“The Cathedral of Middlesex”

This is what Sir John Betjeman called the Harmondsworth Barn near Heathrow. The largest timber-framed structure in England, dating from 1426, this amazing symphony in oak was being used as intended as recently as 1978. Quite remarkable. The barn measures 192 feet by 37 feet and is 39 feet high. As you enter, you appreciate [...]

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Exploring London: Old Remains

A guest post by David Adams of Exploring London. One of the things I love about London is the city’s many layers of history and how it’s possible, through looking at the remnants of buildings now long gone, to get a sense the city during some of these different historical eras. Let’s start with the [...]

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The London History Festival 2011

The third London History Festival, which opened on Monday, is off to a flying start. Last night I went to the History Girls talk at Waterstones in Kensington. Excellent turn-out and really insightful discussion by the panellists, all successful history writers. Plenty of good audience Q & A afterwards too. On Wednesday 23rd, it’s the [...]

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Billingsgate Bath House

One of the most important Roman sites in London is the so-called Billingsgate Bath House. It comprises a smallish Roman bath house, bordered on the east and north sides by other ruins, whether domestic or commercial is not entirely clear, but probably the latter. It is underneath a 1960s office block at 101 Lower Thames [...]

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Guildhall

On Saturday I made my first foray inside Guildhall during its biennial celebration: London Maze.  I haven’t got to the bottom of the name of this event, nothing to do with mazes. London Amaze would perhaps be more appropriate because this is what the old building does. Dating from 1411, Guildhall has had to be [...]

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Review: London Under by Peter Ackroyd

There’s a programme on Radio 4 called I’ve Never Seen Star Wars, the idea being that guests confess to not having done something commonplace, such as travelled on a plane or owned a mobile phone. So, as a London historian, my equivalent was that I’d never read a book by Peter Ackroyd. That was until [...]

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Fleet Street and St Bride’s

I popped into town yesterday to meet some friends with their small daughters (four and five years old), and seized an opportunity also to do some history touristing. We all went to the new London Street Photography exhibition at the Museum of London. Being half term, the place was packed. So I shan’t do a proper review now, except [...]

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DIY Couple Discover Henry VIII Mural

I missed this excellent story which broke a few weeks ago. It was brought to my attention this last weekend while visiting Taunton. A local couple, who own the house formerly occupied by Thomas Cranmer when he was Arch-deacon of Taunton, were in the process of removing some panelling and plasterwork from a wall in [...]

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The Nonsuch Situation

There has been fast-gathering interest over the past 24 hours following the announcement that Christie’s is to auction a rare depiction of Henry VIII’s Nonsuch Palace in December. Kicking off on art websites, the story soon reached the mainstream, including  BBC News, here. Why the fuss? Well, everything about Nonsuch Palace is rare, a bit of [...]

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