Friday 8 April 2011

The final day

The last day of our tour has come.... ahhhh. Today we went to Arundel castle, the home of the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl Marshall of England and the premier Catholic family fo England.

The 3rd Duke was uncle to both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard and he was also due to lose his head but Henry VIII died the day before. The fourth Duke did lose his head though for planning to marry Mary Queen of Scots. Two of the exhibits were Mary's girdle and pearl necklace. The castle is magnificent, built by the Normans in 1068 and has been added to ever since right up to the Victorian era.

For the final event together we went to a Tudor banquet in some catacombs right next to the Tower of London. It was a great show, music, dancing, juggling and sword fighting. Wenches served us all night and King Henry VIII was there too. All in all a great way to end ten nights together on a quest to find the Six Wives of One King.

Anne of Cleves and Thomas Cromwell

Yesterday, the adjectives changed from amazing to interesting as we visited Michelam Priory and the county town of Lewes, where there is Anne of Cleves house and Lewes Priory.

First though we diverted slightly and stopped at Pooh Corner on Ashdown Forest the home of Winnie the Pooh. All the places in the childrens books are real and exist, Owls house, the heffalump trap and especially Pooh Bridge where yes we did play pooh sticks!

On to Tudor matters, Michelam Priory in Sussex is a lovely little place that was built pre Tudor and was appropriated by Thomas Cromwell because he liked it, so he didn't blow it up, latterly Anne of Cleves received the rents from the place. She also received a good income from her house in Lewes. Anne of Cleves house is an old Weald hall timbered house. It was closed for a while because Sussex Past have carrying out some conservation works but it's now open and in good reapir.

Lewes Priory on the other hand was particulary singled out by Cromwell, he engaged an Italian Engineer to blow the place up completely and left a pile of rubble. The ruins have been stabilised and are now open again with new information boards.

We had a very informative and interesting talk in the evening by Hands on History, who brought some armour and weapons to hold and try out, together with other artifacts from beeswax and horn to a 14th century Psalter, a hand written prayer book, we have seen them in glass cases all week but we got to to touch and smell the parchment. very interesting!

Wednesday 6 April 2011

The Two Annes

What a difference a day makes! today we came south out of London to Kent and the weather has been fantastic, really hot for this time of year 22 C

We went in search of Anne of Cleves and Anne Boleyn at Penshurst Place and Hever Castle. Penshurst Place has been the venue for many period films as a stand-in for Hever and other places, I'm thinking particularly of Anne of a Thousand Days and the Other Boleyn Girl. Costumes from the latter film are on display here. Penshurst was given to Anne of Cleves as part of the divorce settlement and was hers until she died in 1557 where it reverted back to the young king Edward who gave it to Robert Sidney and in whose family it still remains to this day. Outside the gate is a church where a few of the Sidney family are buried but alonside them is a little marker to Thomas Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's brother. Anne's father was the superintendent here whilst the place was owned by Henry VIII and the boy died in infancy.

Penshurst today was just lovely with the sunshine and to wander in the gardens and soak up the peace and quiet after London was a real treat.

On to Hever Castle the childhood home of Anne Boleyn and which was also given to Anne of Cleves as part of the divorce settlement. The Castle itself is very much smaller than you think it is or should be and was largely rescued from deriliction by JJ Astor in the early 1900's.He laid out some incredible Italian gardens with an ornamental lake. Here we paused momentarily as one of our adult party went onto the childrens water maze and which was down for essential maintenance before being opened on Sunday and managed to set part of it off.

There is a notice in the parish churchyard just outside the gates of the castle estate, which reads "Thomas Boleyn K.G. Grandfather to Queen Elizabeth I lies here in this church"

Hever has jousting on some weekends in the summer and other events throughout the year, but today , bathed in sunshine with few tourist it was a delight to go to.

Tuesday 5 April 2011

Kings College Cambridge, and London

Yesterday was Kings College Cambridge. Building was started well before Henry VIII but he certainly finished it.

It has many unique features and I could spend pages and pages describing the building,it is my favourite fo all Henry's buildings. It has the largest Fan vaulted roof anywhere in the world, Majestic stained glass windows that have a guidebook all to themselves. It has evidence of two wives here, Catherine Howard is here seen high up on two of the windows. She is seen in suplication to Henry who appears as the biblical David and her initials appear on the east window above the red dragon of Wales there is H and K.

Curiously Anne Boleyn's initials are to be found above the provost stall, now what are they still doing there? One other unique feature is on the west facade, there is a Tudor Rose with a carved figure on it, the only one I know of in all the buildings I have visited. The figure is of Elizabeth of York, Henry's mother, why is that?. Now to me the whole building is Henry VIII at his most majestic and magnificence and he shouts down the centuries " I am Henry Octavus rex Lord of this land and I will be remembered...and I love my mum!"

Today it was Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. It was raining and cold so just wandering was not really pleasant at all. Westminster Abbey is the site of many Royal weddings and we'll be seeing another one in just a couple of weeks. It also holds the tombs some of our Sovereigns including Henry V. Elizabeth and Mary, also Mary Queen of Scots. Tourists and visitors leave tokens on these Tombs, Mary had a penny and Mary Queen of Scots had a piece of Tartan left on their majestic tombs. Anne of Cleves is here, just a few words in gold leaf in the wall of the chancel marks her final resting place, but some kind person has remembered her and left little flower.

