One of the spirits said to haunt the caves is that of a young barmaid from the village called Sukie. Sukie was lured to the caves by a group of men and thought she was meeting a wealthy aristocrat who wanted to marry her. Though no one is sure what happened, Sukie never made it home and it is said that she continues to roam the caves. Other stories involve the ghost of Paul Whitehead, who was a member of Dashwood&rsquo;s club and asked that when he died, that his heart and ashes be kept in the Dashwood Mausoleum. His heart was stolen and he apparently terrorises visitors to the caves, looking for his lost heart.</p>

<h2>The empty coffin of Scotney Castle</h2>

<p>Scotney Castle in Kent has its own creepy mystery. Originally built as a fortified manor house, the castle became the property of the Darrell family, who then lived there for several generations.</p>

<p>In the 1720s, Arthur Darrell set off to visit Europe, where he passed away. His body was so called returned to the family and they held a funeral for him at Scotney. However, during the service, a strange in black, that was stood among the mourners was said to say &ldquo;that is me they think they are burying.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Either no one felt the need to question it at the time or any further conversation has been lost to history, however some 200 years later, Arthur Darrell&rsquo;s final resting place was excavated and instead of finding his remains, the coffin was full of stones. So, did Arthur fake his own death? Was his body never recovered and a funeral was held anyway? Over the years, there have been several reports of seeing figures climbing out of the moat around the castle, many believe this to be the restless spirit of a revenue collector who was murdered by Arthur before fleeing the country and faking his own death.</p>

<h2>The creepy tales of Farleigh Hungerford Castle</h2>

<p>Located in Somerset, Farleigh Hungerford Castle has a very interesting history. The castle was initially home to the Hungerford family, who lost it during the Wars of the Roses and then regained it again following the Battle of Bosworth. Sir Edward Hungerford was one of the attendants at Henry VIII&rsquo;s Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, so this family was a pretty big deal. He also married a murderer &ndash; his second wife, Agnes Cotell, was convicted of murdering her first husband, Sir Edward&rsquo;s steward by throttling him and then disposing of him in the kitchen furnace. She ended up being executed at Tyburn.</p>

<p>Want more? Sir Edward&rsquo;s successor, Walter worked for Thomas Cromwell and eventually became Lord Hungerford. He might have been in favour, but his wife wasn&rsquo;t, so he had her imprisoned at Farleigh Hungerford Castle. The so called Lady Tower was her home for three years where she was forced to survive by drinking her own urine and relying on smuggled morsels from the castle&rsquo;s staff.</p>

<p>That&rsquo;s still not the creepiest thing about Farleigh Hungerford Castle. Beneath the castle chapel, in the crypt you&rsquo;ll find a collection of anthropoid coffins, which are lead caskets in the shape of people. There are 8 in total, and it is easy to see which ones are for children, which ones are for women and which ones are for men. The coffins contain some of the Hungerford family and date back to the 1600s. That&rsquo;s still not the creepiest thing &ndash; in the 1800s, people would come to visit the castle and drink coffin juices from these anthropoid coffins. Over the years, holes were drilled into the lead and visitors could try the corpse infused liquids. Coffin liquor is produced when improperly preserved corpses liquify, thankfully, though you can visit Farleigh Hungerford Castle, you can no longer drink from the coffins.</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/10/horrific-history-spooky-stories-from-across-the-uk-b405#comments405</comments>
      <pubDate>Mon, 28 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Heritage events to enjoy this half term</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/10/heritage-events-to-enjoy-this-half-term-b404</link>
      <description>Want to indulge in some heritage this half term? Spooky season, with its ghost stories is the best time to unearth Britain’s heritage – here are our suggestions for a fun day out for the whole family this half term.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Want to indulge in some heritage this half term? Spooky season, with its ghost stories is the best time to unearth Britain&rsquo;s heritage &ndash; here are our suggestions for a fun day out for the whole family this half term.</p>

<h3><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/things-to-do/knebworth-house-p4568901">Knebworth House&rsquo;s Halloween Adventure</a><br>
Knebworth House, Hertfordshire SG3 6PY</h3>

<p>Get your costumes ready and your tickets to Knebworth House&rsquo;s Halloween Adventure! With a host of games and activities, plus tasty seasonal treats, there&rsquo;s fun for the whole family throughout the gardens.</p>

<h3><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/things-to-do/american-museum-and-gardens-p4316061">American Museum&rsquo;s American Halloween</a><br>
American Museum, Bath, Somerset BA2 7BD</h3>

<p>Enjoy a classic American Halloween with exciting indoor and outdoor trails and fun activities throughout half term. If you visit on Halloween itself, you can take part in trick or treating and costume parades around the gardens.</p>

<h3><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/halloween-half-term-at-carisbrooke-castle-p4361191">Halloween Half Term at Carisbrooke Castle</a><br>
Carisbrooke Castle, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 1XY</h3>

<p>Managed by English Heritage, Carisbrooke Castle has a host of family friendly things to do this half term and if you book online, you&rsquo;ll even get a discount off your visit!</p>

<h3><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/halloween-at-blenheim-palace-p5603331">Halloween at Blenheim Palace</a><br>
Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire OX20 1UL</h3>

<p>A much anticipated Halloween trail with even more surprises than before comes to Blenheim Palace, you might see a headless horseman or two!</p>

<h3><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/wizard-week-isle-of-wight-steam-railway-p3569441">Wizard Week @ Isle of Wight Steam Railway</a><br>
Isle of Wight Steam Railway, PO33 4DS</h3>

<h3></h3>

<p>Grab your wands and brooms and hitch a ride on Isle of Wight Steam Railway for wizard week! Meet the witches of Havenstreet and keep an eye out for the Birds of Prey from Haven Falconry.</p>

<h3><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/october-half-term-at-brunels-ss-great-britain-p5643521">October Half Term at Brunel&rsquo;s SS Great Britain</a><br>
Great Western Dockyard, Gas Ferry Road, Bristol BS1 6TY</h3>

<p>Board the SS Great Britain for the spookiest Halloween yet, throughout half term, you can follow a turnip trail and indulge in some Victorian ghost stories.</p>

<p>Want more ideas for this half term? <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on">Click here</a></p>

<p>

<p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/10/heritage-events-to-enjoy-this-half-term-b404#comments404</comments>
      <pubDate>Fri, 18 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Traditional autumnal recipes</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/10/traditional-autumnal-recipes-b403</link>
      <description>We might be biased but there are few things better than traditional British cuisine, especially at this time of year when you’ll find hearty, warming dishes, full of spices and flavour. To help you get into the spirit of the season, here are some recipes for traditional autumnal fare – enjoy!</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We might be biased but there are few things better than traditional British cuisine, especially at this time of year when you&rsquo;ll find hearty, warming dishes, full of spices and flavour. To help you get into the spirit of the season, here are some recipes for traditional autumnal fare &ndash; enjoy!</p>

<h3>Parkin</h3>

<p>This gingerbread style cake originated in Northern England and is mostly associated with Yorkshire. It is traditionally eaten on Bonfire Night and also appears to have been associated with weddings in the 14<sup>th</sup> Century.</p>

<p><strong>Ingredients:</strong><br>
200g butter<br>
1 egg<br>
4 tbsp milk<br>
200g golden syrup<br>
85g treacle<br>
85g brown sugar<br>
110g oatmeal<br>
250g self raising flour<br>
1 tbsp ginger</p>

<p><strong>Method:</strong></p>

<p>Start by preheating your oven to 160 degrees or gas mark 3. Butter your cake tin and then in a small bowl, beat the egg and milk together.</p>

<p>In a large pan, melt the syrup, treacle, sugar and butter together until the sugar has dissolved and then remove from the heat. Mix in the oatmeal, flour and ginger and then once mixed in, add the egg and milk.</p>

<p>Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for an hour until it is firm and crusty on top.</p>

<p>You can keep it for up to a week, the longer you leave it, the stickier it becomes.</p>

<h3>Toffee Apples</h3>

<p>Toffee Apples date back to around the 18<sup>th</sup> century and likely were introduced to the UK from France. There they are known as pommes d&rsquo;amour or apples of love, which makes sense because they are delightful!</p>

<p><strong>Ingredients:</strong><br>
8 Granny Smith apples<br>
400g caster sugar<br>
4 tbsp golden syrup<br>
8 skewers</p>

<p><strong>Method:</strong></p>

<p>Start by placing the apples in a large bowl and covering with bowling water.</p>

<p>After a few minutes, remove from the water and dry thoroughly and remove any stalks. Push a skewer or stick into the end of each apple.</p>

<p>Next, lay out a sheet of baking parchment or tray and place your apples on top.</p>

<p>In a pan, add 100 ml water and set over a medium heat. Add the sugar and cook for 5 minutes until dissolved. Add the syrup. Using a sugar thermometer, boil to 150 degrees, or if you don&rsquo;t have a sugar thermometer, pour a little of the toffee into cold water, if it is ready, it should harden instantly.</p>

<p>Once the toffee is at the right consistency, dip and twist each apple into the hot toffee until covered and then place back on the baking parchment and leave to cool.</p>

<h3>Rumbledethumps</h3>

<p>This traditional Scottish dish is similar to bubble and squeak and features seasonal veg including potatoes, cabbage and swede.</p>

<p><strong>Ingredients:</strong><br>
600g potatoes<br>
400g swede (or if you&rsquo;re Scottish, turnips)<br>
75g butter<br>
250g cabbage<br>
25g Cheddar cheese</p>

<p><strong>Method:</strong></p>

<p>Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or gas mark 4.</p>

<p>Chop the potatoes and swede into large chunks and cook them in a saucepan of salted boiling water until tender. Drain well and return to the pan.</p>

<p>Heat 50g of the butter in a pan and then cook the cabbage for a few minutes until it is tender but retains its colour. Once cooked, add the cabbage to the pan with the potatoes and using the remaining butter, mash together. Season to taste and then place in an oven proof dish and top with cheese. Cover the dish and bake for around 30 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 15 minutes until piping hot and golden brown.</p>

<h3>Beef stew with dumplings</h3>

<p>A really warming and comforting meal, stew or any kind is a tradition enjoyed throughout Britain.</p>

<p><strong>Ingredients:</strong><br>
Oil for frying<br>
600g lean braising steak<br>
1 litre beef stock<br>
1 onion<br>
2 garlic cloves<br>
2 celery sticks<br>
3 carrots<br>
1 tbsp tomato puree<br>
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar<br>
1 parsnip<br>
300g butternut squash<br>
150g self raising flour<br>
2 tbsp chopped parsley<br>
1 egg yolk<br>
1 tsp olive oil</p>

<p><strong>Method:</strong><br>
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or gas mark 4.</p>

<p>Preheat a casserole dish on the hob and then drizzle the oil. Add the beef in batches, cooking each one until browned all over and adding more oil as needed. Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add a little stock to the dish and turn the heat up to high.</p>

<p>Turn down the heat and add more oil. Add the onion and cook until softened and then add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the celery and finely chopped carrot, cooking for 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato puree and balsamic vinegar, cooking for another 3 minutes. Return the meat to the pan and add the rest of the stock, bring to the boil.</p>

<p>Put the dish in the oven and book for 1 hour.</p>

<p>After cooking for an hour, cut the squash, parsnip and carrot into chunks and add to the stew, covering the pot with a lid and cook for another 30 minutes.</p>

<p>While cooking, make the dumplings. Put the flour in a mixing bowl and season, then add the herbs. Mix together and add the egg, and oil and mix, adding around 4 tbsp of cold water to help bring it into a dough. Knead the mixture a little and then shape into 8 golf ball sized pieces and add them to the top of the stew. Cover the pot with the lid and cook for another 15 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 15 minutes.</p>

<p>When the dumplings are golden brown, lift them out of the stew and give it a stir, add the dumplings back into the top and serve.</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/10/traditional-autumnal-recipes-b403#comments403</comments>
      <pubDate>Mon, 07 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>The great debate: Did King Arthur Exist? | Arguments against</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/09/the-great-debate-did-king-arthur-exist-arguments-against-b400</link>
      <description>Historians have been debating the existence of King Arthur for generations. While some say that he is a completely fictional figure from the depths of Celtic folklore, others say that there is some evidence that the character of Arthur is an amalgamation of several notable people from the time.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Historians have been debating the existence of King Arthur for generations. While some say that he is a completely fictional figure from the depths of Celtic folklore, others say that there is some evidence that the character of Arthur is an amalgamation of several notable people from the time.</p>

<p>Today we will look at the evidence that disproves the existence of King Arthur.</p>

<p>Want to catch up? Click here to check out the <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/07/the-great-debate-did-king-arthur-exist-the-origins-of-a-legend-b393">origins of the Arthur legend</a> and the arguments for Arthur being a real person <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/the-great-debate-did-king-arthur-exist-arguments-for-b395">here</a>.</p>

<p>So, just to recap with some background, Arthurian legends are set in a time period that saw a lot of turmoil &ndash; the Romans had just left and the Saxons were starting to throw their weight around. Britannia began to split into fiefdoms, with their own kings or rulers and there are very few records from this time period. However, we do have records of other rulers from this time, which begs the question, why isn&rsquo;t their concrete proof of a king called Arthur?</p>

<p>So, like last time, let&rsquo;s look at the textual records that we have.</p>

<p>Those in the Arthur was real camp look to the monk, Gildas and his work De Excidio et Conquesti Britanniae, however, this doesn&rsquo;t mention anyone called Arthur. It talks about the Battle of Badon, and there is archaeological proof that the Saxons were moving around&nbsp; Britain and there were several battles, one of which, Badon, appears in a variety of texts, but Gildas&rsquo; concentrates on a Romano-British General known as Ambrosius Aurelianius &ndash; not someone called Arthur.</p>

<p>To be clear, the General was known by the nickname, The Bear and bear translated into Celtic is artos &ndash; this could be argued that Gildas was talking about Arthur OR it could be argued that people mistranslated his work and that there was no Arthur, simply a very skilled General who had a nickname that sounded like Arthur.</p>

<p>We mentioned before that most of the stories attributed to Arthur are from Geoffrey of Monmouth&rsquo;s book, but that Arthur is mentioned by name in several texts prior to Geoffrey&rsquo;s work. However, there is no mention of anyone called Arthur in Bede&rsquo;s Ecclesiastical History of the English People or in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, both of which are considered to be the most reliable texts from the time period.</p>

<p>If Arthur was such a significant person from the time period, he certainly would have made an appearance in at least one of those texts.</p>

<p>Also, it is worth mentioning that even the records prior to Geoffrey of Monmouth&rsquo;s work are either disputed, like the Latin Vitae that talk of Arthur being a post Roman saint, or were written centuries after the events were supposed to have happened. So, it is possible that the events that inspired Geoffrey were misinterpreted, misremembered or mistranslated.</p>

<h2>The Matter of Britain</h2>

<p>While this sounds very important, it is actually the name given to the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain, Brittany and legendary kings and heroes. King Arthur does make an appearance here, which suggests that he is a fictional character.&nbsp; Geoffrey of Monmouth&rsquo;s text is the central part of the Matter of Britain and the Arthur and Brutus of Troy stories that we know come primarily from him.</p>

<p>Similarly, there is also the Matter of France, which concerns the stories of Charlemagne and the Matter of Rome, which features the figures from Roman mythology. So, if we are saying that Charlemagne is a French folk hero and the figures from Roman mythology, including the twins that founded Rome, Romulus and Remus are fiction, so too is Arthur.</p>

<p>While we&rsquo;re on the subject, the phrase Arthurian began to be used in the 12<sup>th</sup> century but this would coincide with the Matter of Britain. So, we can certainly explain that too.</p>

<h2>The Christianity of it all</h2>

<p>You might have noticed throughout this debate that the majority of people who told stories of Arthur were monks. Geoffrey of Monmouth, Gildas, even those that wrote poems about him were religious figures.</p>

<p>After the Roman departure, Christianity was spreading across Britain and Arthur appears to be a Christian crusader. In one story, he retrieves the Holy Grail. In another, he spends an entire battle carrying Christ&rsquo;s cross. He is also said to have been descended from Constantine, the Emperor that is credited with the spread of Christianity. It is entirely possible that religious figures would have created a Jesus like figure that the Britons could relate to. The fact that Arthur has a God-like quality to him would also explain why so many monarchs claiming &ldquo;the divine right&rdquo; to rule would want to claim kinship with him.</p>

<p>Geoffrey of Monmouth and the French writer De Troyes created much of the legend that we know today including a magical sword and the Lady in the Lake, both of which can be likened to the miracles that happened in the bible.</p>

<h2>The lack of archaeological evidence</h2>

<p>As we&rsquo;ve said, there is little to no archaeological evidence to back up the existence of Arthur or any of the other characters in the stories. There is proof to suggest that battles between the Saxons and the Britons took place, and there is proof of several notable military leaders who were victorious against the Saxons, however, there is nothing concrete to say that any of these leaders were called Arthur.</p>

<p>In 1190, monks at Glastonbury Abbey claimed to have discovered the grave of Arthur and his wife Guinevere, they say they found the bodies within a coffin made from a tree trunk and with an iron cross engraved with a phrase that roughly translated to &ldquo;Here lies King Arthur&rdquo;.</p>

<p>However, there is evidence to suggest that this whole thing was a hoax &ndash; shortly before the discovery, the abbey had been damaged by a fire and the monks were keen to raise money for repairs. Following the reburial of the remains, the abbey became a pilgrimage site which would have brought much needed funds. Plus, King Edward I came to personally witness the reburial of the bodies. The same King Edward who was keen to claim Arthur as an ancestor and an English hero, stealing him away from the Welsh.</p>

<p>Many historians see Edward&rsquo;s presence as proof that the whole thing was a hoax &ndash; interestingly, the remains haven&rsquo;t been seen since. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, Glastonbury Abbey fell into disrepair and the grave site has been lost.<br>
Even more interestingly, King Henry VII also claimed kinship with Arthur, going as far as to name his son and heir Arthur after the great king and using his familial connection with King Arthur as being proof of his &ldquo;divine right to rule.&rdquo; Despite this, Henry VII didn&rsquo;t have the remains of Arthur and Guinevere moved into the royal vaults, though he did do this for other former monarchs. Could it be that he knew Arthur wasn&rsquo;t real? That although he was related to the nobility through the Tudor line, that line didn&rsquo;t include a legendary Arthur? &nbsp;Or can we put this back down to Edward I&rsquo;s erasure of Welsh culture? That Henry didn&rsquo;t want to rock the boat by pointing out the fact that he was Welsh?</p>

<p>However you look at it, the grave site that was supposedly discovered in 1190 has never been rediscovered and it doesn&rsquo;t appear that any of the things that were in the grave with the remains were kept and displayed.</p>

<p>Similarly, in the Midlands, there is Arthur&rsquo;s Stone, which is believed to be a neolithic burial site. However, excavations on the area haven&rsquo;t found anything conclusive.</p>

<p>Last time, we did say that some places in the Arthur myths could be attributed to real places, like Camlann could be the origins of the area around the River Camel in Cornwall. We can also link Avalon to Glastonbury, there is evidence to suggest that Glastonbury Tor was at one time an island and the surrounding area is known as the Vale of Avalon. However, historians have been unable to place Camelot anywhere in the United Kingdom and as that was supposedly where Arthur ruled from, there should be some way of knowing where it is.</p>

<p>Another issue that historians have with the Arthur stories is the location of Annwn. Annwn is established as being part of Welsh mythology and is described as being an &ldquo;otherworld&rdquo; either on an island or under the ground. Some say it can be found in modern day Pembrokeshire, but there is little evidence to support this.</p>

<p>There is some evidence to suggest that Arthur was created as a hero using the deeds of several other notable people of the time. There&rsquo;s no concrete proof of this but as we said, Gildas&rsquo; text does mention&nbsp; Ambrosius Aurelianius who was known as The Bear, which translates into Artos in Celtic, which could be where the origins of Arthur in texts prior to Geoffrey of Monmouth&rsquo;s came from. Similarly, one of the people thought to have inspired King Arthur, is a Welsh King but as Edward I&rsquo;s campaign to conquer Wales eradicated a lot of their history and culture, we can&rsquo;t be sure of this either.</p>

<p>So, after everything we&rsquo;ve gone over the last few months, what do you think? Was King Arthur a real person? You can join in the debate by following us on X, Facebook and Instagram.</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/09/the-great-debate-did-king-arthur-exist-arguments-against-b400#comments400</comments>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Heritage Open Days in Bath &amp; North East Somerset</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/09/heritage-open-days-in-bath-and-north-east-somerset-b402</link>
      <description>Venues across Bath and North East Somerset will open their doors this month for Heritage Open Days (6-15 September). Now in its 30 th  year, the nationwide celebration of history and culture is a chance to see inside hidden places and try out new experiences, all for free.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Venues across Bath and North East Somerset will open their doors this month for Heritage Open Days (6-15 September). Now in its 30<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;year, the nationwide celebration of history and culture is a chance to see inside hidden places and try out new experiences, all for free.</p>

<p>Bath and North East Somerset has a packed programme of events to look forward to: you can see inside churches, mills, cemeteries and more; enjoy exclusive talks and guided tours; and take part in family friendly activities and trails.</p>

<p>Councillor Paul Roper, Cabinet Member for Economic &amp; Cultural Sustainable Development, said: &quot;Heritage Open Days offer a unique opportunity to explore the rich history and cultural heritage that make Bath and North East Somerset so special. This year&rsquo;s programme is brimming with hidden gems and events that will captivate residents and visitors alike, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of this chance to experience our local history firsthand &ndash; all for free.&quot;</p>

<p>Highlights include:</p>

<p><strong>Roman Baths Clore Learning Centre</strong><br>
Find out what it was like to live in Roman Bath with fun activities, crafts and crazy rituals<strong>.&nbsp;</strong>Friday 6 and Tuesday 10 September, 6-8pm</p>

<p><strong>Roman Baths Local History Store &ndash; Lansdown</strong><br>
Explore weird and wonderful objects on a store tour, from Victorian spa equipment to Georgian furniture. Wednesday 11 September, tours at 10am, 12 noon and 2pm</p>

<p><strong>Bath Record Office</strong><br>
See inside the store rooms and discover how the Record Office looks after its unique collections. Monday 9 September, 10am-2pm</p>

<p><strong>Victoria Art Gallery</strong><br>
Take a store tour and explore the marvellous collections housed in the art stores. Tuesday 10, Thursday 12 and Saturday 14 September, 12 noon</p>

<p><strong>Gardens at the</strong>&nbsp;<strong>American Museum &amp; Gardens</strong><br>
Enjoy free admission to the gardens on Sunday 15 September, 10am-5pm</p>

<p><strong>Museum of Bath at Work</strong><br>
Join local historian Ann Cullis to hear fascinating tales about the museum, which was originally built as a &lsquo;real tennis&rsquo; court in 1777. Friday 6 September, 11am and 2.30pm</p>

<p><strong>Albert Mill</strong><br>
Visit the historic mill in Keynsham, which dates from 1700 and is now a private residence. Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September</p>

<p><strong>Keynsham Abbey</strong><br>
See the remains of medieval Keynsham Abbey, and find out about its history with a guided talk and a &lsquo;Monk&rsquo;s Trail&rsquo; for children. Saturdays 7 and 14 September, 2-5pm</p>

<p><strong>Eyre Chantry Chapel</strong><br>
Explore Eyre Chantry Chapel, with its stunning stained glass windows and Minton tiled floor. Thursday 12 September, 11am-4pm</p>

<p><strong>Prior Park</strong><br>
Visit the National Trust&rsquo;s Prior Park for free on Saturdays 7 and 14 September, discover the recent renovation, and learn about the archaeology of the garden. 10am-4pm, last entry 3pm</p>

<p><strong>Church of Our Lady and St Alphege</strong><br>
Take a guided tour and discover this outstanding 1920s example of the work of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott &ndash; who also designed Battersea Power Station, the Chamber of the House of Commons, Bankside Power Station (now Tate Modern), and Britain&rsquo;s famous red telephone boxes! Friday 6, Thursday 12 and Saturday 14 September, 2.30pm</p>

<p>There are many more places to visit across Bath &amp; North East Somerset during the 10-day celebration. For full listings, please see&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?d%3D1nZrbC50-JyFaZYXdYA9ke4mC6yn-SL51Y1TCucSFg3NyLrNWr1Xib-7UQyqBVvoLFpyDh4P51-QO66I0ToTBVM2WoPo31s8xTR5x9nJ3LvulzUTJnO42aNrevRZBteoCitol0n4HoRCWNPQTNxN38A1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1725535369636000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2VZfn4FIOeDYq_D5L7Z-nP" href="https://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?d=1nZrbC50-JyFaZYXdYA9ke4mC6yn-SL51Y1TCucSFg3NyLrNWr1Xib-7UQyqBVvoLFpyDh4P51-QO66I0ToTBVM2WoPo31s8xTR5x9nJ3LvulzUTJnO42aNrevRZBteoCitol0n4HoRCWNPQTNxN38A1" target="_blank">www.heritageopendays.org.uk</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?d%3DQuA67duLSp9dWgIrQ3YW6nR_Q2V-eNAYH6hr_eRr69bClYnuMOO0mqzdaKHIMS2L50arBprh-1gTKhb_FwFCnmByvInudRsOQcjSh1fA0AuIOcjKoZER9mVBrYTBJ9We4pe17PRk4If4D-hOOCxcmdkWIzbiuYvzsQbGy53rm-CoInJCoqPu5E736G4bF1ad8QhQdAt7m7NUrHHYpmD2LZldUnqNvLjSb1ftNxq1nbToFBJ50rSY65FAKLriMD3yoA2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1725535369636000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3e3jP0pg17hl8rYDu0Xdqc" href="https://tracking.vuelio.co.uk/tracking/click?d=QuA67duLSp9dWgIrQ3YW6nR_Q2V-eNAYH6hr_eRr69bClYnuMOO0mqzdaKHIMS2L50arBprh-1gTKhb_FwFCnmByvInudRsOQcjSh1fA0AuIOcjKoZER9mVBrYTBJ9We4pe17PRk4If4D-hOOCxcmdkWIzbiuYvzsQbGy53rm-CoInJCoqPu5E736G4bF1ad8QhQdAt7m7NUrHHYpmD2LZldUnqNvLjSb1ftNxq1nbToFBJ50rSY65FAKLriMD3yoA2" target="_blank">download the Heritage Open Days leaflet</a>.</p>

<p><strong>Advance booking is essential for some venues &ndash; please check details on the website or in the leaflet to avoid disappointment.</strong></p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/09/heritage-open-days-in-bath-and-north-east-somerset-b402#comments402</comments>
      <pubDate>Wed, 04 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>The National Trust to celebrate history and culture during the 2024 Heritage Open Days Festival</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/09/the-national-trust-to-celebrate-history-and-culture-during-the-2024-heritage-open-days-festival-b401</link>
      <description>Heritage Open Days Fesitval returns from 6th - 15th September 2024. Across the South West, a number of National Trust places will take part, with Heritage Open Days provifing everyone with free access to experiences and events across England at participating venues.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Heritage Open Days Fesitval returns from 6th - 15th September 2024. Across the South West, a number of National Trust places will take part, with Heritage Open Days provifing everyone with free access to experiences and events across England at participating venues.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/2(26).jpg"><br>
<em>Image: Chris Lacey, National Trust.&nbsp;</em></p>

<p>England&rsquo;s largest festival of history and culture, Heritage Open Days, is back from 6 -15 September. Presented by the National Trust, supported by players of <a href="https://www.postcodelottery.co.uk/" target="_blank">People&rsquo;s Postcode Lottery</a> and run by thousands of local organisations and volunteers, Heritage Open Days (HODs) gives everyone the opportunity to enjoy free access to experiences and events across England.  &nbsp;</p>

<p>The festival brings people together to celebrate their heritage, community and history. Each year places across the country, including many National Trusts sites, throw open their doors to give people the chance to explore, see hidden places and try new experiences for free.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The theme of the festival this year is &lsquo;Routes, Networks and Connections&rsquo; and places cared for by the National Trust are sharing stories of travel, transport and celebrating the ways that people connect.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Liam Montgomery, Heritage Open Days Marketing &amp; Projects Manager at the National Trust says:<i>&nbsp;</i>&ldquo;The scale and diversity of Heritage Open Days is just incredible &ndash; every year thousands of passionate people help visitors to make doorstep discoveries and connect with history and heritage in every part of England. This year though, it will be extra special as we celebrate three decades worth of stories and all the brilliant people and places that have made it, and continue to make it, all possible!&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Discover a day out with a difference. Here are some of the National Trust Heritage Open Day events happening in the area: &nbsp;<br>
<br>
<b>D-Day and Antony walking talk and vintage book fair - Antony, Cornwall</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Tues 10, Wed 11, Thurs 12 September, 1pm &ndash; 2pm </b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Join a walking tour and talk of some of the Second World War sites and stories at Antony and Torpoint in Cornwall. Discover how the house was requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence for the WRENs stationed at nearby HMS <i>Raleigh</i>, as well as hear some of their stories and memories of Antony. Don&rsquo;t forget to head over to the vintage book marquee to browse the selection of donated vintage books and grab a classic at a bargain price.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking essential for the walking talk:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/antony" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/antony</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>

<p><b>Avebury Manor Garden and the Alexander Keiller Museum, Wiltshire</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Fri 6 and Sat 7 September, 10am - 5pm</b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>As well as enjoying the beautiful Avebury Manor Garden, visitors will have a chance to see almost 100 striking pieces of art as part of the popular annual sculpture exhibition. Free entry to the Alexander Keiller Museum is included for those interested in the fascinating archaeology and history of Avebury World Heritage Site.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking not required: <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wiltshire/avebury" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wiltshire/avebury</a>&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>

<p><b>British Sign Language Tour - Buckland Abbey, Devon</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Sat 14 September, 11.30am - 1pm</b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Led by one of our experienced tour guide volunteers and a BSL interpreter, the tour will cover the Abbey&#39;s monastic life through to its most famous resident, Sir Francis Drake.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking essential for the walking talk:&nbsp; <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/buckland-abbey" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/devon/buckland-abbey</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Architectural Tour of Cotehele, Cornwall</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Mon 9 and Thurs 12 September, 10am &ndash; 12.30pm and 2pm &ndash; 4pm</b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>As part of Heritage Open Days, join the Cotehele volunteers for an in-depth focus on the architectural development of Cotehele House.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking essential at <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/cotehele" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/cotehele</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Meet the specialist craft team at Montacute House, Somerset</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Wed 11 September 2024, 10:30am - 4pm</b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Specialist Craft team at Montacute are opening their workshop as part of the Heritage Open Days. Discover how this skilled group of artisans keep so many of the National Trust&#39;s unique historic buildings in good shape including Garden structures, doors, gates and so much more.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking not required: <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/somerset/montacute-house" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/somerset/montacute-house</a>&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Behind closed doors tours at Stourhead, Wiltshire</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Daily Sat 6 &ndash; Sun 15 September at 11:00am, 12:45pm,&nbsp; and 2.15pm&nbsp;</b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Visit areas of Stourhead House usually closed to visitors including the attic and basement storerooms, the formal showrooms are not usually included. The tour involves climbing up and down many staircases &ndash; please contact the property directly if you have any access concerns.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking essential at: <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wiltshire/stourhead" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/wiltshire/stourhead</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>

<p><b>Studland Bay in WW2, Dorset</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Sun 15 September, 10:30am - 3:30pm</b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Discover how Studland Bay was used for military exercises during the Second World War and learn about &lsquo;Exercise Smash&rsquo; &ndash; a full-scale dress rehearsal for the Allied invasion of Europe and its crucial role in the success of the D-day landings. There will be exhibits and children&#39;s activities at Fort Henry: follow a trail with a quiz sheet, taking in other WW2 remnants between Knoll and South Beach.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking not required: <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/studland-bay" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/dorset/studland-bay</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Lizard Wireless Station Open Day, Lizard, Cornwall</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Sun 8 September 11am - 3pm</b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Celebrate Marconi and the dawn of wireless communication at The Lizard Wireless Station. We&#39;re offering free tours, special radio demonstrations, family activities and refreshments.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking not required: <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/lizard-point" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/lizard-point</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Sensory exploration of Trengwainton Garden, Cornwall</b>&nbsp;<br>
<b>Sun 8 &ndash; Sun 15 September (closed Fri &amp; Sat) 10am &ndash; 5pm</b>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Immerse yourself in Trengwainton&rsquo;s exotic garden through touch, audio, and visual prompts. Unleash your creativity with art easels or listen to the Head Gardener&rsquo;s autumn insights at two audio stations. Experience &lsquo;forest bathing&rsquo; or relax in the Quiet Space on the Terrace with a sea view.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Free event. Booking not required: <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/trengwainton-garden" target="_blank">www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/trengwainton-garden</a>&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>

<h3><b>More National Trust places opening their doors for free during Heritage Open Days in the southwest include:</b>&nbsp;</h3>

<p><br>
<b>Cornwall</b>&nbsp;<br>
Antony, Tuesday 10 - Thursday 12 September&nbsp;<br>
Cotehele, Saturday 7 to Friday 13 September&nbsp;<br>
Michell&rsquo;s Engine House, East Pool Mine, Fri 6 &ndash; Sun 15 September&nbsp;<br>
Levant Mine and Beam Engine, Sunday 8 &ndash; Sun 15 September (closed Fri &amp; Sat)&nbsp;<br>
Godolphin, Fri 6 &ndash; Sun 15 September&nbsp;<br>
Trerice, Saturday 14 September&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>

<p><b>Devon</b>&nbsp;<br>
Arlington Court and Carriage Museum, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September&nbsp;<br>
Buckland Abbey, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 September&nbsp;<br>
Killerton, Friday 6 September and Saturday 7 September&nbsp;<br>
Clyston Mill, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, 6-15 September&nbsp;<br>
Columbjohn Chapel, open daily, 6-15 September&nbsp;<br>
Knightshayes, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September&nbsp;<br>
Lydford Gorge, Friday 13 and Saturday 14 September&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>

<p><b>Dorset</b>&nbsp;<br>
Hardy Monument, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September&nbsp;<br>
Hardy&rsquo;s House, Max Gate, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September&nbsp;<br>
Portland House, Friday 13, Saturday 14, Sunday 15 September&nbsp;<br>
Kingston Lacy, Thursday 12 &ndash; Saturday 14 September&nbsp;<br>
White Mill, Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 September&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>

<p><b>Gloucestershire</b>&nbsp;<br>
Hidcote, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 September&nbsp;<br>
Newark Park, 14 September&nbsp;<br>
Dyrham Park, Saturday 7 September&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>Somerset, Bath and Bristol</b>&nbsp;<br>
Barrington Court, Wednesday 11 &ndash; Friday 13 September&nbsp;&nbsp;<br>
Lytes Cary Manor, Monday 9 &ndash; Friday 13 September&nbsp;<br>
Montacute House, Monday 9 &ndash; Friday 13 September&nbsp;<br>
Prior Park Landscape Garden, Saturday 7 and Saturday 14 September&nbsp;<br>
Tintinhull Garden, Friday 6 &ndash; Sunday 15 September&nbsp;<b>&nbsp;</b></p>

<p><b>Wiltshire</b>&nbsp;<br>
Avebury Manor Garden, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 September&nbsp;<br>
Mompesson House, Sunday 8 &ndash; Tuesday 10 September&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/09/the-national-trust-to-celebrate-history-and-culture-during-the-2024-heritage-open-days-festival-b401#comments401</comments>
      <pubDate>Tue, 03 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Remembering the Great Fire of London</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/09/remembering-the-great-fire-of-london-b399</link>
      <description>London’s burning, London’s burning Fetch the engines, fetch the engines… This September marks 358 years since The Great Fire of London changed the landscape of London and gave us the city we know and love today.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><em>London&rsquo;s burning, London&rsquo;s burning<br>
Fetch the engines, fetch the engines&hellip; </em></p>

<p>This September marks 358 years since The Great Fire of London changed the landscape of London and gave us the city we know and love today.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/6(2).jpg"><br>
<em>Image: One of the many reminders you can find around East London to commemorate the Great Fire&nbsp;</em></p>

<p>Between 2<sup>nd</sup> and 6<sup>th</sup> September 1666, a huge inferno raged around The City of London, stretching for several miles and destroying thousands of buildings, including iconic places like St Paul&rsquo;s Cathedral.</p>

<p>The Great Fire of London began at Thomas Farriner&rsquo;s Bakery on Pudding Lane, a small street in the City of London. The street got its name because of the offal (or pudding) that was taken down to the river to the waste barges from the butchers at Eastcheap Market. It was also one of the world&rsquo;s first one-way streets, having been so since 1617. The bakery stood 202 feet from the site of the Monument to the Great Fire of London on the east side of Pudding Lane, it was paved over in 1886 when the modern Monument Street was built, but you can still see where the bakery was thanks to a plaque placed by the Bakers&rsquo; Company in 1986.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/2(25).jpg"><br>
<em>Image: The road sign at Pudiing Lane</em></p>

<p>Let&rsquo;s break down what happened, the main players of the fire and the impact it had in the months and years that followed.</p>

<h2>London in 1660s</h2>

<p>By the time of the Great Fire, London was the largest city in Britain and the third largest in the Western world. The actual City of London hasn&rsquo;t changed much since those days, like modern times, the City of London was the commercial heart of the capital and had the largest market and busiest port in the whole of England. It pretty much remained as it had since the Romans created the settlement of Londinium, with life becoming incredibly crowded within the walls and several smaller settlements springing up on the outside of the walls, allowing it to stretch West towards the Strand and the Royal Palace and Abbey at Westminster and across the River Thames into Southwark.</p>

<p>The year before the Fire was known as the Year of the Plague following an outbreak of the bubonic plague which killed 1/6<sup>th</sup> of the population. This was exacerbated by the living conditions of the time, the City in particular was full of traffic and was heavily polluted. The City featured an overcrowded warren of narrow, winding streets with many of the dwellings being constructed as multi-storey timbered tenement houses, some with jetties (projecting upper floors or windows) to create extra living space. These were built using wood and thatched rooves, despite both of these things being outlawed by King Charles II. It was, however, cheap to create housing in this way and despite his threats to imprison builders and to demolish dangerous homes, the City Governors were reluctant to follow through. The City and the Crown had a tense relationship, this area of London had been a stronghold for parliamentarians during the English Civil War and uprisings against the crown continued here well after the restoration. The only areas of The City that used stone or brick was the very centre, where the merchants had spacious and well built manors and further out, towards places like St Paul&rsquo;s Cathedral.</p>

<p>Prior to the Great Fire of London, there had been a number of major fires in the area, the last one taking place in 1633. It is also important to note that at the time of the Fire, England was at war with both France and the Netherlands, known as the second Anglo-Dutch War.</p>

<h2>Important figures during the Fire</h2>

<p>

<p><strong>King Charles II and James, Duke of York</strong><br>
The Royal brothers took charge and thanks to their efforts, the fire didn&rsquo;t spread as far as it could have done. This combined with a drop in the wind helped stop the spread.</p>

<p><strong>Thomas Farriner</strong><br>
English Baker and Church Warden, his bakery in Pudding Lane was the starting point for the Great Fire of London. He joined the Baker&rsquo;s Company in 1637 and had his own shop by 1649. He was a well known baker in the city and provided bread to the Royal Navy during the Anglo Dutch War.<br>
He, his family and some domestic servants lived above the bakery. After the fire, he rebuilt the business on Pudding Lane.</p>

<p><strong>Sir Thomas Bloodworth</strong><br>
The Lord Mayor of the City of London. He was in charge of the area impacted by the fire and many say that his ineffective leadership caused much of the damage. He was given the job because he was seen to be a bit of a &ldquo;yes man&rdquo; however, he often crumbled under pressure and didn&rsquo;t possess any actual skills for the job. When the fire broke out, he was annoyed at being disturbed and went off back to bed without giving any instructions to the firefighters.<br>
On the second day of the fire, he fled the city and the King took over the managing of the fire.</p>

<p><strong>Samuel Pepys</strong><br>
The famous diarist made many of the accounts of the fire. He also delivered messages from the King to the Lord Mayor.</p>

<p><strong>Robert Hubert</strong><br>
Robert was a French watchmaker who was known to have mental health problems and limited mobility. He confessed to starting the fire, despite many not believing him, a scapegoat was needed, so he was charged and sentenced to death. The Farriner family were among those who signed the bill for his execution.<br>
Following his execution, it was discovered that he was on a boat in the North Sea when the fire actually broke out.</p>

<h2>The Timeline</h2>

<p><br>
<strong>Sunday, 2<sup>nd</sup> September 1666</strong></p>

<p>The fire broke out in Thomas Farriner&rsquo;s bakery on Pudding Lane in the early hours of the morning. The family were trapped in the house upstairs, but escaped through an upstairs window, except the family&rsquo;s maid, who was too scared to jump to the street, she was the first casualty of the fire.</p>

<p>The Farriners sounded the alarm and the residents of the neighbouring buildings rushed to help put out the fire, after an hour, the Parish Constables were on the scene and judged that they would need to demolish the neighbouring properties to stop the fire, something that was common in firefighting at the time, but in order to do this, they would need the permission of Lord Mayor Thomas Bloodworth.</p>

<p>By the time Bloodworth arrived on the scene, the adjoining houses were on fire and the flames were heading towards the waterfront, where several warehouses stored flammable items. Bloodworth refused to begin demolishing buildings as he stated that permission would need to be sought from the building&rsquo;s owners rather than the tenants, so a decision couldn&rsquo;t be made. So, he headed back to bed.</p>

<p>At a more reasonable time in the morning, diarist, Samuel Pepys, ascended the Tower of London to view the fire from the battlements. He wrote in his diary that from what he could see, around 300 houses had been destroyed. By that time, the fire had reached the river and the houses along London Bridge were burning.</p>

<p>Pepys boarded a boat and travelled around the area, he managed to catch a glimpse of Pudding Lane and noted that several people were trying to save their possessions, either by throwing them in the river or by moving them to St Paul&rsquo;s Cathedral. He then continued on down to Whitehall, where he spoke to the King and the Duke of York. Charles commanded him to tell the Lord Mayor to begin demolition and James, Duke of York, offered the use of the Royal Life Guards</p>

<p>By mid-morning, many had abandoned the attempts at extinguishing the fire and had tried to flee. Unfortunately, the crowded nature of the streets and the general panic made it difficult for firefighters to get where they needed to and the City gates became bottlenecked. Pepys reached the Lord Mayor, who refused the offer of more soldiers. Around this time, Charles II sailed down from Whitehall and saw that the houses were not being demolished, he overrode Bloodworth&rsquo;s authority and ordered demolitions west of the fire zone.</p>

<p>By the afternoon, the weather had become windy, fuelling the flames. By now, the fire had become a huge firestorm and had travelled 500 metres west from its starting point.</p>

<p><strong>Monday, 3<sup>rd</sup> September 1666</strong></p>

<p>At daybreak on Monday, the fire had begun to spread west and north. It had also made its way across London Bridge towards Southwark.</p>

<p>By the afternoon, it had reached the banking district on Lombard Street in the heart of the City &ndash; reports from the time commented on the bankers trying to save their gold coins before they melted. At this point, hope was seemingly lost as there was little effort made to save the wealthy and fashionable districts in the City. The Royal Exchange caught fire in the late afternoon and was a shell within a few hours.</p>

<p>On Monday, rumours started spreading that the fire wasn&rsquo;t an accident and was actually an act of warfare thanks to England&rsquo;s involvement in the Anglo Dutch War. Many believed that an invasion was imminent and that the fire had been started by undercover agents. From this there was a wave of street violence against foreign-born people, particularly the French, the Dutch and the Catholics. This gained momentum when the General Letter Office on Threadneedle Street, through which post was sent out across the whole country, burned down. The London Gazette managed to get out their Monday edition before their offices too, were caught up in the fire. Widespread rioting began, causing the Coldstream Guards and the Trained Bands to abandon fire fighting to restore order.</p>

<p>By the afternoon, Bloodworth had left the City and King Charles II took charge. He put his brother, the Duke of York in command and several command posts were set up on the perimeter, manned by a trusted member of court and each given the authority to order demolitions where needed. James and his Life Guards rode around the streets, rescuing people and attempting to keep order. That evening, Baynard&rsquo;s Castle in Blackfriars, a large stone building, which was seen as the western counterpart of the Tower of London, caught fire. It was completely destroyed and burned through the night.</p>

<p><strong>Tuesday, 4<sup>th</sup> September 1666</strong></p>

<p>Tuesday is deemed to be the biggest day of destruction since the fire broke out.</p>

<p>On Tuesday morning, the flames had made it to Temple Bar, where the Strand meets Fleet Street. The command post there was supposed to stop the fire&rsquo;s advance towards Whitehall, but assumed that the River Fleet would form a natural firebreak. However, the strong easterly wind caused the flames to jump the river.</p>

<p>By midday, the fire had breached Cheapside where several luxury shopping outlets were located. The Duke of York and his men created a huge firebreak here, which although was breached at multiple points, did slow down the spread. Through the day, the flames began to move closer to the Tower of London, which had a large store of gunpowder. The garrison at the Tower decided to take matters into their own hands, blowing up houses on a large scale around them, halting the advance of the fire and protecting the Tower.</p>

<p>As St Paul&rsquo;s Cathedral was a brick building, many assumed it was a safe refuge and had filled it with possessions. The booksellers and printers around Paternoster Row filled the crypt with their books and other papers, however, the building was undergoing repairs and it wasn&rsquo;t long before the wooden scaffold caught fire. Within half an hour of the fire taking hold, the roof had melted and everything in the building was up in flames, the cathedral was in ruins before the day&rsquo;s end.</p>

<p><strong>Wednesday, 5<sup>th</sup> September 1666</strong></p>

<p>The winds began to drop in the early hours of the morning and the firebreaks created by the Tower of London garrison really started to take effect. Pepys climbed Barking Church and from the tower, took in the destroyed city, he noted in his diaries that there were still several separate fires burning around the area.</p>

<p>At this point, a large encampment had been set up in Moorfields on the outskirts of the city, where the newly homeless had congregated. Morale was low and violence continued in the streets as more and more people became convinced that the fire was an act of war. A huge explosion caused a mob to surge onto the streets, believing it to be the beginning of an invasion. The mob attacked any foreign people they happened to find and order had to be restored by soldiers.</p>

<p><strong>Thursday, 6<sup>th</sup> September 1666</strong></p>

<p>The final fires were extinguished on the Thursday, though some fires in the cellars of several buildings continued to burn for several months. The mood continued to be volatile and food production and distribution had been severely impacted, so Charles II ordered for bread to be brought in and for a series of markets to be set up around the perimeter of the fire zone.</p>

<p>By the Saturday, the senior governance of the City of London, known as the Court of Aldermen, began to clear the debris and reestablish supply lines. At this point, the markets were operating well enough to supply all the newly homeless living in camps around the City and Charles made a Royal Proclamation, imploring surrounding towns and cities to take in those that had been displaced. He actively encouraged those who had lost their homes to move away and start fresh.</p>

<p>Another proclamation was released which forbid people from speculating about the cause of the fire, though this did little to quell the rising violence against Dutch and French nationals.</p>

<p><img alt="" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/London%20Bridge.jpg"><br>
<em>Image: A map of the where the fire spread</em></p>

<h2>The aftermath</h2>

<p>With the Anglo Dutch War continuing in the background and violence against all foreign born people around England, a scapegoat was needed to quell the unrest in the streets. Robert Hubert, a French watchmaker made a confession that he and his gang had started the fire in Westminster and then, when it was pointed out that the fire didn&rsquo;t reach Westminster, he instead said that he had thrown a grenade through the windows of the Bakery on Pudding Lane. He had clearly never been there, as his description of the building and its windows was incorrect. He was known to have mental health issues and poor mobility, so much so that it was deemed impossible for him to have thrown a grenade.</p>

<p>Despite this, he was French, so was a suitable candidate for blame. Thomas Farriner in particular was under pressure to prove that he had properly extinguished his ovens and he and his family all signed the Bill of Execution. Hubert was sentenced at the Old Bailey and executed at Tyburn on 27<sup>th</sup> October 1666. As his body was being handed to the Company of Barber Surgeons for dissection, he was torn apart by the assembled crowd of angry Londoners.</p>

<p>Following his execution, it was discovered that Hubert wasn&rsquo;t even in London when the fire started, he was on a boat in the North Sea and didn&rsquo;t arrive in the city until after the fire was already ablaze. His death did however stop the violence.</p>

<p>According to official records, only 6 people died in the fire. However, the records only accounted for those who died of burns or smoke inhalation. Very little is known about the undocumented poor, those who may have died in the impromptu camps or during the violence that followed. Many deaths likely went unreported, and certainly those who survived but had long lasting health issues were not counted. It is also worth noting that the fire was hot enough that there would have been little evidence left of anyone caught in the blaze.</p>

<p>Apart from the loss of life, the fire destroyed 13,500 homes, 87 churches, 44 company halls, The Royal Exchange, Custom House, St Paul&rsquo;s Cathedral, Bridewell Palace, a number of other prisons, the General Letter Office, Baynard&rsquo;s Castle and three of the city gates. The total cost of the destruction totalled to around &pound;10 million, which is several billion in today&rsquo;s money.</p>

<p>In the months after the fire, a committee was set up to establish the cause, which for a time, concluded that Hubert was part of a Catholic plot. It has since been established that even if the Farriners had properly extinguished the ovens, it would have only taken a spark to light up the wooden homes.</p>

<p>To avoid delays with planning and land ownership, a special Fire Court was set up in February 1667 and ran for several years dealing with disputes and deciding what should be rebuilt and where depending on the landowners&rsquo; ability to pay. Cases were dealt with swiftly, often in the same day, and helped with the speedy reconstruction of the City. Despite this, it still took around 50 years for the area to be completely rebuilt. Sir Christopher Wren was one of the many people who proposed plans for rebuilding, his plans were rejected, something that many have disagreed with in the years since. His plans would have made the City of London rival Paris. Instead, likely for speed and financial reasons, the City was rebuilt along the same street plan as before, however the reconstruction saw improvements to hygiene and fire safety, with buildings being remade with brick and stone. Most private rebuilding was completed by 1671, and new public buildings were created on their former sites, including St Paul&rsquo;s Cathedrals and 51 new churches designed by Christopher Wren.</p>

<p>In 1667, strict fire regulations were imposed to reduce the risk of anything like this happening again. Nicholas Barbon, an economist, created the first insurance company, Nicholas Barbon&rsquo;s Fire Office, which gave cheaper rates to those in brick buildings and hiring private firemen. Confusion between Parish and private firefighters eventually led to the newly emerged insurance companies creating a combined firefighting unit, which would go on to become the London Fire Brigade. Another fun fact about Barbon, he was one of the many who proposed rebuilding plans and is credited with shaping London as we know it today &ndash; despite regulations making his development illegal, he built up the Strand, St Giles, Bloomsbury and Holborn.</p>

<p>The fire disrupted commercial activity, with stock and premises being destroyed along with homes. Economic recovery was slow, however, London retained its economic pre-eminence and its central role in political and cultural life. The fire also continued to be used a as a political issue throughout Charles&rsquo; reign, especially during the Exclusion Crisis, as allegations that the fire was a Catholic plot were used as propaganda.</p>

<p>For visitors today, the most obvious reminder of the fire is the Monument to the Great Fire of London, which is located outside of Monument tube station. It was commissioned by King Charles II and designed by Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke close to where the fire originated on Pudding Lane. It is 202 feet tall, the site of the bakery is 202 feet from the site of the monument. It took 6 years to complete.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="imageCenter" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/3(15).jpg"></p>

<p><em>Image: The Monument to the Great Fire of London</em></p>

<p>In 1681, accusations against the Catholics were added to the inscription on the Monument, something that remained until 1830. There is also a monument at the spot where the fire is said to have died out &ndash; the Golden Boy of Pye Corner in Smithfield.</p>

<p>The Monument to the Great Fire of London is a tourist attraction and is open daily for tours. There are 311 steps to the top where you can enjoy breathtaking 360 degree views of the City.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="imageCenter" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/4(8).jpg"><br>
<em>Image: The plaque at the Monument&nbsp;</em></p>

<h2>Reactions around the world</h2>

<h2></h2>

<p>As England was at war when the fire broke out, several nations did consider the fire to be retribution for events that took place during the war. The King of France, the nephew of the Queen of England, put aside their differences to offer aid and food to Londoners in need.</p>

<p><img alt="" class="imageCenter" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/1%20copy.jpg"></p>

<p><em>Image: The plaque at the Golden Boy of Pye Corner in Smithfield</em></p>

<p>So, there you go, a not so brief look at the circumstances surrounding the Great Fire of London. As well as changing the City physically, the Great Fire had a significant impact on the political, social, economic and cultural element of the capital and caused the largest dislocation of its residential structure in history, something only rivalled by the Blitz in WWII.</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
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      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Explore Britain’s heritage with Heritage Open Days</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/explore-britains-heritage-with-heritage-open-days-b398</link>
      <description>This year marks the 30 th anniversary of Heritage Open Days, England’s biggest heritage festival, spanning across nine days and giving the public access to usually closed spaces and free entry to a host of others. This year’s event takes place between 6 th and 15 th September.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img alt="Family at a heritage property with HOD flag" src="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/dbimgs/2(24).jpg"><a href="https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/">Image: Credit - Chris Lacey, via Heritage Open Days</a></p>

<p>This year marks the 30<sup>th</sup> anniversary of Heritage Open Days, England&rsquo;s biggest heritage festival, spanning across nine days and giving the public access to usually closed spaces and free entry to a host of others. This year&rsquo;s event takes place between 6<sup>th</sup> and 15<sup>th</sup> September.</p>

<p>This year&rsquo;s event has a theme of Routes, Network and Connections, with hundreds of activities covering those very things.</p>

<p>Speaking about this year&rsquo;s event, Liam Montgomery, the Marketing and Projects Officer for Heritage Open Days, said: &ldquo;The scale and diversity of Heritage Open Days is just incredible, every year thousands of passionate people help visitors to make doorstep discoveries and connect with history and heritage in every part of England. This year though, it will be extra special as we celebrate three decades worth of stories and all the brilliant people and places that have made it, and continue to make it, all possible!&rdquo;</p>

<p>Heritage Open Days are brought to you by the National Trust, supported by players of People&rsquo;s Postcode Lottery and run by thousands of local organisations and volunteers. Covering everything from historic houses to factories, museums to music halls, formal gardens to graveyards, across the country, there will be a host of events and new experiences to enjoy.</p>

<p>Over the three decades since Heritage Open Days began, it has grown in scope and scale. What began as a weekend dedicated to revealing buildings not normally open to the general public has exploded into a ten-day festival, celebrating a myriad of different aspects of heritage and culture. With more than 100,000 events and over 39 million visits across 30 years, growing from just 700 events in its first year to over 5000 last year.</p>

<p>You can find a host of events at heritage attractions across England here. https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/explore-britains-heritage-with-heritage-open-days-b398#comments398</comments>
      <pubDate>Sat, 31 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>How did Lady Jane Grey become queen?</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/how-did-lady-jane-grey-become-queen-b396</link>
      <description>You may have seen Amazon Prime’s latest period drama, My Lady Jane, a fantastical take on the story of Lady Jane Grey, the nine day queen, based on the book of the same name.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>You may have seen Amazon Prime&rsquo;s latest period drama, My Lady Jane, a fantastical take on the story of <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/lady-jane-grey-the-nine-days-queen">Lady Jane Grey,</a> the nine day queen, based on the book of the same name.&nbsp;. If so, you might be wondering just how much of the series is based on history &ndash; obviously, we can&rsquo;t prove that people can turn into animals on a whim, but we can prove that Jane was declared queen and that she was deposed by her cousin Mary, who went on to become <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/mary-i-bloody-mary-tudor">Mary I.</a></p>

<p>For some, Lady Jane doesn&rsquo;t count as one of <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history">England&rsquo;s monarchs.</a> After all, she was only on the throne for nine days and there is evidence to suggest that she was put there because of the machinations of powerful men who wanted to claim the throne for themselves. Whether you think that Jane should have been allowed to rule or you think Mary had the right to storm in and kill everyone, you might be wondering how Jane ended up as a contender for the throne in the first place.</p>

<p>Whichever side of the argument you find yourself, it isn&rsquo;t disputed that <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/edward-vi-the-last-tudor-king">King Edward,</a> coerced or not, did name Jane Grey as his heir. It is also fact that she was a member of the royal family and grew up alongside her royal cousins.</p>

<p>So, let&rsquo;s take a look at how she ended up as the heir. &nbsp;</p>

<p>In order to answer this question, we have to go back to the reign of<a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-vii-the-start-of-the-tudor-dynasty"> Henry VII</a> and Elizabeth of York. We all know about their famous son, <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-viii-the-king-with-6-wives">Henry VIII,</a> but they actually had several other children. The ones that survived infancy were Arthur, the Prince of Wales, Margaret, Henry and Mary.</p>

<p>Now, Arthur was married to <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-viii-the-king-with-6-wives/catherine-of-aragon">Catherine of Aragon,</a> but then died of the sweating sickness, paving the way for Henry to swoop in, marry (and then divorce) Catherine and become King. Margaret was married to the King of Scotland, she was queen for a bit, but then her husband was killed in a battle with the English (which must have been a bit awkward at family get togethers) and she remarried and was exiled. Her children did continue the <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/scottish-monarchy/house-of-stewart">Stuart dynasty</a> in Scotland and later in England though, so swings and roundabouts.</p>

<p>For Lady Jane&rsquo;s story though, we need to focus on the youngest of Henry VIII&rsquo;s siblings, Mary.</p>

<p>Mary was married to the King of France, who was considerably older than she was. Luckily for Mary, he died shortly after, which made her the Dowager Queen of France &ndash; quite a title. She returned to England and got together with her brother&rsquo;s best friend, Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk.</p>

<p>Mary died at the age of 37, but not before having four children, her oldest daughter, Frances, was a regular at court and as the King&rsquo;s niece had all the luxuries one might expect, including an advantageous marriage to Henry Grey the Marquess of Dorset. This marriage produced three daughters, Lady Jane Grey, Lady Katherine Grey and Lady Mary Grey.</p>

<p>So, basically, Lady Jane Grey was the great niece of King Henry VIII and a cousin to his children, the princesses Mary and Elizabeth and the prince Edward.</p>

<p>As members of the extended royal family and children of the Marquess of Dorset, Jane and her sisters were raised as nobles and spent time at the court of their great uncle. Her mother, Frances, became good friends with <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-viii-the-king-with-6-wives/catherine-parr">Catherine Parr,</a> aka wife number 6, and this secured places in the queen&rsquo;s household for her children. Catherine Parr had a good relationship with the Princess Elizabeth, so Lady Jane spent a lot of time with her &ndash; the pair were educated together, providing Jane with an education that was considered to be above her station.</p>

<p>Catherine Parr is credited with reuniting Henry VIII with his children and talked him into increasing the succession to include his daughters. This change in the succession meant that Henry overlooked Frances, her siblings and the descendants of his sister Margaret, but did include Frances&rsquo; children. So, in the succession act passed by Henry VIII, Lady Jane was in line for the throne, after Mary and Elizabeth.</p>

<p>When Henry VIII died, his nine year old son Edward became king and Jane, along with Elizabeth followed Catherine Parr to her new residence, which included many of Edward&rsquo;s inner circle. Catherine would go on to marry Thomas Seymour, Edward&rsquo;s maternal uncle. Thomas Seymour and his brother Edward, liked to say that they had their nephew&rsquo;s best interests at heart, but many would disagree. They both ended up being executed, but we&rsquo;ll come back to that.</p>

<p>As Edward was still a child, he had a Regency Council appointed to him who would rule in his stead, this included his uncles. They of course wanted to ensure an heir, so one of their top priorities was finding Edward a wife. One potential candidate was the future Mary Queen of Scots but Thomas Seymour&rsquo;s preferred candidate was Lady Jane Grey. Was this because she was under his care and therefore would be easy to manipulate? Who knows.</p>

<p>We do know that when his wife, Catherine Parr died, Thomas did attempt to marry Elizabeth, who was a literal child, and demanded that Jane stay in his care, even though she was returned to her parents.</p>

<p>Thomas Seymour was so intent on having access to the crown that he killed the king&rsquo;s dog and attempted to abduct him. Initially, Jane&rsquo;s family were implicated in his crimes, but were found innocent and Jane continued to receive the King&rsquo;s favour.</p>

<p>So, Lady Jane Grey was the great niece of Henry VIII, second cousin to King Edward VI and in the care of the Dowager Queen of England. All making sense so far? Right, let&rsquo;s continue then!</p>

<p>Following the downfall of the Seymour brothers, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland took over as Lord Protector and de facto ruler. This promotion made him the most powerful man in the country and some say, that like Thomas Seymour, this went to his head. He knew the King wasn&rsquo;t long for this world, he also knew that Edward was wary about appointing his sister Mary as his heir &ndash; Mary was a Catholic and her becoming queen would undo years of securing Protestantism across England. Edward, being young, and already concerned about the potential fall out of Mary being next in line, could be influenced &ndash; so Dudley did some influencing.</p>

<p>The first part of his scheme was to plant the seed about changing the line of succession to include Lady Jane Grey. Then he arranged a marriage between her and his son, Guildford Dudley. Jane was 16, Guildford was 18. To some, this looked like your average marriage between aristocrats and was politically important, it brought together two prominent protestant families. However, any children from the marriage would be part of the royal family AND Dudley&rsquo;s grandchildren. With Jane next in line for the throne, Dudley could guarantee that his grandson be the next king of England. (He almost got his wish twice, his youngest son, Robert Dudley was Elizabeth&rsquo;s childhood best friend and went on to have a long term relationship with her. If Elizabeth hadn&rsquo;t been assaulted by Thomas Seymour in her youth and Robert wasn&rsquo;t implicated in his wife&rsquo;s death, could he have been married to the queen and produced a Dudley heir? We&rsquo;ll never know.)</p>

<p>So, Jane and Guildford were married. It is said that Jane had to be literally beaten into agreeing to the marriage, we know that she was intelligent, so probably didn&rsquo;t fancy having to submit to a husband she barely knew, but whether her parents actually beat her into submission, is lost to history. If not choosing your own husband wasn&rsquo;t insult enough, she had to share her wedding day, venue, priest, guests, all of it with two other people. Her younger sister Katherine and Guildford&rsquo;s sister, also called Katherine.</p>

<p>King Edward was seriously ill by this time and now Dudley had a royal daughter in law. So, you can guess what happened next. Edward, aware that the issue of succession was becoming more and more urgent, sought the advice of his council and then drafted the Devise for the Succession. This document passed over both his sisters and his aunt Frances, who was technically, his next closest relative. Instead, he chose Jane and her male heirs. His aunt Frances was outraged to have been passed over for the second time &ndash; however, after a private meeting with the King, she began to favour Jane.</p>

<p>How did Jane feel about this?<br>
Well, about the same as she felt about being married.</p>

<p>Four days after the death of Edward, the announcement was made and Jane Grey was named queen on 10<sup>th</sup> July 1553. Reports from the time say that she was reluctant and had to be &ldquo;convinced by her mother&rdquo; to accept the title. How this convincing was done, we couldn&rsquo;t say.</p>

<p>So, was everyone happy now?<br>
Nope.</p>

<p>Though she had accepted that Edward wanted her to be queen, Jane refused to name her husband Guildford king. Naturally, the Dudleys were a little upset by this, but Edward&rsquo;s sister Mary had the biggest bone to pick. She rallied the nobility and massed an army, riding to London to claim the throne as her own.</p>

<p>Just nine days after being given the crown, Jane had it taken from her by the force of Mary&rsquo;s army, she was officially deposed on 19<sup>th</sup> July.</p>

<p>So that&rsquo;s that then?<br>
Well, no, she may have only been queen for nine days, but she wasn&rsquo;t immediately executed by her dear cousin. Mary did have the entire Grey family arrested, Frances requested an audience, in which she accused the Dudleys of engineering the whole plot, even going so far as to claim that John Dudley had been poisoning Jane, in the hope that she would die early and Guildford would be king in his own right. Mary saw that Jane was a pawn and promised to pardon her after the coronation. She released the rest of the family but then Henry Grey, Jane&rsquo;s father ended up being part of a revolt that aimed to put Elizabeth on the throne, which rather hampered Mary&rsquo;s generosity.</p>

<p>Jane ended up being imprisoned at the Tower of London in the Gentleman Gaoler&rsquo;s Apartments, her husband Guildford Dudley was put in the Bell Tower. Guildford&rsquo;s brothers and father, along with Jane&rsquo;s father were also arrested and held in the other towers.</p>

<p>Around six months into her reign, Mary had John Dudley and Henry Grey executed for treason. The following year on 12<sup>th</sup> February 1554, Jane and Guildford, along with Thomas Cranmer, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII and Edward VI, were all tried and executed for treason.</p>

<p>After the trial, Jane was sentenced to either being burned alive on Tower Hill or beheaded as the queen pleases. It is said that Mary was troubled by executing her cousin, but as she is known as Bloody Mary, we&rsquo;re not sure just how true that actually is.</p>

<p>The day before their execution, Guildford asked to speak to Jane for one last time but she refused. They did see each other again however, he was taken down to be executed first. His body was transported back to the Tower and passed Jane on her way down to Tower Green. She was said to have cried his name when she saw him. The pair were buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula on the north side of Tower Green, no memorial stone was erected to mark their final resting place.</p>

<p>That isn&rsquo;t where the story of the Greys and the line of succession ends, however. Mary took pity on her aunt Frances and her remaining children. They lived in poverty but were kept as part of Mary&rsquo;s household, with Frances going on to marry Adrian Stokes, her Master of the Horse.</p>

<p>The family remained part of the royal court following Mary&rsquo;s death and the ascension of Elizabeth. And, like her siblings, as Elizabeth didn&rsquo;t have an heir, both the youngest Grey sisters and their offspring were considered to be prospective heirs. As we know though, this didn&rsquo;t happen and Elizabeth instead named a different cousin, James Stuart, the King of Scotland.</p>

<p>It could have all been different however.</p>

<p>Katherine Grey had two sons, the last Tudor boys, either of which could have been named as heir, if only Katherine hadn&rsquo;t upset Elizabeth by secretly marrying Edward Seymour &ndash; the son of the afore mentioned Edward Seymour that lost his head while looking after Elizabeth&rsquo;s brother.</p>

<p>Katherine and Edward jnr made the mistake of not having more than one witness at their wedding, which threw the legitimacy of their children into question. Also, not inviting Elizabeth to the wedding. She had them both imprisoned in the Tower of London and Katherine would die before the age of 30 of consumption.</p>

<p>The youngest Grey sister, Mary served as one of Elizabeth&rsquo;s maids of honour and didn&rsquo;t learn from Katherine&rsquo;s mistakes. She also married without permission and had the audacity to choose someone that the court found wholly unsuitable. Elizabeth confined Mary to house arrest and her husband was sent to Fleet prison, they never saw each other again. Mary did return to the queen&rsquo;s favour eventually though, if her lavish funeral was anything to go by.</p>

<p>So, there you have it, how Lady Jane Grey ended up in line for the throne.</p>

<p>You can learn more about Lady Jane Grey <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/lady-jane-grey-the-nine-days-queen">here</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/how-did-lady-jane-grey-become-queen-b396#comments396</comments>
      <pubDate>Fri, 23 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>New study finds parts of Stonehenge came from Scotland</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/new-study-finds-parts-of-stonehenge-came-from-scotland-b397</link>
      <description>A new study undertaken by experts worldwide has discovered that the altar stone, a large sandstone block in the centre of Stonehenge, came from Scotland.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A new study undertaken by experts worldwide has discovered that the altar stone, a large sandstone block in the centre of Stonehenge, came from Scotland.</p>

<p>It has been common knowledge for some time that Stonehenge was made up of stone from both the local area and Wales, in itself a journey of over 120 miles, but this discovery has changed what we know about Neolithic society.</p>

<p>The stone in question is not one of the famous lintel-topped Sarsen stones &ndash; these have been traced back to Wiltshire &ndash; but rather a huge sandstone block, around 5 metres long and weighing 6 tonnes that lies in the heart of the monument. It is mostly hidden beneath two of the sarsen stones, which have fallen over the years. It is the largest of the &ldquo;bluestones&rdquo;, the name given to the stones that came from outside of Wiltshire.</p>

<p>The experts found that this particular stone was an outlier differing from those that have been traced back to the Pembrokeshire area of Wales. Research into the chemical composition of the stone, eventually matched it to stones at the Orcadian Basin in North East Scotland, some 466 miles away from Stonehenge. Though it will take some time to locate the exact site, it is thought that the stone originated somewhere between Orkney and Inverness.</p>

<p>Speaking to reporters about the discovery, a representative from the study said: &ldquo;[the discovery]&hellip; completely rewrites the relationships between the Neolithic populations of the whole of the British Isles. The science is beautiful and its remarkable, and it is going to be discussed for decades to come. It is jaw-dropping.&rdquo;</p>

<p>The discovery does pose the questions of how and why the stone was transported over 400 miles. It suggests that people across Neolithic Britain were aware of Stonehenge and that those people were less isolated than we have originally believed. Experts on the Neolithic period suggest it is more likely that the stone was transported over land rather than via boat. This also raises more questions about the importance of Stonehenge and its uses.</p>

<p>It certainly suggests a much more enterprising society than we had originally believed. &nbsp;</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/new-study-finds-parts-of-stonehenge-came-from-scotland-b397#comments397</comments>
      <pubDate>Mon, 19 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>The great debate: Did King Arthur Exist? | Arguments for</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/the-great-debate-did-king-arthur-exist-arguments-for-b395</link>
      <description>Historians have been debating the existence of King Arthur for generations. While some say that he is a completely fictional figure from the depths of Celtic folklore, others say that there is some evidence that the character of Arthur is an amalgamation of several notable people from the time.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Historians have been debating the existence of King Arthur for generations. While some say that he is a completely fictional figure from the depths of Celtic folklore, others say that there is some evidence that the character of Arthur is an amalgamation of several notable people from the time.</p>

<p>Today we will look at the evidence for the existence of King Arthur. Want to catch up? Click here to check out the origins of the Arthur.</p>

<p>For now, let&rsquo;s take a look at some of the evidence that proves that there was once someone called Arthur who did some of the things attributed to him in the legends.</p>

<p>To start with, a bit of background, the Arthurian legends are set in a time of great change and turmoil in Britain &ndash; the Romans had begun to leave Britain and Saxon invasions began to terrorise the population. Britannia fragmented into fiefdoms, each with its own king or ruler, something that continued up until the Norman invasion. So, it is entirely possible that there was a King called Uther Pendragon, who had a son that was seen as a great military leader. It is also important to note that there are very few records of the time between the Romans and the Normans. With that said, let&rsquo;s look at what records we do have.</p>

<p>Ancient texts that mention Arthur, or at least someone we can infer is Arthur.</p>

<p><strong>De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae &ndash; Gildas</strong><br>
This is the earliest text we&rsquo;ll be looking at, and though it doesn&rsquo;t mention Arthur by name, it does talk about the Battle of Badon, which is associated with the Arthur legend.<br>
Gildas was a Welsh Monk and in his works, he talks about a Saxon invasion which resulted in the Battle of Badon. The British were victorious, they were led by a Romano-Britain general called Ambrosia Aurelianius, who was known as The Bear.<br>
Interestingly, the Celtic word for bear is artos.<br>
So, though the story itself isn&rsquo;t about anyone called Arthur, the name could come from the General&rsquo;s nickname and does reference the Battle of Badon, which features in several texts that mention Arthur.</p>

<p>Interestingly, there are many texts prior to those written by Geoffrey of Monmouth that reference Arthur as a military leader rather than a King. Many of these texts are Welsh in origin or were written by Welsh monks that were living in England.</p>

<p>For instance, as well as Gildas&rsquo; account of the Battle of Badon, we also have a mention in the 7<sup>th</sup> century poem Y Gododdin, which says that the hero is a skilled warrior, but is no Arthur, indicating that there was a skilled fighter called Arthur that people would have prior knowledge of.</p>

<p><strong>The Easter Annals</strong><br>
This set of Welsh manuscripts detail the conversion from Roman to British rule and cover the Saxon invasion. The Battle of Badon features here too and a hero called Arthur is credited with carrying the cross of Jesus Christ which helped the British win.</p>

<p><strong>The Black Book of Carmarthen and the Welsh Triads</strong></p>

<p>These texts are mostly a collection of Welsh traditional stories and histories. It is the Welsh Triads that first flout the idea that Arthur might be a king, he is described as being the Chief of the Lords of this Island, indicating that he was in charge of the British and Welsh.</p>

<p><strong>Latin Vitae</strong><br>
It isn&rsquo;t just the Welsh that have early mentions of Arthur, he also appears in a couple of Vitae, which were texts detailing the lives of post Roman saints. These aren&rsquo;t generally considered to be reliable historical sources, but it is certainly interesting that he appears here, too.</p>

<p>Remember Gildas who is attributed to the earliest mention of Arthur?<br>
Well, he later became a saint and in the story of his life, it is claimed that Arthur killed his brother and rescued his wife from Glastonbury. There is also mention of an incident in which Arthur demanded compensation for the loss of his men in the form of cattle. Something that comes up several times in Arthurian legends.</p>

<p>You&rsquo;ll also find mention of Arthur in the Historia Brittonum, a book detailing the History of the Britons, which was written in the 9<sup>th</sup> century and contains details of 12 battles that Arthur supposedly took part in and refers to him as a military commander rather than a King. Some see this as one of the earliest histories of Britain, but others claim that it is a work of fiction as some of the locations mentioned do not match up with places that currently exist.</p>

<p><strong>The Annals of Cambraie</strong></p>

<p>The Annales Cambriae, which date back to the 8<sup>th</sup> century, also support the case for Arthur being a real person. They mention both the Battle of Badon and the Battle of Camlann, where Arthur is supposed to have died and dated that final battle as taking place in the late 530s.</p>

<p>Some say that Geoffrey of Monmouth was inspired by these texts, while others say that this proves that there was a respected leader called Arthur. This in turn may indicate that the Arthur of legend is an amalgamation of several people, rather than one singular person.</p>

<p>So, what do we know about this time?<br>
We know that the period after the Roman occupation was one of great turmoil. There are very few records remaining from this time period, so even if there was someone called Arthur who rose to prominence, we wouldn&rsquo;t have concrete evidence. Historians do say that there is evidence that the Saxons and the Britons fought several battles and though the Battle of Badon&rsquo;s location isn&rsquo;t concrete, there is evidence to suggest that it is in the West Country.</p>

<p>One location we can prove existed however is the Camlann, the site of Arthur&rsquo;s final battle.</p>

<p>It wasn&rsquo;t just Welsh texts that included mentions of Arthur, following the popularity of Geoffrey of Monmouth&rsquo;s work, the stories of Arthur started appearing in France too. It was these stories that introduced the Knights of the Roundtable, though again, we don&rsquo;t know if these were written because they had come across the legendary fighter or because they were further inspired by Geoffrey&rsquo;s stories.</p>

<h2>The Cornish connection</h2>

<p>Ok, so let&rsquo;s talk about Cornwall.</p>

<p>The Arthur legend is hugely intwined with Cornish history, the generally accepted Arthur legends state that he was born in Tintagel, Cornwall after Uther Pendragon, a king of Britain used Merlin to deceive the wife of the Duke of Cornwall into believing that he was her husband. Arthur was conceived and was raised by the Cornish and Merlin alongside his mother, father and half siblings, which included Morgana, the infamous witch of the story. We all know how outspoken women were treated in history. If Arthur exists, did Morgana and did she just fall foul of misogony?&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Tintagel, there is a bronze sculpture of a knight wearing a cloak and a crown and holding a sword that is said to be in commemoration of Arthur, though this addition is fairly recent. Tintagel does have the ruins of a castle and a cave known as Merlin&rsquo;s Cave, which was coveted by the 13<sup>th</sup> Century Earl of Cornwall, who wanted to claim Arthurian heritage.</p>

<p>Cornwall is also said to be where the Battle of Camlann took place. It is said to be located in the modern day village of Slaughterbridge where there is a Camel River, the name of which could have come from Camlann. There is also a stone column here known as the Slaughterbridge Stone which is believed to have been an ancient burial marker and archaeologists discovered a stone slab here which dated back to around the 6<sup>th</sup> century that had Artognou engraved on it. Perhaps this was a headstone and perhaps Artognou is an old Cornish version of the name Arthur?</p>

<p>Other connections to Cornwall include a neolothic stone circle on Bodmin Moor which was said to have significance with the Knights of the Roundtable and St Nectan&rsquo;s Glen, a waterfall which was supposedly visited by the Knights of the Roundtable before they went searching for the Holy Grail.</p>

<h2>Other tangible evidence</h2>

<p>Aside from places like Merlin&rsquo;s Cave, Arthur&rsquo;s Stone is another site that has connections with King Arthur. Believed to be around 5000 years old, Arthur&rsquo;s Stone is constructed of nine upright stones topped by a massive capstone which weighs around 25 tons. It is believed to be an ancient tomb, though excavations haven&rsquo;t proved anything concrete.</p>

<h2>Could the mystery of Arthur be Edward I&rsquo;s fault?</h2>

<p>As we&rsquo;ve seen, many of the original mentions of Arthur come from Welsh history and the name Arthur itself does have Welsh origins. Etymologists say the name originated from the Roman surname, Artorius, a latinised version of the Irish name Arti. We have also established that the Celtic word for bear is Artos. All of this together could indicate that Arthur became a popular name in Wales around the time of the Saxon invasions.</p>

<p>It is also worth noting that Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII of England, was Welsh, he was born in Pembrokeshire and the Tudors were a prominent Welsh family, named his oldest son Arthur and claimed to be a descendent of the original King Arthur. He also claimed that this relation to King Arthur strengthened his divine right to rule.</p>

<p>Henry VII wasn&rsquo;t the only monarch that believed in the existence of King Arthur. King Edward I also acknowledged that Arthur was a real person and even visited his supposed grave site. Later, the brother of King Henry III, who became the Duke of Cornwall &ndash; was so convinced that Arthur existed and that they were related that he swapped several royal lands for Tintagel, which was said to have been Arthur&rsquo;s birthplace and would regularly hold events nearby at Merlin&rsquo;s Grotto, which still exists today, to commemorate Arthur&rsquo;s victories. Another king, Edward III created his own Order of the Roundtable, which took inspiration from the Welsh Triads. There is a Round Table at Winchester Castle, which was originally created by Edward I and then repainted by Henry VIII that was modelled on the table used by King Arthur.</p>

<p>What does this have to do with Edward I?<br>
Well, Edward I was the king that began England&rsquo;s conquest of Wales and during this time, he claimed Arthur as being an English hero, shifting the origins away from the original Welsh stories and rooting him further into Cornish lore. Perhaps the lack of original documentation from the time itself and Edward&rsquo;s erasure of Welsh culture is the reason why there isn&rsquo;t more concrete evidence of Arthur&rsquo;s existence.</p>

<p>It is also possible that Arthur was a Welsh leader or king &ndash; again, Welsh culture was actively being supressed and erased by those that conquered it. In fact, for a time, it was illegal to speak Welsh, forcing those that lived there to speak English, those that only spoke Welsh were not allowed to hold office or positions of power. There is a suggestion that King Arthur could have been the Welsh king Arthrwys ap Meurig, but again, so much was lost that we would never know for sure.</p>

<h2>The Glastonbury Connection</h2>

<p>So, you know how we said that Camlann was a real place? We might also be able to place Avalon in reality, too.</p>

<p>Avalon is said to be Glastonbury Tor, which at one time was surrounded by marsh land, which made it an Island. Though it wasn&rsquo;t an island by the 12<sup>th</sup> century, which coincidentally is when the word Arthurian began to be used to describe certain eras and architecture. Want more? &nbsp;In Welsh, Glastonbury translated to Isle of Glass.</p>

<p>Glastonbury has long been shrouded in folk lore and is close to Bath, which is said to have healing waters, so it isn&rsquo;t too much of a stretch to assume that a nobleman injured in battle wouldn&rsquo;t have been taken somewhere known for its healing. The area of the Somerset Levels where Glastonbury can be found continues to be known as the Vale of Avalon, which adds a little more credence to the tale.</p>

<p>Furthermore, Arthur&rsquo;s grave is said to have been uncovered in Glastonbury. Yes, you read that right. In 1190, monks at Glastonbury Abbey claimed to have discovered the bones of Arthur and Guinevere after their new abbot ordered them to search the grounds. The monks claimed to have found the bodies in an unmarked tomb within a massive coffin made from tree trunks and alongside an iron cross engraved with the phrase: HIC IACET SEPULTUS INCLITUS REX ARTURIUS IN INSULA AVALONIA.</p>

<p>It is said that this translates roughly to Here lies entombed the renowned King Arthur in the island of Avalon. However, others say that it actually makes mention of the Once and Future King &ndash; a phrase synonymous with King Arthur. We do know that Rex is Latin for King, we still use it today and Arturius is pretty similar to Arthur.</p>

<p>Following the discovery of the bodies, King Edward I and his wife, Eleanor of Castille visited Glastonbury to witness their reburial and to contribute silks and royal seals to the grave. The bones were then moved again when the abbey was extended but following the dissolution of the abbey, the grave site and any remains have been lost.</p>

<p>While some point to this as being proof that Arthur existed and was important enough to have been buried with an engraved cross at an abbey, others claim that the whole thing was a hoax on the part of the monks. After all, they desperately needed to raise money for the abbey as it had been damaged in a fire not long before the discovery. The king who was so keen for Arthur to belong to the British being involved adds to this theory, however others say that the discovery was legitimate and actually, the tomb had been found years before, but had been left alone.</p>

<h2>People who could have been Arthur</h2>

<p>One leading theory is that King Arthur wasn&rsquo;t one single person but that the stories about him are an amalgamation of the lives of several notable people at the time. It is widely accepted that Geoffrey&rsquo;s version of Merlin was based on a number of Welsh prophets.</p>

<p>There are a couple of people who could have potentially been the Arthur of those original stories or at least have had their actions credited to someone called Arthur. Firstly, there is The Bear, Ambrosia Aurelianius, who is mentioned in Gildas&rsquo; text.</p>

<p>Other candidates include Artuir mac Aedan, a prince of Dal Riata, which is now part of modern Scotland; Lucius Artorius Castus, a Roman army commander and several English and Welsh kings, including Riothamus, who fought during an expedition to Gaul, Owain Danwyn and Arthwys ap Meurig.</p>

<p>So, with the mentions in ancient history prior to the publication of Geoffrey of Monmouth&rsquo;s book, the significant locations being matched up with modern day places, several sources referring to the Battles of Badon and Camlann, more modern kings associating with and claiming heritage from Arthur, the discovery of his burial place and the mentions of other people from the legends, like Merlin, that concludes our evidence for the existence of Arthur.</p>

<p>Is this enough to convince you that King Arthur existed?</p>

<p>Next time we&rsquo;ll be looking at the evidence against the existence of Arthur.</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/the-great-debate-did-king-arthur-exist-arguments-for-b395#comments395</comments>
      <pubDate>Wed, 14 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Horrific History | History of capital punishment in Britain</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/horrific-history-history-of-capital-punishment-in-britain-b394</link>
      <description>As the 13 th August marks the 60 th anniversary of the last hanging in Britain, we thought we would delve into the dark history of capital punishment.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As the 13<sup>th</sup> August marks the 60<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the last hanging in Britain, we thought we would delve into the dark history of capital punishment.</p>

<p>Before we get on to the last hanging in Britain, let&rsquo;s take a step back and find out more about our history with capital punishment.</p>

<p>Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the execution of a criminal sentenced to death after being convicted of a crime following a trial. In the UK, capital punishment predates the formation of the UK and was used throughout the British Isles from around the Anglo-Saxon era up until 1969 when it was officially abolished &ndash; though it remained in place for certain offences, like treason, until 1998. Today, capital punishment is prohibited by the European Convention of Human Rights, which the UK is a part of.</p>

<p>Throughout the UK&rsquo;s history, the preferred method of execution was hanging, which was brought to Britain by the Anglo-Saxons. Initially, this involved placing a noose around someone&rsquo;s neck and suspending them from a tree. Later this morphed into &lsquo;drawing, hanging and quartering&rsquo; &ndash; the severest punishment for those who committed treason. This involved dragging the condemned person to the place of the execution, hanging them until almost dead, then cutting them down and disembowelling, beheading, burning and then quartering of the limbs. Heads and hands were then publicly displayed at prominent places around the area.</p>

<p>By the 10<sup>th</sup> century, hanging was the most common form of execution across the British Isles. The death penalty was actually abolished under William the Conqueror for everything except war crimes, but his sons, William II&nbsp; and Henry I reintroduced it.</p>

<p>Almost all cities and towns in the UK had at least one execution spot that was used for public displays, usually with a scaffold. In <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/places-to-stay/london">London</a>, the majority of criminals were hung at Tyburn, which is near where Marble Arch stands today. Prisoners were often dragged there from Newgate prison. Most prisoners were taken on the back of a cart, through crowded streets, where members of the public would throw things at them, before being compelled to repent by a local holy man, they would then be hanged. Sometimes, their relatives would be allowed to pull on their feet to get it over with quickly. In <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/our-regions/wales/cardiff">Cardiff,</a> convicts would have to walk from the castle to the gallows which was located in an area called Roath, which is still locally known as Death Junction.</p>

<p>It wasn&rsquo;t just hanging which was prevalent as a capital punishment. Women were often burned at the stake and the nobility were beheaded. Burning at the stake was the most common punishment for heresy, though this hasn&rsquo;t been used since 1789, it was abolished the following year. If you were in the military, it is more likely you were executed by firing squad.<br>
During <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-viii-the-king-with-6-wives">Henry VIII&rsquo;s</a> reign, as many as 72,000 people were executed and during his daughter <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/elizabeth-i-good-queen-bess">Elizabeth&rsquo;s</a> reign, 75% of hangings were due to theft. In London, the courts condemned more people to death than the rest of the country, with the first recorded execution at Tyburn taking place in 1196 and the last public execution in the city taking place in 1896. In fact, if you take a trip to central London, you&rsquo;re always around 5km away from a known execution site.</p>

<p>Throughout history, different areas of London were synonymous with various execution methods. For instance, the area of Smithfield near Farringdon was the place for the burning of heretics, while those condemned for piracy were executed at Execution Dock near Wapping. Traitors were generally beheaded on Tower Hill and their heads displayed at Traitor&rsquo;s Gate. For special occasions, temporary gallows were erected in public spaces or near the scene of the crime, so that members of the public could come and watch.</p>

<p>At one time, around 220 crimes were punishable by death. This was known as the Bloody Code and didn&rsquo;t distinguish between adults and children. Some of the crimes which carried the death penalty included:</p>

<p>Damaging Westminster Bridge<br>
Impersonating a Chelsea Pensioner<br>
Concealing a stillborn child if you were unwed<br>
Pickpocketing goods worth a shilling<br>
Stealing from a shipwreck<br>
Writing a threatening letter<br>
Begging without a licence if you were a soldier or sailor<br>
Evidence of malice in children aged between 7 and 14 years<br>
Arson<br>
Cutting down trees<br>
Returning to Britain after being transported to the colonies<br>
Stealing rabbits from a warren<br>
Vandalising a fishpond<br>
Forgery<br>
Stealing horses or sheep</p>

<p>These were on top of a variety of other minor offences and bigger ones including murder, assault, sexual offences and treason. This huge list of offences remained in place until 1861 when the number of capital crimes were reduced to four: murder, arson in a royal dockyard, treason and piracy. Further reform took place, which saw executions move from public spaces to inside of prisons.</p>

<p>Prior to <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/britain-at-war/wwii">WWII,</a> there was an attempt to abolish the death penalty, however the outbreak of war and the need to punish those convicted of espionage meant it was abandoned. In the 1950s, there were further calls for abolishment following high profile cases like Timothy Evans, this led to the Homicide Act, which reduced the categories of murder that could be punishable by death.</p>

<p>Beheading was abolished as a method of execution in 1973. The death penalty was completely abolished in 1998, replacing the punishment for treason and piracy with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.</p>

<p>The last executions to take place in England and the UK were:</p>

<p>Peter Allen at Walton Prison and Gwynne Jones (aka John Welby) at Stangeways Prison in August 1964, while Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain. &nbsp;Harry Burton was the last person executed in Scotland, while Robert McGladdery was the last execution in Northern Ireland and Vivian Teed, the last person in Wales.</p>

<p>The last people to receive a death sentence, but were not executed are: Liam Holden in Northern Ireland, David Chapman in England, Patrick McCarron in Scotland and Edgar Black in Wales.</p>

<h3>Notable Executions</h3>

<p>With<a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-viii-the-king-with-6-wives"> Henry VIII </a>executing around 72,000 people, we can&rsquo;t mention everyone but here are some of the most notable people to have been sentenced to death in the UK.</p>

<p>Sir Thomas More<br>
Beheaded for treason on 6<sup>th</sup> July 1535</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-viii-the-king-with-6-wives/anne-boleyn">Anne Boleyn</a><br>
Beheaded for treason, adultery and incest on 19<sup>th</sup> May 1536.<br>
Her brother and several co-conspirators were also executed.</p>

<p>Thomas Cromwell<br>
Beheaded for treason on 28<sup>th</sup> July 1540</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-viii-the-king-with-6-wives/catherine-howard">Catherine Howard</a><br>
Beheaded for treason and adultery on 13<sup>th</sup> February 1542.<br>
Several co-conspirators were also executed.</p>

<p>Alice Glaston<br>
Hanged for an unknown charge, but believed to have been murder. She was only 11 years old and is the youngest known girl to have been legally executed in England.</p>

<p>John Dean<br>
Hanged for arson, was only 9 years old and is thought to be the youngest child legally executed in England.</p>

<p>Robert Kett<br>
Hanged from the walls of Norwich Castle for leading Kett&rsquo;s Rebellion, he was charged with treason on 7<sup>th</sup> December 1549.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/lady-jane-grey-the-nine-days-queen">Lady Jane Grey </a>and Lord Guildford Dudley<br>
The nine days queen and her husband were both beheaded on the charge of treason by <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/mary-i-bloody-mary-tudor">Mary I</a>, Jane&rsquo;s cousin on 12<sup>th</sup> February 1554 following a long period of imprisonment.</p>

<p>The infant son of Perotine Massey<br>
This execution was presided over by the church so isn&rsquo;t necessarily deemed legal &ndash; the child was less than a day old and was burned to death on a charge of inheriting a mortal stain from his mother on 18<sup>th</sup> July 1556.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/scottish-monarchy/mary-queen-of-scots">Mary Queen of Scots</a><br>
Beheaded by her cousin, Elizabeth I for charges of treason after being implicated in a plot to steal the English throne on 8<sup>th</sup> February 1587.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/evolution-of-british-politics/the-gunpowder-plot">The Gunpowder plotters</a><br>
Guy Fawkes narrowly avoided execution by jumping off the gallows. The others were hung, drawn and quartered.</p>

<p>Sir Walter Raleigh<br>
He was charged with violating the terms of the Treaty of London and attacking Spanish ships in peace time, leading to his execution by beheading on 29<sup>th</sup> October 1618.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-stuart/charles-i-the-abolition-of-the-monarchy">King Charles I</a><br>
Charles I was found guilty of high treason following the English Civil War and was beheaded outside Banqueting Hall in London. The execution was carefully monitored to limit the amount of people attending and it was made illegal to speak, preach or write against the execution so the king did not become a martyr.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/04/the-man-behind-the-legend-dick-turpin-b381">Dick Turpin</a><br>
The highway man was hanged on 7<sup>th</sup> April 1739, though not for highway robbery or murder, he was initially captured and sentenced for horse theft.</p>

<p>Thomas Kingsmill<br>
A gang leader in the 1700s, Kingsmill was charged with smuggling and murder and was sentenced to gibbetting. This is when the dead or dying bodies of criminals were hung publicly and then left to die of exposure, thirst or starvation. It&rsquo;s also known as hanging in chains.</p>

<p>John Byng<br>
The only British Admiral to be executed by firing squad by the Royal Navy for failing to do his utmost at the Battle of Minorca.</p>

<p>Laurence Shirley (4<sup>th</sup> Earl Ferrers)<br>
The last peer to be hanged and the only one to be so after being charged with murder. He was convicted of murdering a servant on 5<sup>th</sup> May 1760.</p>

<p>Catherine Murphy<br>
Charged for counterfeiting, Murphy was the last woman in England to be burned at the stake, however she was strangled beforehand, so technically was already deceased.</p>

<p>John Bellingham<br>
Bellingham assassinated Spencer Perceval the prime minister and was hanged on 18<sup>th</sup> May 1812.</p>

<p>The Cato Street Conspirators<br>
Found guilty of a plot to murder the entire cabinet and prime minister, they were hanged and decapitated.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/things-to-do/cultural-history/true-crime/burke-and-hare">William Burke</a><br>
Half of the murderous duo Burke and Hare. He was hanged on 28<sup>th</sup> January 1829 and then his body was publicly dissected.</p>

<p>Catherine Frary and Frances Billing<br>
Convicted of poisoning, they were the last women featured in a double public execution.&nbsp; They were hanged at the gates of Norwich Castle.</p>

<p>James Pratt and John Smith<br>
These were the last two men to be executed for sodomy in England.</p>

<p>Sarah Chesham<br>
The last woman to be hanged for attempted murder, there is some debate about her being wrongly convicted.</p>

<p>Elizabeth Martha Brown<br>
The last woman to be hung in public in Dorset, which served as inspiration for Tess of the D&rsquo;Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy was in the audience.</p>

<p>Fenian Michael Barret<br>
A participant in the Clerkenwell Explosion, was the last person publicly hanged in the UK in May 1868.</p>

<p>William Horry<br>
Executed at Lincoln Castle, Horry was the first person hanged using the Long Drop method.</p>

<p>Albert and Alfred Stratton<br>
The first British murderers to be convicted using fingerprint evidence.</p>

<p>Private Thomas Highgate<br>
The first British soldier to be executed for desertion during WWI, executed by firing squad.</p>

<p>Roger Casement<br>
Former Government official, was charged with conspiring with the enemy during WWI and inciting insurrection in Ireland, leading to a conviction for treason.</p>

<p>Victor Betts<br>
His case established that a person need not be present when a crime is committed to be considered an accessory after the fact. He was sentenced following a murder committed during a robbery.</p>

<p>Josef Jakobs<br>
A German spy convicted of treason was executed by firing squad and is the last person to have been executed at the Tower of London.</p>

