The Heritage Traveller

Travel, History, and exploring British Heritage

The Forgotten Country House

The Forgotten Country House Book Review

The late 18th century was the golden age of the English country house. Inspired by fashionable Palladian architects like Robert Adam and landscape gardeners such as Lancelot 'Capability' Brown, the landed gentry of England created mansions like works of art, set in idyllic countryside settings.

Though many of these stately homes remain and are some of England's best-loved historic buildings, others have been lost to the ravages of time, as changes in society made the lifestyle of the landed gentry difficult to maintain.

One of these lost country houses was Roundway Park near Devizes in Wiltshire.


Posted: 2019-10-25
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Haworth and the Brontes | Book Review

Haworth and the Brontes | Book Review

The historic Yorkshire town of Haworth will forever be linked to one extraordinary family; the Brontes. Patrick Bronte was appointed as the vicar of Haworth in 1820 and moved into the 18th-century parsonage beside St Michael and All Angels Church with his wife Maria and their six children.

Maria and two of the six children tragically died shortly after, but the remaining four children - Anne, Charlotte, Emily and Branwell - carved out a remarkable literary legacy.


Posted: 2019-04-03
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The Mystery of King John's Treasure | Book Review

The Mystery of King John's Treasure | Book Review

In October 1216 King John was hurrying north from King's Lynn to Lincoln in an attempt to quell the ongoing revolt of his leading nobles.

Desperate to reach Lincoln quickly he made a rash decision and attempted to cross the Wash, an area of tidepools and quagmires. It was a foolish decision, for John's royal treasury was lost in the mud, never to be recovered.

At least, that's the traditional story as it has been accepted by historians for centuries. Treasure hunters have been trying unsuccessfully since at least Victorian times to find King John's treasure.


Posted: 2018-12-11
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Hugh Despenser the Younger & Edward II

Hugh Despenser the Younger & Edward II: Downfall of a Favourite | Book Review

I don't think I've ever read a more thoroughly researched historical book than Hugh Despenser the Younger & Edward II: Downfall of a King's Favourite by Katherine Warner.

One of the things you have to ask yourself when reading a new biography is the simple question, 'who is it written for'? Some historic biographies are written for a general audience with an interest in a specific person or time period. Others are more scholarly and examine details of the person's life in great detail. This book falls very much in the latter category.


Posted: 2018-12-03
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Cathedrals of Britain: Central and East | Book Review

Cathedrals of Britain: Central and East | Book Review

I'm a church mouse. I love visiting historic churches around Britain. Every time I open a medieval church door I feel like Aladdin walking into his cave of wonders. My bookshelf is full of guidebooks to historic churches in different counties and regions, from country churches to cathedrals. With so many guidebooks already at my disposal, why would I want another one?

Bernadette Fallon, the author of the Cathedrals of Britain series from Pen and Sword Books, has the answer to that question. I've just had the pleasure - and I do mean pleasure - of reading 'Cathedrals of Britain: Central and East'.


Posted: 2018-12-03
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Mary, Queen of Scots Downfall

Mary, Queen of Scots Downfall | Book Review

Mary Queen of Scots' Downfall: The Life and Murder of Henry, Lord Darnley

by Robert Stedall

On 10 February 1567, a terrifying explosion split the night, wreaking destruction in the Old Provost's Lodging in Kirk o' Field, Edinburgh. One of those staying in the Old Provost's Lodging that night was Henry, Lord Darnley, the estranged husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Darnley's body was found the following morning, but not in the wreckage of the house but in a neighbouring garden.

On examination of the body and that of Darnley's valet, who was found beside him, it was found that Darnley had not been killed in the blast but had been suffocated.

But by whom?


Posted: 2018-01-29
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The Real Guy Fawkes

The Real Guy Fawkes | Book Review

The tale is one that anyone with an interest in British history can recite from memory; in the early dawn hours of 5 November, 1605 Guy Fawkes was discovered in the cellars under the Houses of Parliament armed with enough barrels of gunpowder to kill King James I and anyone else attending the opening of Parliament scheduled for that later morning.

Over the centuries since the Gunpowder Plot was uncovered the figure of Guy Fawkes has become something of a cultural icon, his name given to scarecrow-like mannequins burned on bonfires every 5th November to the accompaniment of fireworks and celebrations.


Posted: 2017-12-09
Read more: The Real Guy Fawkes Book Review



Myths That Shaped Our History

Myths That Shaped Our History Book Review

There are some history books that you can enjoy without much thought. The new book by Simon Webb is definitely not that kind of publication. Myths That Shaped Our History: from Magna Carta to the Battle of Britain is a thought-provoking look at how what we think we know about major historical events is wrong, and more importantly, how what we think we know about those events helps shape how we define what it means to be British.


Posted: 2017-12-05
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A History of Sussex

A History of Sussex Book Review

In 1912 an amateur archaeologist named Charles Dawson astounded the scientific world when he discovered the earliest human remains ever found in a gravel pit near the Sussex village of Piltdown, north of Lewes. Dawson built a worldwide reputation for his discovery, but that reputation was left in tatters when it emerged some four decades later that the skeletal remains were part of an elaborate hoax, with the skull constructed from a mix of human and ape bones carefully painted to give them an appearance of great age.

The story of Piltdown Man is one of the opening salvos of a fascinating new book by Philip Payton entitled 'A History of Sussex', from Carnegie Publishing.

Payton has done a magnificent job of covering the broad sweep of Sussex history, from the first dinosaurs to the Roman invasion, from the Roman Saxon Shore forts to the devastation of the Black Death, and Sussex in the Railway Age to how people lived through the dark days of the Battle of Britain.


Posted: 2017-10-17
Read more: Book Review: A History of Sussex





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