The English Heritage Podcast

Visiting gardens became a favourite pursuit of 18th century upper classes. It’s also a passion that many of us enjoy today: visiting historic gardens, admiring carefully crafted landscapes and maybe even picking up a few ideas for our own outdoor spaces. But were the garden tourists of the Georgian era anything like us?To answer that question and more, we’re joined by English Heritage Landscape Advisor, Emily Parker and PhD researcher, Jemima Hubbertsey.To discover a selection of English Heritage’s finest historic gardens, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/historic-gardens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Britain’s beaches are a popular day trip destination when the sun is shining, but this wasn’t always the case. Joining us to discuss the origins of the beach holiday, the history of British seaside resorts and how visits to the seaside have changed over the centuries is Dr Allan Brodie, a senior investigator at Historic England and a visiting fellow at Bournemouth University.To discover a selection of English Heritage’s best historic beach escapes, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/travel-guides/beach-escapes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re discussing the story of a 17th century woman who left an amazing literary legacy. Alice Thornton wrote four books, including three autobiographies, which provide a remarkable insight into life during the English Civil Wars.Joining us to discuss Alice’s story, including her connection to the English Heritage site of Middleham Castle in North Yorkshire, are Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Edinburgh Dr Cordelia Beattie, English Heritage Properties Historian Will Wyeth and Post-Doctoral Researcher Dr Jo Edge.To discover more about Middleham Castle or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/middlehamcastle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re joined by Senior Properties Historian Michael Carter to discuss the story of Anglo-Saxon England’s conversion to Christianity and the key people behind it. Many of you will have heard of St Augustine, but what about St Hild, Hadrian or Milburga, or even Queen Bertha? Join us to discover the role these medieval missionaries played and the sites you can visit today to find out more.To discover more about England’s top abbeys or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/travel-guides/top-abbeys Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re on the banks of the River Rye in North Yorkshire to discover how its precious water helped to sustain the monks who lived here for just over 400 years. This relationship between the monks and the river – and the ingenious ways they managed the water – is the focus of a new exhibition being hosted at the abbey.Joining us to explain more are English Heritage Collections Curator Susan Harrison, Ryevitalise Programme Manager for the North York Moors National Park Authority Alexandra Cripps, and Ryevitalise Graduate Niamh Byrne.To discover more about Rievaulx Abbey or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/rievaulxabbey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Have you ever been to an historic site and wondered about the people who lived there? Or the people who died there? Or maybe even those who are buried there? St Peter's Church at Barton-on-the-Humber in north Lincolnshire is home to a large collection of human bones stored in its ossuary.Joining us to reveal the story of the church, its ossuary, and the human remains housed here are Senior Curator Kevin Booth and Human Skeletal Biologist at Historic England, Dr Simon Mays.To discover more about St Peter’s Church or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/st-peters-church-barton-upon-humber Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re joined by Senior Properties Historian Dr Susan Greaney and Professor Ronald Hutton to investigate the mysterious white horses and giant chalk figures that adorn hillsides across England. Find out who created them, when and why they were created and the stories behind many of England’s most famous hill figures, from the Uffington and Westbury White Horses to the Cerne Abbas Giant and the Long Man of Wilmington.To discover more about the Uffington White Horse 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

Today we’re joined by English Heritage’s Head of Learning and Interpretation Dr Dominique Bouchard and Properties Historians' Team Leader Dr Andrew Hann to talk about a landmark case presided over by Lord Chief Justice, William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, who lived at Kenwood in north London.He was also a dissenting voice against slavery. Mansfield's ruling in the Somerset v Stewart case in 1772 paved the way for the abolition of slavery in Britain and beyond.To discover more about Kenwood or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/kenwood Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re returning to one of our favourite topics of conversation on the podcast: castles. Joining us to discuss the evolution of Britain’s fortresses, before revealing his top five English Heritage castles, is John Goodall – a historian, the architectural editor of Country Life magazine and author of a new book called The Castle: A History.To discover more about our castles or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/castles Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re joined by Dr Frances McIntosh to discuss the story of the Edwardian archaeologists who discovered Corbridge Roman Town and the new exhibition that has been created to celebrate their work.Corbridge – or Coria to use its original name – was a major settlement two-and-a-half miles south of Hadrian’s Wall in the north-east of England, and the ground-breaking excavations carried out here more than a hundred years ago uncovered one of the most important Roman collections in Britain.To discover more about Corbridge Roman Town or plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/corbridge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices