The English Heritage Podcast

Dr. Michael Carter, Senior Properties Historian for English Heritage and expert on St. George, takes us on a captivating journey through the life of the legendary figure. He explores St. George's historical context amid Roman persecution and demystifies his transformation from martyr to dragon-slayer. Listeners learn about the cultural symbolism of St. George, his evolution as the ideal knight, and the significance of his flag. Moreover, he highlights how St. George became a powerful emblem of English identity across the ages.

It’s almost Easter, when egg hunts take place in gardens across the country, but have you ever wondered how and why this curious seasonal tradition started?We’re joined in the studio by senior properties historian Dr Andrew Hann to reveal why eggs were first hidden for children to find, how the tradition has since evolved, and when natural eggs were replaced by the chocolate variety we’re more familiar with today.To find out more, read Andrew’s blog post on Easter egg hunts at http://blog.english-heritage.org.uk/the-history-of-the-egg-hunt/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Carrawburgh Roman Fort and Temple of Mithras in Northumberland became the latest Hadrian’s Wall site to be cared for by English Heritage, we’re joined by Properties Curator Mark Douglas to discuss the stories of this and the other key forts we look after.Discover what purpose they served, what daily life would have been like for the soldiers stationed at them, the artefacts that have since revealed their secrets and how their stories have been brought to life for visitors today.To discover more about the Hadrian’s Wall sites that we look after, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/hadrians-wall/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To mark the end of Women’s’ History Month, we’re joined in the studio by Senior Properties Historian Dr Megan Leyland and Curator of Collections Olivia Fryman to discuss the lives and accomplishments of a selection of the most remarkable women with a connection to our historic sites.Discover the stories of Henrietta Howard at Marble Hill House in London, Bess of Hardwick at Hardwick Old Hall in Derbyshire, Lady Anne Clifford at Brough and Brougham Castles in Cumbria and Emma Darwin, wife to the famous scientist Charles Darwin.To learn about the stories of more remarkable women with a connection to our sites, go to https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/women-in-history/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year we’re celebrating the many ways the past has shaped our nation through our year-long ‘Voices of England’ campaign – and here on the podcast we’re launching our own investigations, starting with an interview with English Heritage trustee Professor Ronald Hutton to discuss the legacy of pre-Christian beliefs.Discover what the earliest settlers in England believed, the evidence that can still be found in our historic landscapes, our ancient ritual monuments and our language, and how the arrival of Christianity changed English society as a whole.To find out more about our Voices of England campaign, go to https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/voicesofengland Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’ve travelled to Saxtead Green Post Mill in Suffolk to meet Jonathan Sullivan, whose family have owned and run the mill for generations, along with English Heritage national project manager Joseph James and millwright Tim Whiting to reveal the work that has just gone into restoring and repairing this unique agricultural gem.Discover the mill’s history, the challenges of caring for it and what visitors can expect during a visit today.To find out more about the mill or plan a visit, go to https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/saxtead-green-post-mill/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

March is Women’s History Month and to celebrate, we’re joined in the studio by English Heritage’s Curatorial Director Anna Eavis, to discuss the stories of a selection of the inspirational women who are honoured with blue plaques at their former London homes.Learn about the lives and accomplishments of women’s rights campaigners Millicent Garrett Fawcett and Emmeline and Sylvia Pankhurst, pioneering chemist Rosalind Franklin, journalist Martha Gelhorne and more – and discover how English Heritage are hoping to attract more female blue plaque nominations in future.To find out more about the blue plaques scheme, go to https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/support-the-scheme/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ahead of the launch of new cookery book, How to Cook the Victorian Way with Mrs Crocombe, we meet the book’s authors, senior properties historian Andrew Hann and food historian Annie Gray, to discover the story of Audley End’s former head cook Avis Crocombe and the recipes she left behind.Learn about Mrs Crocombe’s working life at Audley End, why Bob Stride, a descendent of the Crocombe family, decided to donate her original recipe book to English Heritage, and how she has since become an unlikely YouTube sensation.To find out more about Audley End House and Gardens, and plan a visit, go to www.englishheritage.org.uk/audley Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re joined by Senior Properties Historian Dr Michael Carter to discuss how he came across a previously unpublished list of relics that were at Battle Abbey in the mid-15th century.Discover how he has been able to show that at least some of the relics were likely the gift of William the Conqueror and had originally been in the Anglo-Saxon royal treasury, and that others were given by King John, having been collected by his brother, Richard I, while on Crusade in the Holy Land.Plus, we explore the wider medieval belief in relics and pilgrimage – and other English Heritage sites where relics were kept. To find out more about Battle Abbey and plan a visit, go to www.englishheritage.org.uk/battle Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Queen Elizabeth I and Robert Dudley has fascinated people for more than 450 years. Their relationship has been explored in books, films and on TV, most recently by Cate Blanchett and Joseph Fiennes in the film Elizabeth, and by Helen Mirren and Jeremy Irons in the series Elizabeth I. They certainly shared an emotional connection on each other throughout their lives, but were they ever really lovers?Ahead of Valentine’s Day, we interview head properties curator Dr Jeremy Ashbee to reveal the real story of their supposed romance and Dudley’s now legendary attempt to woo England’s ‘Virgin Queen’ over 19 days in 1575 at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire.To find out more about Kenilworth Castle and plan a visit, go to www.englishheritage.org.uk/kenilworth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices