The fenland around Peterborough is a liminal place, a world of still, deep water, rustling reeds, flat land and a big sky. A place full old legends of the Lantern Man and the Toad Man and the spectral dogs known as Black Shuck. A place full of memories, of hidden secrets… In 1999, a major… Continue reading THE SECRETS OF BRITAIN’S ‘POMPEII’
Tag: Cambridgeshire
A cottage with a very long, spooky tunnel…
You know what they say…as above so below? Well, not in the case of this Cambridgeshire cottage which is for sale at £425,000. While I love the “above” part…the “below” gives me the jitters! So my £425,000 is safe. “….Steps lead from the kitchen to a good-sized basement, where you’ll find a trap door leading… Continue reading A cottage with a very long, spooky tunnel…
Buckden Bishop’s Palace
A few years back I wrote about Buckden Towers in Cambridgeshire, the old palace of the Bishops of Lincoln. Finally, with the pandemic receding, I was able to visit the site in its small village (once a thriving place in coaching times and earlier but much diminished with the advent of the railways.) Here Richard… Continue reading Buckden Bishop’s Palace
Beautiful Collyweston….
The ten best villages in England are listed here and Collyweston in Northamptonshire makes the grade. I can only say that it does so entirely on its own merit and in spite of having once been the lair of Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII.
A holy Anglo-Saxon family
The best known Wuffing king of East Anglia was Raedwald, who is almost certainly buried at Sutton Hoo, in a transitional style that befits a convert to Christianity. Anna (male despite the name) was his nephew and eventual successor and no fewer than four of his daughters, together with his son, were canonised. Among Raedwald’s… Continue reading A holy Anglo-Saxon family
Boris and the haunted village: no not THAT Boris, I mean Boris Karloff….!
In my internet exertions trying to trace the origin of and more details about a certain Joan Bramshott, daughter of Sir Roger Bramshott and widow of Sir John Shardelowe of Fulbourn in Cambridge, I learned her family originated from Bramshott in Hampshire. This site popped up. The most haunted village? Well, I won’t argue, becuse… Continue reading Boris and the haunted village: no not THAT Boris, I mean Boris Karloff….!
The outstanding exception in the “Cambridgeshire” six….!
Well, it’s true, I don’t know many of the six Cambridgeshire castles that are listed in this article . Many of them disappeared very early on in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and hill forts aren’t something about which I know a great deal anyway. Poor old Cambridge Castle suffered the ignominy of having a Shire… Continue reading The outstanding exception in the “Cambridgeshire” six….!
Buckden Towers-Heritage at Risk
Caring for heritage buildings is a never-ending job. They may have stood for hundreds of years but just like every other building, they crumble and decay with time and need urgent restoration. A recently addition to the ever-growing ‘Heritage at Risk’ ledger is Buckden Towers in Cambridgeshire. Formerly known as Buckden Palace, it was home… Continue reading Buckden Towers-Heritage at Risk
Wonderful wall paintings under the whitewash. . .
Caption for the above illustration: The north wall, displaying a Nativity framed by the Seven Ages of Man. At lower left is a cradled infant, helpfully labelled ‘INFANS’; next, we have Boyhood (see him spinning a top with his whip), then, mostly lost, Adolescence, followed by Youth (with a hawk on his wrist). Manhood follows… Continue reading Wonderful wall paintings under the whitewash. . .
DR JOHN ARGENTINE – PHYSICIAN TO PRINCES
UPDATED POST ON sparkypus.com A Medieval Potpourri https://sparkypus.com/2020/06/15/dr-argentine-physician-to-the-princes-in-the-tower/ King’s College Chapel. Dr Argentine is buried in a chantry chapel on the south side close to the alter. In Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, just south of the alter can be found the chantry chapel where Dr John Argentine, Provost of Kings College from 1501 until his death… Continue reading DR JOHN ARGENTINE – PHYSICIAN TO PRINCES
murreyandblue 