<p>Theodore Schurch<br>
The last person to be executed for an offence other than murder in 1946. He was convicted of treachery.</p>

<p>Timothy Evans<br>
Charged with a murder he didn&rsquo;t commit and hanged, it was later revealed that the actual culprit was John Christie and despite this being acknowledged, he has never been posthumously acquitted.</p>

<p>Ruth Ellis<br>
The last woman to be hung in Britain on 13<sup>th</sup> July 1955.</p>

<p>On 9<sup>th</sup> November 1965, the Murder Act suspended the death penalty for murder for five years in the UK and then on 16<sup>th</sup> December 1969, it was abolished for all crimes except treason. The ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights on 20<sup>th</sup> May 1999 meant that the death penalty was abolished and prohibited in the UK. Which brings us back to the last execution to take place in the UK &ndash; the executions of Peter Allen and Gwynne Evans. The pair were both career criminals with a history of petty crime and were convicted of murdering John West during a plan to rob him.</p>

<p>During the trial, they blamed each other and at the conclusion, the judge asked the jury to consider whether one man was responsible, or both. After deliberating for just three hours, both were found guilty and sentenced to death.</p>

<p>Despite being incarcerated at separate institutions, both were executed at the same time on the same day. At 8 am on 13<sup>th</sup> August 1964, Evans at Strangeways Prison and Allen at Walton Prison were hanged. Several years later, it was discovered that Evans had serious psychological problems, which would have led to his sentence being commuted because of diminished responsibility. This along with other miscarriages of justice, like the execution of Timothy Evans, are among the arguments why the death penalty remains in the past.</p>

<p>Learn more about Britain dark history:<br>
<a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2023/07/horrific-history-asylums-and-mental-health-care-in-britain-b338">Asylums and mental health care</a><br>
<a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2023/01/horrific-tales-from-history-botched-executions-b287">Botched executions</a><br>
<a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2023/10/horrific-history-the-history-of-british-witch-trials-b353">British witch trials</a></p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/08/horrific-history-history-of-capital-punishment-in-britain-b394#comments394</comments>
      <pubDate>Wed, 07 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>The great debate: Did King Arthur Exist  | the origins of a legend</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/07/the-great-debate-did-king-arthur-exist-the-origins-of-a-legend-b393</link>
      <description>Historians have been debating the existence of King Arthur for generations. While some say that he is a completely fictional figure from the depths of Celtic folklore, others say that there is some evidence that the character of Arthur is an amalgamation of several notable people from the time.</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Historians have been debating the existence of King Arthur for generations. While some say that he is a completely fictional figure from the depths of Celtic folklore, others say that there is some evidence that the character of Arthur is an amalgamation of several notable people from the time.</p>

<p>Over the next few months, we&rsquo;ll be looking at the evidence historians have made for and against the existence of King Arthur. Today, as a starting point, we&rsquo;ll be looking at the legend of King Arthur, the key characters and how the story evolved.</p>

<p>The person credited with making Arthur a key character in British folklore was a chap called Geoffrey of Monmouth. He was a Catholic cleric from <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/our-regions/wales">Monmouth in Wales</a> and is a major figure in the development of British histography. Though people debate how true his stories of King Arthur actually are, there are some aspects of his work that are undisputed.</p>

<h2>The lowdown on Geoffrey of Monmouth</h2>

<p>&nbsp;Born: Galfridus Arturus (or Geoffrey Arthur) | Monmouth, Wales | circa 1095</p>

<p>So, as we can see Geoffrey was born quite some time after it is said Arthur lived. He actually gave himself the name Geoffrey of Monmouth, which is why we all think he came from that area of Wales. Regardless of how you feel about giving yourself a nickname, it is generally accepted that he descended from the French speaking elite who lived around the Welsh border and likely made their home there after the <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-normandy">Norman invasion.</a></p>

<p>Anyway, Geoffrey travelled quite widely, spending a fair amount of time in Oxford and Lincoln, as well as Wales. He was a Catholic cleric and served as the Bishop of St Asaph at Lambeth&nbsp;and wrote several works, the best known of which, the History of the Kings of Britain, details the basis of the legend of Arthur. In fact, the Arthurian legend is categorised as Pre-Galfridian or Post-Galfidian depending on whether that part of the legend came from Geoffrey&rsquo;s work.</p>

<h2>The History of the Kings of Britain</h2>

<p>Geoffrey wrote several works in Latin, including this one, which is one of the best known &ldquo;histories&rdquo; of the Medieval era. It claims to be a history of Britain, and says that the country was founded by Brutus of Troy, who made his way across the sea following the Trojan War. It covers everything from Julius Caeser, the<a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/roman-britain"> Roman invasion</a> and the Kings Leir (he eventually became known as King Lear, and yes, there is debate over whether he existed too) and Arthur.</p>

<p>Geoffrey said that his book is a translation of an earlier work given to him by the Archdeacon of Oxford telling of the history and deeds of the kings of Britain. This is disputed, hence the debate over Arthur&rsquo;s existence. The book does cite other historical manuscripts that we&rsquo;ll be looking at next time in our exploration of the evidence for Arthur&rsquo;s existence &ndash; including those by Bede and Gildas, which both reference battles and a seemingly super human warrior that helped the British defeat the Saxons.</p>

<p>Geoffrey also wrote a series of works about Merlin &ndash; the Prophecies of Merlin and the Life of Merlin. These both discuss a crazed outcast who made prophecies and is either a man living in the woods or a man from Scotland. The name seems to have roots in Welsh, with the original translation being merdyn &ndash; which translates into mad man.</p>

<p>There is some evidence to suggest that the&nbsp; Merlin and Arthur that appeared in Geoffrey&rsquo;s writings were inspired by real life Welsh and Briton prophets, but are they amalgamations of several people that inspired a wild tale or did Geoffrey actually just translate a book that does tell the history of a time that went largely unrecorded?</p>

<h2>Evolution of a legend</h2>

<p>So, let&rsquo;s take a look at the Arthur that Geoffrey wrote about.</p>

<p>Like most figures, historical or mythical, he appears to have different names depending on who you ask. In English he is King Arthur; in Welsh, Brenin Arthur; in Cornish, Arthur Gernow; in Breton, Roue Arzhur and in French, Roi Arthur.</p>

<p>In the original Welsh sources, Arthur is the leader of the Post Roman Britains, leading them into battles against the Anglo Saxons. Prior to Geoffrey writing about him, he appeared in a couple of different historical texts from the 5<sup>th</sup> and 6<sup>th</sup> centuries, which we will discuss next time.</p>

<p>In Geoffrey&rsquo;s version of events, Arthur was a descendant of Constantine the Great, a Roman Emperor who is credited as being the driving force behind Christianity. He commanded one of the largest of the Roman armies and remained in Britain long after his promotion to Emperor.</p>

<p>The story goes that Uther Pendragon, a King ruling in the Post Roman era had his eye on the Duke of Cornwall&rsquo;s wife. With the help of Merlin, he disguises himself as the Duke and tricks the wife into bed, the result: Arthur. Arthur is then raised alongside the Duke of Cornwall&rsquo;s existing children with the help of Merlin, before becoming King on the death of Uther Pendragon.</p>

<p>After becoming King of the Britain, Arthur took part in a variety of battles, in most versions, there are 12 battles, which is corroborated by other historical texts. He defeats the Picts and Scots and then creates an Arthurian empire, taking control of territories overseas, including Gaul, which was part of the Roman Empire.</p>

<p>While abroad planning to take Gaul, Arthur receives word that his nephew Mordred has usurped him. He returns to Britain and the pair meet on the battlefield. Mordred is killed and Arthur mortally wounded, he is taken to the Isle of Avalon to recover but is never seen again.</p>

<p>Several of the characters that appear in Geoffrey&rsquo;s account are still recognised from the Arthurian legends we know today, including:</p>

<p>Uther Pendragon<br>
Merlin<br>
Guinevere<br>
Mordred</p>

<p>Other notable characters such as Lancelot, Percival, Galahad, Gawain, Ywain, Tristian and Isolde all appear in later texts, primarily as part of the Matter of Britain, a series of stories and literature from Medieval Britain. Camelot for instance didn&rsquo;t appear in the story until the 1300s and the Knights of the Roundtable were also a later embellishment.</p>

<p>Post Geoffrey of Monmouth, many of the Welsh chronicles focusing on Arthur talk about his connection to a place called Annwn, which is an Otherworld that features heavily in Welsh folklore.</p>

<p>So now we more aware of the stories and the origin of the Arthur stories, we&rsquo;re ready to start discussing whether he is a complete figment of Geoffrey&rsquo;s imagination or if he is rooted in reality. Check in next month to learn the arguments in favour of there really being a King Arthur!<br>
&nbsp;</p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/07/the-great-debate-did-king-arthur-exist-the-origins-of-a-legend-b393#comments393</comments>
      <pubDate>Wed, 31 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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      <title>Summer activities at Heritage properties</title>
      <link>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/07/summer-activities-at-heritage-properties-b392</link>
      <description>Want to spend the summer exploring British heritage? Here are some of the events and activities you can enjoy over the next few months at the UK’s leading heritage properties</description>
      <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Want to spend the summer exploring British heritage? Here are some of the events and activities you can enjoy over the next few months at the UK&rsquo;s leading heritage properties</p>

<h2>Northern England</h2>

<p>Enjoy a spot of Shakespeare with an alfresco performance of the <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/shakespeare-in-the-garden-p5205631">Tempest at Leighton Hall </a>in Lancaster. Taking place within the hall&rsquo;s garden, the play will be performed by an all male cast, in keeping with Shakespeare&rsquo;s original casting decisions and will also feature original music. <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/shakespeare-in-the-garden-p5205631">Find out more here.</a></p>

<p>In August, you can relive<a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-york/richard-iii-the-final-yorkist-king"> Richard III&rsquo;s</a> final days by heading to Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre for this year&rsquo;s Bosworth Medieval Festival. This hugely popular two day event often attracts thousands of people every year, so make sure to get your tickets early! The programme includes a chance to take part in your own version of the battle, as well as talking to the reenactors to learn more about the battle itself and the <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/britain-at-war/the-wars-of-the-roses">War of the Roses</a>. Find out more <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/bosworth-medieval-festival-2024-p5383561">here.</a></p>

<p>If you are interested in the War of the Roses and history generally don&rsquo;t miss out on a chance to see the Terrible Tudors live on stage at Stockport Plaza. <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/horrible-histories-rotten-royals-p5478521">Find out more here.</a></p>

<p>Or you could learn more about the Victoria era with family crafts at Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse in Cheshire. Find out more <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/family-crafts-at-weaver-hall-museum-and-workhouse-victorian-parlour-p5451291">here</a></p>

<h2>Southern England</h2>

<h2></h2>

<p>There are several activities taking place throughout the summer at Greenway, Agatha Christie&rsquo;s holiday home in Devon.</p>

<p>The house is now managed by the National Trust who are kicking off the summer in July with their Festival of Archaeology. Christie might have been known as the Queen of Crime, but she was also interested in history and the past and went on several archaeological digs with her second husband, Max Mallowan. During the Festival of Archaeology, there is a chance to see some of the items found on their own digs, as well as learning more about archaeology in general. <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/festival-of-archaeology-at-greenway-p5447321">Find out more here.</a></p>

<p>Throughout the summer holidays, there is also the Summer of Play at Greenway, featuring Cirque du Summer. All summer of play activities are free once entry costs are paid and are suitable for all ages. <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/summer-of-play-at-greenway-p5448031">Find out more here.&nbsp;&nbsp;</a></p>

<p>Elsewhere in Devon, you can also get involved with the Summer of Play at Coleton Fishacre, another National Trust property, located in the Dartmouth area. <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/summer-of-play-at-coleton-fishacre-p5447291">Find out more here.</a></p>

<p>While you&rsquo;re in Devon, head over to Tiverton Canal where you can enjoy their 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary celebrations. With one of the only remaining horse drawn barges in the UK, plus a host of heritage canal walks and the UK&rsquo;s only floating beer garden, there&rsquo;s plenty to do here. <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/tiverton-canal-open-day-50th-anniversay-p5219881">Find out more here</a></p>

<p>For a chance to enjoy nature and the great outdoors, head to Iford Manor in Wiltshire for their annual Nature Day in partnership with Butterfly Conservation. This free event will allow you the chance to explore two of the manor&rsquo;s meadows where you can take in the butterflies and wild orchids and catch up with representatives from other conservation groups. Do be aware that you will need to purchase separate tickets to visit Iford Manor&rsquo;s gardens. <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/annual-nature-and-butterfly-day-at-iford-manor-p5471371">Find out more here.</a></p>

<p>At Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, the whole family can get involved in Pirates at Carisbrooke Castle! See some of history&rsquo;s best known pirates duel, talk about their lives and crimes and even learn the ropes and become a pirate yourself! <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/pirates-at-carisbrooke-castle-p4692411">Find out more here.</a></p>

<p>Or how about joining <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/discover/royal-history/house-of-tudor/henry-viii-the-king-with-6-wives">Henry VIII</a> on tour? He&rsquo;ll be stopping off at Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire in August. It&rsquo;s a great way to learn more about what goes on on Royal Progress and to meet the man himself. <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on/henry-viii-on-tour-at-berkeley-castle-p4717971">Find out more here.</a></p>

<p>You can find more information about events and activities taking place across the summer <a href="https://www.visitheritage.co.uk/whats-on">here.</a> </p>]]></content:encoded>
      <author>marketing@visitheritage.co.uk (Visit Heritage)</author>
      <comments>http://www.visitheritage.co.uk/inspiration/visit-heritage-blog/read/2024/07/summer-activities-at-heritage-properties-b392#comments392</comments>
      <pubDate>Wed, 24 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
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