The English Heritage Podcast

We’ve come over all festive this week as we take a break from the studio to reveal the history of carolling with English Heritage Trustee Ronald Hutton and bring you an exclusive carol concert from Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire in time for the big day!Get in the Christmas spirit with The Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir as they sing a selection of festive favourites and discover the story behind each of them.To plan a visit to Bolsover Castle, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/bolsover Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re in the studio with English Heritage Trustee Ronald Hutton to discuss many of the weird and wonderful Christmas traditions that many of us take for granted.Listen on to discover the story behind Santa Claus, the yule log and Christmas cards, trees and stockings, not to mention the puzzling traditions of kissing under mistletoe, wassailing, Mummers' plays and the Lord of Misrule.To read about the history of Christmas through the ages go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/the-history-of-christmas Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re joined by Osborne curator Michael Hunter to reveal how Queen Victoria and Prince Albert celebrated Christmas.Discover how the royal couple popularised a new way of seeing in the festive season, how Prince Albert was instrumental in bringing German traditions to Britain, such as the Christmas tree, and what Christmas was like for the servants working at Osborne.For more information or to plan a visit to Osborne, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/osborne Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once the Vikings’ drink of choice, mead now has a new and growing following who are putting a modern twist on the historical classic.To celebrate the revival of this golden brew, we head into the studio with resident expert Cameron Moffett to discover the history of the world’s oldest alcoholic drink, how English Heritage became the UK’s largest retailer of it and how modern cocktails have helped to reinvent mead for a new generation of fans.For three mead cocktail recipes to try at home, go to: www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/search-news/mead-resurgence/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

480 years since Henry VIII started building his ‘device forts’ in 1539, we travel to Deal Castle in Kent to meet senior properties historian Paul Pattison and discover the story of this string of artillery forts along the southern English and Welsh coast.Find out why these unique defences were built, what distinguishes them architecturally and which forts you can visit today.For more information about Deal Castle and to plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/deal Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On the 160th anniversary of publication of 'On the Origin of Species', we pay a visit to Down House in Kent to interview Senior Properties Historian Steven Brindle, senior gardener Kristyna Slivova and historic properties steward Kim Durham about Darwin’s time at Down House, the experiments he performed there and the legacy of his seminal work today.For more information about Down House, Home of Charles Darwin and to plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/downhouse Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re back on the road to experience a new sound installation created by the world’s most performed living composer Arvo Pärt and Arup, the great engineers and designers . We meet curator Clare Farrow and site manager Samantha Shotten to find out what visitors can expect and how installations such as this are helping to bring the history of English Heritage sites to life in new and innovative ways.For more information about Belsay Hall and Gardens and to plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/belsayMusic credits: Spiegel im Spiegel, Für Alina and Silentium (from the second movement of Tabula Rasa) by Arvo Pärt © ECM Records. All music is used in agreement with ECM Records, Universal Edition and Arvo Pärt Centre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ahead of Armistice Day on 11 November, we talk to senior properties historian Dr Andrew Hann to find out how Wrest Park, the magnificent former seat of the De Grey family in Bedfordshire, was reinvented as a country house convalescent home and later a military hospital during the First World War.Discover the stories of the nurses who worked here, what the soldiers did to keep their spirits up and the disaster that forced it to close.For more information about Wrest Park and to plan a visit, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/wrest Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re back in the studio with English Heritage’s publishing manager Katherine Davey and literary reviewer and journalist James Kidd to discuss These Our Monsters, our new book of short stories by eight contemporary novelists inspired by the myths, legends and folklore connected to our sites.Join Charles, Katherine and James as they discuss the concept of the book and James’s own involvement, before looking at how the writers took on the challenge of re-imagining the stories of the past.To order a copy of These Our Monsters, go to https://www.english-heritageshop.org.uk/books-media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re at Apsley House in London, the grand former home of the Duke of Wellington, to meet keeper of the Wellington Collection Josephine Oxley.Listen on to discover why this beautiful Georgian building in the heart of the capital was once known as 'Number 1 London', its role in honouring the Iron Duke’s great victory at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and why it is home to one of the finest art collections in London.For more information or to plan a visit, go to https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/apsley-house/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices