The English Heritage Podcast

The day that changed English history forever has dawned. In this episode of English Heritage’s special 1066 series, host Amy Matthews looks at the Battle of Hastings as it happened, using established facts and some creative speculation. Joining her are Roy Porter, Senior Curator of Properties at English Heritage, and Professor Tom Licence, Professor of Medieval History and Literature at the Univer...

Following our look at the Bayeux Tapestry in Episode 1, host Amy Matthews explores the dramatic events leading up to the Battle of Hastings. Joining her are regular guest Roy Porter (Senior Curator of Properties at English Heritage) and Dr Rebecca Tyson (expert in 11th-century maritime history at the University of Bristol).    Together, they dive into the chaos following Edward the Confe...

From Long Meg and her Daughters to the Devil’s Arrows to Hetty Pegler’s Tump, the British Isles is dotted with ancient places with curious names. But who came up with those titles and what inspired them?   This time, Amy is joined by English Heritage’s Curator of History, Al Oswald and Curator of Properties, Stonehenge and the West, Win Scutt, to uncover the myths and folklore that have...

Welcome to the first episode of our brand-new, seven-part English Heritage Podcast video series exploring the historic events of 1066.    This episode unravels the years long journey to bring the iconic 70-metre Bayeux Tapestry back to English soil for a landmark exhibition at the British Museum. From negotiations and transport logistics to hidden embroidery secrets and missing end panel...

In this episode, host Amy Matthews is joined by Kevin Booth, English Heritage’s Head Curator of Collections, and Professor Caroline Wilkinson, Director of Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University. Together, they explore how forensic science created a lifelike facial depiction of "Conquest Man" found buried at St Peter’s Church in Barton-upon-Humber around 50 years ago and known archaeologicall...

The English Heritage Podcast goes live! Host Amy Matthews records in front of a live audience at Audley End House during the 2026 Gardeners’ World Autumn Fair.  Joined by English Heritage experts Andrew Hann, Michael Klemperer and Emily Parker, Amy explores how gardening evolved from a practical necessity into a passion for beauty, leisure and horticultural showmanship.  From the rigid g...

In this episode, we explore how a simple piece of Roman pottery - a red Samian bowl - can reveal the hidden lives of people living in Britain nearly 2,000 years ago.     Found at Corbridge Roman Town, this artifact features a unique bit of ancient graffiti translating to "Nico slave of Atticus".    Joining host Amy Matthews are English Heritage historian Dr. Andrew Roberts...

Housesteads Roman Fort on Hadrian's Wall is Britain's most complete Roman fort. From the remains of its buildings, we can get a good idea of what it looked like. But how did the bathhouse smell? Or, perhaps more importantly, what about the latrines? What did the food taste like? And what sounds would the Roman soldiers stationed there have heard?  Join Amy, English Heritage Curator of History...

Step through the doors of Britain’s surviving medieval barns and you enter a space that once fed whole communities. This week, Amy Matthews meets Dr Lydia Miller and Dr Nick Holder to explore the surprising power of England’s great barns. This year marks 600 years since the construction of Harmondsworth Barn, an agricultural wor...

Audley End House in Essex is still one of England’s finest mansions. To look at it today, you’d never know it started life as Walden Abbey, a Benedictine monastery dissolved by Henry VIII. The story of its journey from monastery to mansion involves intrigue, fraud, brazen ambition and a cast of colourful characters. Join Amy, art historian and curator, Dr Peter Moore, and volunteer researcher, Fio...

With their monasteries and castles, historic ports and seaside towns, our coastlines can feel timeless. But the truth is these landscapes, and the communities within them, change all the time. Join Amy and English Heritage’s Senior Properties Curator, Roy Porter, and Assistant Curator of Collections for the South East, Grace Parsonage. Together, they explore how coastal sites have evolved over tim...

Step into the "blazing mind" of Margaret Cavendish, the 17th-century Duchess of Newcastle who challenged the conventions of her age. In this episode of the English Heritage Podcast, host Amy Matthews is joined by Senior Curator of History Megan Leland and PhD researcher Sophie White to explore the life of a true original. A pioneering science fiction writer, philosopher and trailblazer, Cavendish...

A day out at the seaside is still a summertime staple for many British families. From fish and chips on the promenade to a classic 99, messing about in rock pools and trying your luck on the 2p machines, there's so much nostalgia and tradition wrapped up in a day out by the sea. But what started our love affair with the seaside holiday? As with so many things, the Victorians had a big part to play...

This week, join host Amy Matthews and Howard Spencer, English Heritage senior historian for blue plaques, Judith Garfield MBE, executive director of Eastside Community Heritage, and Sumita Mukherjee, historian at the University of Bristol, as they celebrate the unveiling of London’s 1,035th English Heritage blue plaque, dedicated to the remarkable Kamal Chunchie. After arriving from Sri Lanka, Chu...

What it is about our cliffs, beaches, islands and headlands that makes them so perfect for pilgrimage, prayer and retreat? In the fourth of our special series on Britain’s coastline, join Amy and English Heritage curators Susan Harrison and Jeremy Ashbee for a spiritual seaside journey. From the Holy Island of Lindisfarne to St Catharine’s Chapel near Chesil Beach and plenty of places in between,...

To celebrate the men's football World Cup this year, join host Amy Matthews as we dribble through the surprisingly long history of the beautiful game. Historian Will Wyeth and curator Peter Moore unpack a fascinating cabinet of curiosities, from a Victorian leather football discovered in a castle toilet to records of Mary, Queen of Scots watching an early match at Carlisle Castle. We also discover...

When Henry VIII separated from the Catholic Church, he was left feeling vulnerable to invasion from France and Spain. His answer was to build England’s first national coastal defence network. Rising like medieval spaceships along the English coast, these ‘device forts’ were a series of rounded stone fortresses. But how did they operate? What made them so formidable? How did they change the nature...

Sir Ian McKellen recently unveiled an English Heritage Blue Plaque at 22 Lupus Street in London’s Pimlico. That was the childhood home of the man many still regard as the greatest actor of the twentieth century: Sir Laurence Olivier. We were there to capture the moment, including a remarkable impromptu performance of Shakespeare’s Henry V’s speech before Agincourt, delivered from the steps of the...

England’s coastline isn’t just a story about keeping invaders at bay. For centuries, our shorelines were bustling gateways, connecting communities through trade, travel and the everyday goods arriving by sea. It’s a story that pre-dates fortification and invasion, revealing the heart of the close and enduring relationship between English communities and the sea. Plus, it might well be behind our l...

Throughout the ages, people have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict and instability and find refuge in another country - or a different part of their own country.   In this episode of the English Heritage Podcast, host Amy Matthews sits down with English Heritage historian Dr Will Wyeth and Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge Prof Bart Lambert to look at that phenomenon ac...

Did you know that Roman emperors had a weakness for English oysters? The Romans arrived in Britain around 43AD and one of their first settlements was at Richborough in Kent, where they found oysters so good they sent them back home. In the first of our special series on the English coastline, we go back to Roman times. It wasn’t just a military invasion, it was an influx of culture and people from...

This week, the English Heritage Podcast brings the sights, sounds, and even the smells of 4,000 BC to life as host Amy Matthews visits Stonehenge for a remarkable experiment in archaeology: the building of a full‑scale Neolithic Hall. Join host Amy as she explores a groundbreaking experimental archaeology project: the construction of a full-scale Neolithic Hall and discover how English Heritage cu...

Berwick-upon-Tweed is England's most northerly town. Today, it's known for its stunning architecture and beautiful views over the North Sea.   In the past, though, it was a contested spot. Berwick’s strategic position, near the England–Scotland border, meant that it had always been an important garrison town. The imposing and slightly foreboding structure of the barracks has been a significant lan...

Next week marks 86 years since Operation Dynamo: the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk during the Second World War. But beyond the history that we all know lies a far more complex human story. Beginning inside the wartime tunnels beneath Dover Castle, Amy Matthews is joined by English Heritage historian Dr Kathryn Bedford alongside Yves Janssen and Gautier J...

From the 14th to the 17th century, survival in the turbulent borderlands between England and Scotland depended on family, loyalty and the strength to defend what was yours. In this episode of the English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews explores the violent world of the Border Reivers, the families who controlled this contested landscape for centuries, through fortified farmhouses and ruined peel to...