The English Heritage Podcast

People love to fill their homes with beautiful plants, but this is not a new phenomenon. The trade in wild plants and seeds has a complex history that stretches back into the past and across the world.   Ahead of the Gardeners’ World Autumn Plant Fair at Audley End, Amy Matthews is joined by English Heritage’s Emily Parker and Joe Bagley, The Houseplant Doctor, to explore how our obsession with houseplants developed from competitive Victorian collectors to 21st century plantaholics.   Plus, Joe has some expert tips on how to keep your horticultural housemates happy and enjoy them sustainably and ethically.  Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show.   Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/   Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/   The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of the English Heritage podcast, we’ll discover the remarkable women who have helped to shape some of our most beautiful gardens.    From Georgian garden retreats that provided refuge from the royal court and the backdrop for a literary coterie to the ‘weeding women’ who kept gardens looking their best, we explore their significant yet often overlooked contributions. We'll also shine a light on the independent female garden designers of the 20th century who transformed landscapes and paved the way for future generations.  Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show.   Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/   Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/   The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the late 19th and early 20th century, glamorous, exciting and often very wealthy American women mingled with the British aristocracy and set the gossip pages alight with rumours of engagements. But alongside this fascination, anti-American sentiment and xenophobia saw them dismissed them as mere ‘dollar princesses’ trading cash for coronets.   This label endured long beyond its time, until historians began to explore the incredible legacies of these women. This summer, a new exhibition at Kenwood in London has brought together Sargent’s paintings of these women and highlighted their power, influence and achievements.   In this episode, Amy Matthews heads to Kenwood meet Dr Wendy Monkhouse and Ella Letort, for a very special tour of Sargent’s magnificent heiresses.  Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show.   Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/   Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/   The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This summer, we’ve partnered with TV’s Taskmaster to set you silly challenges as you explore 17 of our sites. So, we couldn’t miss the opportunity to discuss some of the more unusual games and entertainments enjoyed in the past.   In this episode, Amy Matthews is joined by Taskmaster creator Alex Horne and English Heritage curator Peter Moore for some gaming nostalgia, stories of weird and wonderful games from our sites and a selection of Lady Braybrooke’s after-dinner riddles to solve.    Our time starts now!     Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show. Taskmaster at English Heritage: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/taskmaster/   Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/   Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/   The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the first black students at the Royal College of Music in 1890, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor would go on to compose some of the most-loved music of his time and ‘break’ America. Despite this global success, Coleridge-Taylor made his home in Croydon, where a blue plaque now marks his former home at Dagnall Park, Selhurst.    But who was this musical genius?   English Heritage’s Howard Spencer, broadcaster Petroc Trelawney and equity and musicology scholar Joquan Johnson join Amy to share his story. They reveal political, patriotic and powerful themes in Coleridge-Taylor’s music, from collaborations with civil rights campaigners to innovative uses of heritage melodies and rhythms, and how his work is finding new audiences and meanings today.  Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show.  Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/    Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/  The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the summer of 1575, Robert Dudley hosted 19 spectacular days of entertainment for Elizabeth I, including lavish new apartments for the queen, a beautifully manicured private garden, plays, hunting and pageantry.    It was all in an ostentatious bid to win Elizabeth’s hand in marriage, but as she rode off at the end of her visit, Dudley was left empty-handed.    In this episode, Amy Matthews chats with Head Curator of Properties Jeremy Ashbee and Dr Elizabeth Goldring about this royal ‘will-they, won’t they’ and the complex reasons that meant Elizabeth I never chose to share her power with a husband.  Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show.  Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/    Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/  The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We begin this episode with a fabulous and weighty pair of brooches. But which 1930s millionaire was sporting these tutti-frutti Cartier gems? And where might you have seen those designs before?   Steven and Virginia Courtauld were a well-balanced couple: one eccentric and daring, the other bookish and reserved. They used their millions to travel the world and host lavish parties, but their art-deco home at Eltham Palace was one of their most glorious achievements. No expense was spared but architects Seely and Paget still divided some opinions in their time.   Today on the English Heritage podcast Amy Matthews chats with curator Sabrina Villani and Andrew Hann to discover the story of these brooches and how the Courtaulds blended the latest living and cutting-edge design with a treasured historic building.    Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show.  More about the Eltham Palace Cartier Brooches: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/eltham-cartier-brooches Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/    Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes, historical research can offer unexpected questions and avenues of exploration. That’s what happened when English Heritage’s Will Wyeth was digging through a medieval manuscript.   References to a medieval woman spy dressed in men’s clothing were too tantalising to ignore, so he and Michael James got together to ask questions about the mysterious Margoth.    They join Amy Matthews on the English Heritage Podcast this week to reveal not only how Margoth’s espionage changed the course of a war, but also how references to cross-dressing can help us ask questions about identity in the past.   Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show.  Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/    Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/  The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As the summer solstice approaches, thousands flock to monuments like Stonehenge seeking spiritual connection and a spectacular sunset and sunrise.   But why are people still drawn to stone circles after thousands of years?   This time on the English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews is joined by English Heritage’s Dr Jennifer Wexler to explore how these monuments were built and why people have continued to visit them. Artist Sally Barton shares how communities continue to interact with these spaces and make them relevant today.   Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show. Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/    Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/  The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

J M W Turner is considered one of England’s great artists, but why?   This time on the English Heritage podcast, we dive into some of the 35 paintings Turner made of English Heritage sites to explore how he responded to a period of enormous emotional and political upheaval.   Working against a backdrop of war, industrial expansion, tourism, abolition, patriotism and shifting national identity, Turner’s varied and innovative styles helped shape contemporary reactions to architecture, landscapes and ruins.   The Museum of London’s Thomas Ardill and English Heritage’s Jeremy Ashbee join writer and comedian Amy Matthews to discuss the man and his works and ask what the concept of ‘heritage’ means today.  Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show.  Join: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/  Support our work: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/  The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices