The English Heritage Podcast

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...

As broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday, Amy Matthews explores how Britain learned to observe, record and make sense of the living world and why those early questions about nature still matter today. Beginning at Down House, the family home of Charles Darwin, this episode explores how natural history was shaped not just by Darwin’s famous ideas, but by...

On the banks of the River Tweed, where England meets Scotland, Norham Castle has stood watch over one of Britain’s most contested landscapes for centuries. But beyond the sieges, treaties and shifting borders lies a more human story.   In this episode, Amy Matthews explores a world of fishermen casting nets below the castle walls and soldiers bracing for attack.   Historian Dr Will Wyeth and Norha...

Mills have towered over English landscapes since the medieval period. In this episode, Amy finds out how modern conservation and passionate people are working to keep windmills alive today.  Sibsey Trader Windmill is a magnificently restored mill, now reopened to the public in Lincolnshire. This Victorian tower mill has been rescued from the brink after decades of decline. Nick Holder and Joseph J...

A stone knight, an emerging frontier and a story of shifting identity: this time, Amy and her guests explore how the Anglo-Scottish border began to evolve in the centuries following the Norman Conquest, right through to a critical 1237 treaty.  English Heritage’s Will Wyeth and Professor Richard Oram from the University of Stirling explain how the people and landscape of Northumberland were critic...

Some blocked plumbing at Brodsworth Hall, a pre-ball dancefloor drama and the fiercely competitive annual May Queen crowning at the local school: these are just some of the stories that emerge from this country house’s ‘floral’ history!  This week, Amy is joined by Eleanor Matthews for a joyful celebration of flowers. They’ll listen to the memories of gardeners, housemaids and locals to find out h...

It might feel like an everyday treat now, but a dip into the history of chocolate reveals a story of global trade, empire, aristocratic tastes and industrial revolution.   This week, Amy is joined by food historian Sam Bilton and English Heritage historian Dr Andrew Hann to trace chocolate’s journey from a bitter, spiced drink of status and ceremony to the sweet comfort and ritual we know today.  ...

Creators of an Art Deco masterpiece at Eltham Palace in London, Seely and Paget were one of the most remarkable architectural partnerships of the 20th century.  In this episode, Amy explores the men behind the names, tracing how two well-connected young men who met at Cambridge went on to leave their mark on churches, colleges and country houses across the country and reshape Eltham Palace into on...

When we picture the building of Britain’s great country houses, it’s easy to imagine architects, craftspeople and wealthy patrons...but they’re almost always men.   However, after a closer look at the records, a different story becomes clear. From brickfields and workshops to family building firms and busy construction sites, women have always been present during the construction of the buildings...

Tiny enough to wear around your neck, yet big enough to hold secrets, memories and devotion: portrait miniatures give us an intimate insight into the private lives of the past.   In this episode, Amy Matthews is joined by curators Lydia Miller and Peter Moore to explore remarkable stories from this pre-photography phenomenon and delve into English Heritage’s special collections.   From beaver teet...

What does an oyster shell have to do with medieval books? This week, Amy explores one of her favourite moments in history: when medieval scribes started to create beautifully illuminated manuscripts.   She’s exploring the complex, multi-faceted and highly skilled work that helped create these works of literature and art. From a stinky parchment creation process to fine pigments and steady hands wo...

What do deer shelters, cosmic theories and serpentine garden paths have in common?  The brilliant (but often overlooked) mind of Thomas Wright of Durham. This week on The English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews explores the life and work of an Enlightenment polymath who rose from carpenter’s son to mathematician, stargazer and garden visionary.   Biographer Simon Webb and historian Dr Andrew Hann e...

Was Maiden Castle really the site of a brutal Roman massacre? Or have we been telling the wrong story for decades?   This vast Iron Age hillfort in Dorset is home to human remains that have shaped our understanding of conquest, conflict and resistance for nearly a century. In this episode, we return to the skeletons that made the site famous: young men, women and children bearing signs of violence...

Forget roses and chocolates this Valentine’s Day. Lovers from the past set the bar high, with romantic poetry, locks of human hair, beautifully crafted silver and even a new city dedicated to a lost love.  Join Amy Matthews and English Heritage historians and curators for a look at love tokens, secret messages and heartbreak memorials from our sites, to discover how people in the past flirted, mou...

This isn’t a story of castles and conquest, but of carved pins, private churches, timber halls and even a king’s toilet.  In this episode, we’re exploring early medieval England to uncover how wealth, status and authority were expressed before the Norman Conquest. Far from a sharp break in history, new archaeological research reveals deep continuities in how England’s elites lived, ruled...and sho...

What could a postal worker, a murdered emperor, and a Roman grain measure possibly have in common?  In this episode of The English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews is joined by Dr Francis McIntosh to explore a remarkably well-preserved Roman modius, or grain measure. Discovered by pure chance in 1915 near Hadrian’s Wall, this object carries an extraordinary story.   An official measuring vessel, the...

From Darwin’s pigeons to peregrines on Parliament, birds have always been more than background noise. They’ve shaped science, symbolism, status and the very landscapes we live in.   In this episode, Amy chats with three passionate bird enthusiasts: English Heritage’s Dr Louise Crawley, head gardener and bird obsessive Anthony O’Rourke, and zoologist and broadcaster Megan McCubbin. Together, they e...