Review: Winter King

Subtitled the Dawn of Tudor England, this book by Thomas Penn was shortlisted for History Today magazine’s book of the year for 2011. On the surface, it’s not the type of book I’d read at the moment for not being sufficiently “Londony”.  But, in fact, it is very Londony indeed, because it examines the reign [...]

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Review: A Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England

A guest post by Mathew Lyons. A Visitor’s Companion to Tudor England by Suzannah Lipscomb. It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I approached Suzannah Lipscomb’s latest book. Was it really necessary? Did the world need another guide book to the historic buildings of England? Would she not be forced into tiresome iterations of [...]

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Remembering Lancelot Andrewes

Today marks the death in 1626 of the formidable church scholar Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626) who reached the highest echelons of the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I. He is possibly the most learned, brilliant and influential theologian in the history of the church. A lad from Essex, [...]

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Southwark and the Bible

Near the conglomeration of rail viaducts, tube and mainline train complexes at London Bridge can be found this plaque: This, presumably, is a reference to Coverdale’s Great Bible, ordered by Henry VIII and supervised by Thomas Cromwell. It borrowed the approved bits and edited the unapproved ones from  Tyndale (who had recently been burned for [...]

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Best of Recent Blogs #23

First off, another delightful new discovery: The Dustshoveller’s Gazette, written by Caroline Shenton who is writing a book about the 1834 Westminster Fire, to be published next year. London Cemeteries has been that busy with daily posts, I shan’t list them individually, but rather exhort you to go take a look. And now, on to [...]

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Syon Park

Recently I secured a small slot on Hayes FM radio station every Thursday, talking about local history, that is to say generally West London. I haven’t broadcast (ahem) this fact much since I feel the need to hone my skills a bit. And to relax! So far we have covered Strawberry Hill House, Osterley Park [...]

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The Honourable Artillery Company (1537)

Following a tip by IanVisits, a fellow London Historian and I went yesterday to The Honourable Artillery Company’s open evening. It was a great opportunity, since this site is normally closed to the public. The HAC headquarters is in City Road near Bunhill Fields Cemetery. It has its own cricket and rugby field in what [...]

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St John in Clerkenwell

Today I made a second visit to St John’s Gate in Clerkenwell in as many days, having made a delightful discovery: the Museum of the Order of St John. It is housed in the gate itself and is free. It re-opened in October last year having benefitted from a total refurbishment part-funded by the National Lottery. [...]

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John Stow Memorial Service – 6 April 2011

Today marks the anniversary of the death of John Stow in 1605, aged around 80. He is often referred to as the Father of London History, having published The Survey of London in 1598. Today a group of London Historians attended his memorial service which is organised by the Merchant Taylors Company (Stow was a [...]

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Best of Recent Blogs #18

Caroline’s Miscellany has been in blistering form of late with four or five excellent reads, not least a reference to another blog new to us: Bollards of London. Carlton House by Patrick Baty “The Noise of the People” The London Protests before Oak Apple Day by Georgian London Celebrating the noble tradition of defacing London [...]

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