The Tower of London is of course a world heritage site and steeped in the nation's history for nearly a 1000 years. Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were executed here and are buried beneath the alter of the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincular. This is where we have failed in our quest to see all the wives final resting places. The Chapel was closed for urgent works on the lighting. I desperately pleaded with the yeoman warder to be able to view the Chapel " there is an alternative sir" he said " are you looking to pray?" thinking this was a leading question and offering a glimmer of hope I replied "yes" " Then you could go up to the chapel of St John in the White Tower sir " blast! got me!

In the White Tower there is a fabulous new exhibition on the top floor. Its a huge dragon made up of helmets, armour, weapons, pistols, cannons, chainmail and lots of other things too. The artist who constructed this sculpture is a genius, it is truly superb. I went back to see it again a second time.

Monday 4 April 2011

Catherine of Aragon day

Yesterday was given over completely to Catherine of Aragon. We went to three places all very important in the last two years of her life.

Kimbolton Castle, was first up geographically. It's where she died and is said to haunt. The place is now a school with about 650 students and not generally open to the public, only special tours allowed. The place is very diferent from when Catherine knew it, it had a huge amount of works done in the 1700's but the chapel she was laid in and the rooms she lived and died in are there still. Our tour guide read out Catherine's last letter in the room it was written, that gave you a funny feeling to say the least.

The second place was Buckden Towers, a Bishops Palace and where Catherine was held for a time before being moved to Kimbolton and where the Duke of Suffolk tried with a few armed men to take her away but the local men stood in his way and would not let her be taken. This stand off lasted for 5 days before the Duke went off to get some more men. Our special guide was so enthusiastic about the place from the gardens to the tower that it was hard to tear ourselves away and on to the next place.

Lastly was Peterborough Cathedral where she is buried. A simple black marble slab markes the grave paid for in the 1800's when all women called Catherine was asked to make a small donation. The people of England loved her when she was alive and they love her still, rarely a day goes by without fresh flowers on her grave. As it was Mothering Sunday we stayed for evensong and the power of the sound when the organ was playing was incredible, The type of power that you get when you turn up the volume on the stereo up to 11 on the dial, I was away and soaring. We had a bit more time after with our special guide to see some of the secrets of this magnificent Cathedral. We timed our exit from the Cathedral just has the heavens opened nad rained heavily for the first time this week.

Along the way we also saw a pair of red kites, a very rare bird in England only 600pairs in the whole country

Saturday 2 April 2011

Six Wives of One King- Sudeley and Kenilworth

A little bit of a transport problem this morning, it failed to turn up for an hour to take us to Sudeley, sometimes things got little wrong. On the plus side, it was supposed to be raining yet we had sun and a bit more sun and dry all day, which meant we could enjoy the outdoor part of the day.

Sudeley is such a peaceful place, set in islation near the village of Winchcombe deep in the Cotswolds. It is mostly a ruin blown apart by Cromwell's forces during the civil war, but it was partially restored in 1837 and it's still the family home of the person who restored it.

It is where Catherine Parr, Henry VIII's sixth wife, lived after she married Thomas Seymour after Henry died. It's where she died shortly after childbirth two years later. She now lies peacefully in the chapel within the grounds of the castle in a suitable tomb on the left hand side of the chancel. The grounds are not yet in full bloom so not as colourful as they might be. But inside they still have the exhibition of costumes from David Starkey's series of the six wives of Henry VIII.

On to Kenilworth, where not exactly within the Six Wives story, never-the-less has a very important place in the Tudor century. It is where Elizabeth I came on her grand progress in 1575 and Robert Dudley spent two weeks and a vast amount of money to get Elizabeth to marry him, all to no avail. It ruined him financialy, English Heritage spent £3million two years ago just to re-create the Privy garden. What with all the pageants and displays, games and hunting Dudley must have spent a small fortune.

Lets hope the weather is as dry and sunny tomorrow.

Friday 1 April 2011

Six wives of One King-Windsor and Oxford

Today it was Windsor Castle and Oxford,it is now officially the summer season so the changing of the guard took place in the quadrangle at Windsor rather than the guardroom area.

Being the first through the doors does have a great advantage in that there are very few other tourists there to push and shove and get in the way when you are trying to read the information notes by the paintings. and there are some great paintings of the Tudors to look at, HenryVIII, Elizabeth as a teenager and Mary all in the same room.

Outside in the street we saw the guards march past the Henry VIII gate. Opposit us on the other side of the road were a group of 6 year old school kids in red uniforms all lined up waiting and when they heard the band about 100 yards away many of them started marching on the spot. It really isn't fair on the guardsman to have teenagers making fun of them because they can't respond but the one today had his own back on a group of very giddy girls and a few boys. He suddenly stood to attention with the loudest stamp like a pistol shot and marched off, he scared the girls to death and they ran away, good on him.

On to Oxford by train and a walk around this ancient University city. We took in Magdalen College, where Cardinal Wolsey was a student. ChristChurch College that he also original endowed. Passing through St Mary's church where Amy Robsart is buried ( Did she fall or was she pushed down those stairs?) and pausing momentarily at the memorial to Hugh Latimer, Thomas Cranmer and Thomas Ridley, martyrs burned at the stake by Queen Mary, we went to the Ashmoleon Museum to see the few Tudor Artifacts on disply.

The Oxford Colleges really haven't got it right at all. Magdalen has a tapestry that commemorates the event of the Bethrothal of Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon. St Johns College has a rare original painting of Anne of Cleves. Both are not in the general public view. I wrote, I phoned, and tried to get to see these rare historical treasures with all the reasons and offering to pay extra all to no avail. Why keep these treasures if no one is allowed to see them only in books. I'll keep trying and get to see them eventually and make a report.