The English Heritage Podcast

As Team GB athletes prepare to compete at the Paris Olympics, we’re going back a hundred years to discover the stories of the Olympic heroes of Paris in 1924 who are commemorated with blue plaques in London today. Joining us to discuss their lives and achievements are blue plaques senior historian Howard Spencer and director of the International Centre for Sports History and Culture at De Montfort University, professor Martin Polley.To learn more about our blue plaque Olympians, go to: www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/blue-plaque-stories/olympic-heroes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re looking back at the origins and effects of a global pandemic that shook the medieval world. Joining us on our journey back to the 1340s, when the Black Death started to claim its first victims in England, is Professor of Later Medieval History at the University of East Anglia, Mark Bailey. We discover its causes, how it swept across Europe and its legacy in England today.To learn more about the history of our medieval monasteries, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/abbeys-and-priories Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week we’re joined by English Heritage historians’ team leader Dr Andrew Hann and senior properties historian Dr Steven Brindle to discuss the story of Sutton Scarsdale Hall in Derbyshire. We'll cover the decline of this Georgian mansion, the issues that affected many of England’s grand country houses and the work of charities such as English Heritage to save them for the nation.To learn more about Sutton Scarsdale Hall or to plan a visit, go to: www.english-heritage.org.uk/sutton-scarsdale-hall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we approach midsummer, we’re joined by English Heritage senior properties historian Jennifer Wexler to answer your questions about the summer solstice at Stonehenge. Discover why the solstice is important, how Neolithic people understood and celebrated it and how living traditions can help us to understand the function of the site. We’ll also reveal where the idea of creating stone circles came from, what happened to Stonehenge’s missing stones and more. To learn more about Stonehenge or plan a visit, go to: www.english-heritage.org.uk/stonehenge Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

To mark Pride month this June, we’re taking a look at LGBTQ+ history and the private lives of four rulers who had same-sex relationships with their ‘favourites’. Joining us to discuss Roman Emperor Hadrian, Edward II, James I and Queen Anne are interpretation manager Nick Collison, head properties curator Dr Jeremy Ashbee, queer historian Kris Reid and curator of collections & interiors (Osborne House & Isle of Wight) Dr Christopher Warleigh-Lack.To discover more LGBTQ+ history at our sites, go to: www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/histories/lgbtq-history Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re discovering just how far Roman influence spread through Britain, as we explore the stories of three fascinating forts in spectacular locations in northwest England’s Lake District. Joining us to discuss the stories and functions of Ravenglass Roman Bath House, Hardknott Roman Fort and Ambleside Roman Fort in Cumbria are English Heritage properties historian Dr Andrew Roberts and free sites coordinator Lauren Emslie. To find out more about the Romans in the Lake District, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/romanlakedistrict Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we’re joined by English Heritage historian Dr Rebecca Preston and Professor of real estate practice law, Carrie de Silva to reveal the stories of two 20th-century women who have recently been honoured with London blue plaques. During their lifetimes, both Irene Barclay and Lady Marjory Allen contributed to improving people’s lives through their surroundings – Barclay as a convention-breaking housing reformer and Allen as a landscape architect and pioneer of children’s adventure playgrounds.To learn more about our blue plaque scheme, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re joined by senior properties historian Paul Pattison and independent historian and author of Mission France, Dr Kate Vigurs, ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day. We’ll reveal the story of the biggest landing by land, sea and air the world has ever seen, including how long it took to plan, the roles of Operation Neptune and Overlord and how the initial assault on northern France on 6 June 1944 helped to bring about the end of the Second World War.To learn about Operation Fortitude South and the D-Day Deception, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dover-castle/history-and-stories/d-day-deception Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, we’re discussing the lives, loves, work and legacies of two unconventional artists from the early 20th century. Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant were part of the Bloomsbury group of writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in London – a group it was once said ‘lived in squares, painted in circles and loved in triangles’. They rejected the past, embraced their present and expressed themselves in new ways on canvas, cementing their place in art history.Joining us to talk us through their stories and the London blue plaque that commemorates their achievements are English Heritage blue plaques historian Dr Rebecca Preston, art critic, author and current blue plaque panel member Andrew Graham-Dixon, and writer and historian Rosemary Hill.To learn more about the London blue plaques scheme, go to www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Delve into the rare Major Lunar Standstill phenomenon and its possible link to Stonehenge. Hear from experts about ancient beliefs, lunar alignments, and upcoming research. Explore the significance of solstices, moon observations, and celestial connections at historical sites. Uncover the efforts to preserve heritage and sacred site lines despite modern challenges. Learn about lunar alignments at Stonehenge and other prehistoric sites, hinting at hidden astronomical connections.