The English Heritage Podcast

Today, we’re out for a walk to celebrate an anniversary. The Ridgeway is sometimes referred to as England's oldest road — and this year also marks its 50th anniversary as a designated National Trail. But how far back into history does this track go? What can you find along its route? And what is its link to the summer solstice?Joining us to show us the way are anthropologist, TV presenter and author Mary-Ann Ochota and English Heritage properties historian Dr Jennifer Wexler.To find out more about The Ridgeway or plan your own walk along the National Trail, go to www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/the-ridgeway.To find out more about the Uffington Castle — White Horse and Dragon Hill or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/uffington-castle-white-horse-and-dragon-hill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How do you maintain a castle? And not just any castle – one that’s stood tall for over 850 years but has recently started to show its age. Well, that’s the question we’re putting to our English Heritage experts following a £1 million conservation project to rescue the unique keep of Orford Castle in Suffolk. This eye-catching stronghold has weathered many storms – both physical and metaphorical – in its time and, after a much-needed facelift, is ready to welcome a new generation of visitors.Talking us through the transformation are head historic properties curator and castle expert Dr Jeremy Ashbee and senior properties curator Dr Shelley Garland.To find out more or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/orford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re joined by English Heritage’s head of learning and interpretation Dr Dominique Bouchard and interpretation coordinator Nick Collinson to shine a light on the lives of the LGBTQ+ people from the past who have a connection to our properties or are commemorated through London blue plaques.Join us to discover the stories of Lord Beauchamp, Anne Seymour Damer, Virginia Woolf and Radclyffe Hall, and what we’re doing to share more stories of LGBTQ+ people at our sites.To discover more LGBTQ+ history, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/lgbtq-history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re joined by English Heritage properties historian Andrew Roberts and curator Cameron Moffet to explore the story of Wroxeter Roman city in Shropshire.Though a small village today, Wroxeter was once the fourth largest town in Roman Britain, when it was known as Viriconium. It was almost the same size as Pompeii in Italy and its true size can best be judged by the scale of the surviving defences and ramparts. Discover how the city grew out of a legionary fortress, what life would have been like for its residents and how we’re sharing its story in new ways with visitors today.To find out more or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/wroxeter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re joined by English Heritage’s curator of collections and interiors Dr Peter Moore and Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences archivist Sandra Jane Freshney to reveal how Audley End House in Essex became home to a diverse collection of natural history specimens and curiosities dating back to the 19th century.Discover the story of amateur scientific collectors Richard and Jane Neville, how and where they obtained their specimens and the objects from their collection that visitors to Audley End can see during a visit today.To find out more or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/audleyend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From a military base to a thriving port town and back again, Richborough Roman Fort in Kent is a hugely significant Roman site in Britain, often referred to as the ‘gateway to Britannia’.As work concludes on a major project to share its stories with visitors in new and innovative ways, we’re joined by senior properties historian Paul Pattison and curator of collections and interiors Kathryn Bedford to discuss the fort’s history, and the exciting new additions that today’s visitors can expect to find.To find out more or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/richborough. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re taking a look at how people literally left their mark on history through graffiti. Although we tend to think of graffiti as relatively modern phenomenon, the impulse to scratch, scrawl and draw on walls and buildings is nothing new — and there are plenty of examples at English Heritage sites.Joining us to reveal more are English Heritage’s senior curator Kevin Booth and Emma Bryning, who is studying our historic graffiti as part of her PHD at the University of York.To discover the story of the remarkable graffiti left by conscientious objectors at Richmond Castle, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/richmond-castle/richmond-graffiti. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the nation celebrates King Charles III’s coronation, we’re joined by English Heritage’s head historic properties curator Jeremy Ashbee and senior properties historian Steven Brindle to look back at the long and colourful history of royal coronations.Discover who was the first English monarch to be formally crowned, how the ceremony, regalia and anthems have changed over time, and the previous coronations where things didn’t quite go according to plan.To learn more about our kings and queens through history, please go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/monarchy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we're focusing our attention on Warkworth Castle — once the favoured residence of the powerful Earls of Northumberland — to discover the fascinating history of this ruined medieval fortress and a project to share its stories in new and exciting ways with today's visitors.Joining us in the studio to explain more are English Heritage properties historian Dr Will Wyeth and senior interpretation manager Joe Savage.To discover more or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/warkworth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re joined in the studio by Senior Properties Historian Dr Amy Boyington to answer your questions about the Georgians. Famed for its fashions, grand houses and Industrial Revolution, this is a chapter of English history that many of us will be familiar with through Jane Austen novels, their TV and film adaptations, and, more recently, the Netflix series Bridgerton.Join us to discover the difference between the Georgian and Regency period, what was on the menu, where the era-defining fashion for powdered wigs came from and much more.To learn more about life in Georgian England, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/story-of-england/georgians Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices