Gloucestershire doesn’t lack ghostly stories, not least about the Wars of the Roses with, for example, Margaret of Anjou prowling the rooms of Owlpen Manor and the phantom messenger, on his way through Prestbury to Edward IV at Tewkesbury in May 1471 when he was killed by an arrow. He still gallops through the village… Continue reading The murdered Lancastrian countess and the disappearing Yorkist ghost rider….
Tag: River Thames
Molyneux? No, here come the Stanleys. Again….!
I have recently been looking into the turbulent life of Sir Thomas Molyneux of Cuerdale, whose hall by the River Ribble has featured in one of my articles. He was not a quiet soul, and had a terrible end at the Battle of Radcot Bridge in 1387 when surrendering to a Mortimer. The latter pulled… Continue reading Molyneux? No, here come the Stanleys. Again….!
The oldest Thames boat race….
We all know about the Oxford/Cambridge boat race, but it certainly isn’t the first such race on the Thames. We also have the “Doggett’s Coat and Badge”, which still boasts an unbroken record since 1715. It takes place on 31 July every year. I confess I had never heard of this race, but if… Continue reading The oldest Thames boat race….
CROSSBONES – BURIAL PLACE OF WINCHESTER GEESE AND ‘THE OUTCAST DEAD’
REBLOGGED FROM A MEDIEVAL POTPOURRI @ sparkpus.com Shrine of many ribbons at the entrance to Crossbones Cemetery. Photo Kay Nicols. It’s harder to find a more sadder place in South London than the site of Crossbones Burial Ground, Redcross Way, which is a side street tucked away off the busy Borough High Street,… Continue reading CROSSBONES – BURIAL PLACE OF WINCHESTER GEESE AND ‘THE OUTCAST DEAD’
“You will build five balingers at your own expense.” Signed The King….
When it comes to medieval ships, it’s sometimes difficult to imagine what they were like. Cogs, crayers, shallops, barges, balingers, wherries and many others abound. Well, wherries of various descriptions are still around now, as are barges, but what we may fondly envisage as a brightly painted narrow boat was no such thing. Perhaps it… Continue reading “You will build five balingers at your own expense.” Signed The King….
L’Erber – London Home to Warwick the Kingmaker and George Duke of Clarence
My latest A Medieval Potpourri @sparkypus.com post London before the Great Fire and much as Richard Neville ‘The Kingmaker’ and his family would have known it… L’Erber stood slightly to the north west of Coldharbour which is the large house seen here in middle of the picture and facing the Thames. No depiction of L’Erber… Continue reading L’Erber – London Home to Warwick the Kingmaker and George Duke of Clarence
The relocation of a great house Richard III knew well….
This great house was never built next to the Thames at Chelsea, but now it stands right on the riverbank. It originally stood in Bishopsgate, London, from where it was moved brick by brick at the beginning of the 20th century. It was first erected in 1466 by Sir John Crosby., and is now… Continue reading The relocation of a great house Richard III knew well….
A convict’s skull found by the Thames after 200 years….
This article may not be our period exactly, but it’s another example of the things that continually turn up on the Thames foreshore. Mind you, I fail to see how it can be stated with any conviction (sorry!) that the skull is that of a convict “thrown off [a] prison ship” 200 years ago in… Continue reading A convict’s skull found by the Thames after 200 years….
Where did the Black Prince come ashore when he crossed the Thames to his favourite palace at Kennington….?
In my seemingly endless trekking around the internet in search of information about Kennington (not Kensington!) Palace, I was pleasantly surprised to at last discover something I’d been trying to pinpoint for some time. In the days before there was any bridge over the Thames except Old London Bridge, the only way to cross the… Continue reading Where did the Black Prince come ashore when he crossed the Thames to his favourite palace at Kennington….?
Smaug’s demise and the medieval springald….
Before I start, you will have to forgive my ignorance of medieval weaponry. What I know could be written on the head on a pin. But here goes anyway. Most of us have seen the Tolkien films concerning Hobbits, Lords of Rings, orcs, elves, dragons and so on. And most of us will remember the… Continue reading Smaug’s demise and the medieval springald….
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