The Oldest Coffee Houses, Norman Castles and a Victorian Church...
Hey history lovers!
How are you doing? Here’s your monthly snapshot of what’s been going on over the last few weeks with British History, the blog and drawing adventures…
Writing
I went on a day trip to Oxford at the beginning of January, and visited Oxford Castle. Entry there is by guided tour only, which is actually great because you don’t miss anything. I went up in the old Norman tower, saw the window the Empress Matilda was supposed to have escaped out of on a dark, snowy night and toured the Victorian gaol cells. There was the gorgeous candle-lit Norman crypt too. I’m halfway through writing up a full review of the visit over on the blog, which will come soon.
While I was in Oxford I took a slight detour to see the oldest coffee house, thought to have opened in 1650, on the High Street. You can read a post about it, the other seventeenth-century coffee house across the road and what went on in coffee houses back in the day, here. Also, did you know that our Merry Monarch Charles II once tried to BAN coffee houses? The horror.
Inspired by my trip to Oxford and based on other castles I’ve visited over the years, I wrote up a post about the genius of Norman castle building. It turns out that it’s normal that creeping on your tiptoes awkwardly up uneven, narrow, stone spiral staircases feels like a death trap: they were built that way.
I also attended another online Gresham College lecture, this time on Amelia Dyer. Dyer was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of babies after she took them in (along with payments for their upkeep) but then killed them. She was executed in 1896. The lecture brought up questions about female murderers, Victorian society and baby farming.
If there’s something you’d like to see me write about on the blog, then send me an email.
Reading
I finished Dan Jones’ The Plantagenets which was brilliant, and now I understand how the Medieval kings and queens all fit together and the challenges they all faced. A great read if you need an introduction to the period, told in Dan Jones’ usual cinematic style.
Audiobook-wise, I listened to Richard III: Brother, Protector, King by Chris Skidmore on Audible. It’s an account of Richard’s life, which aims to show more of his personality and upbringing than other biographers generally do. I loved that it was quite heavy on the primary sources and some accounts from people who had actually visited Richard at court. A lot of detail too, about Bosworth and how the battle played out.
Do you know a book you think I should read? Email me here.
A great start to urban sketching this year, I managed to sketch live inside the historic church of St Luke’s in Reading, which will be celebrating its 140th anniversary in the summer. I spent a couple of hours sketching the pillars, the fairy lights and arches. Definitely try and pop in and have a look if you’re local and get a chance. I wrote up the morning’s sketching here.
I’ve also been busy sketching Stokesay Castle, Reading Abbey, Donnington Castle and Medieval buildings in Oxford and Tidmarsh. Check them all out on my Instagram.
What about this guy who found a gold, 2,000 year old Roman ring in his front garden?
Gorgeous shots of sunrises at Dunnottar Castle in Aberdeenshire
How Victorians flirted. Because I bet you always wondered….
Dreamy drone footage of the now ruined Donnington Castle in Berkshire, originally built in 1386.
Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful February. See you in March.
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