In using documents to research landscape history and ecology, there are two related golden rules to observe:
In any conflict of evidence between what the landscape itself has to say and ...
One of the best-known features of the little church of St Milburga in the scattered hamlet of Wixford near Alcester, is the enormous yew tree outside the south porch. In ...
Few battles in British history have left as indelible an impression on the popular imagination as the first major engagement of the English Civil War, fought at Edgehill, between Radway ...
The letter
Few personal letters written by Oliver Cromwell before 1640 have survived, so this letter1 is of particular value for the insight it provides into his character at a critical stage of ...
Princethorpe College, which is located in a former Benedictine priory, owes its existence to the French Revolution. However, its story really begins in the 17th century.
On 13th May 1630 Marie Granger ...
Restoration
In September 2015, Kenilworth’s Pound was officially opened following restoration driven by Councillors Gordon and Pat Cain and the Kenilworth Civic Society. A campaign involving local residents raised interest and ...
In the archives of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust there is a database listing the names of children in the town who were apprenticed to trades in order to keep them ...
Even when on holiday it’s difficult to escape…
Anyway, the pictures are of Lyeden New Bield, Northamptonshire. Unusual inasmuch as what you see is not a ruin, this is the state ...
It is always an awkward feeling when research dispels the myth of a much loved local treasure.
On display in the Great Hall of Warwick Castle is a small and delicate ...
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust owns many fascinating and important treasures relating to arguably Britain’s greatest playwright. However, often overlooked in its collection is a rare and fine portrait by William ...
There was schooling in Warwickshire’s Chilvers Coton in the 17th Century without the aid of a school building, because of the educational concerns of the Newdigate family of Arbury Hall. ...
Sir Thomas Puckering (1592-1637) owned the Priory in Warwick, now the site of Warwickshire County Record Office. He was the MP for Tamworth and Sheriff of Warwickshire, and his memorial ...
This recipe is taken from the Elizabeth Barkham’s recipe book, c.1664-1680. The pages are paper in a limp vellum cover, entitled (on cover, very faint) “Madam Elizabeth Barkham her book, ...
Whether the buns I produced are anything like the ones produced in 1650 one will never know. They were jolly tasty, but not sufficiently so to warrant all the time ...
This map (by James Fish, dated 1691) outlines the lands owned by the Greville family in Cesters Over, located in the parish of Monks Kirkby, Warwickshire. The map indicates the ...
In times gone by, the way to learn a craft and earn a living was to be apprenticed to a master. You would be legally bound to the master for ...
The length of time involved in an apprenticeship – often seven or even ten years – inevitably meant that there were problems, some more serious than others. The records cared ...
Many of the apprentice records held by Warwickshire County Record Office relate to paupers. The parish had to care for children when their parents died or became unable to support ...
Given the TV programme featuring Britain’s biggest family, you might be interested to hear about a very large Warwickshire family reported by the Rugby Advertiser in 1912 as follows. It ...
For me, it is the seemingly incidental comments captured in records that really bring history to life. Most of the history of the Civil Wars and Commonwealth in England as ...
On the 5th September 1694,
..a sudden fire, which broake out about two of the clock in the afternoon on the fifth of this instant September, in the western part of ...
Southam minted its own coins in mediaeval times because local people found ordinary coins too high in value for everyday use. The old mint house was built in the early ...
Cross the Fosse Way by Halford now, and you pass by the old 16th century Halford Bridge Inn on the right before crossing the River Stour. Although a pretty road ...
The historical background and development of gardens has always interested me. When I first started my research work, I regret to say that I had never even been into my ...