Viewpoints – Placecloud

London, United Kingdom. Recounts the story of Amelia Kennedy who, in 1871, died in a fire at her home in Edwards Lane, Stoke Newington, while trying to save other members of her family.

Gloucester, United Kingdom. In 909 the bones of Oswald of Northumbria were brought to Gloucester from Bardney in Lincolnshire by Æthelred and Æthelflæd, rulers of Mercia. In time the minster they had founded in Gloucester came to be named after this northern king. Find out why a northern king was an attractive patron to Merican rulers and how the northern connection was later reactivated by the Ar...

Tiptree, United Kingdom. The St Giles ruins are Maldon's only ancient scheduled monument. While in popular imagination medieval leper hospitals are thought of as places of exclusion, the truth is more complex and the community at St Giles was embedded in networks that stretched from the town centre out into the surrounding countryside.

Peterborough, United Kingdom. One of the most precious possessions of the monks of Peterborough was the incorrupt right arm of King Oswald. What was this relic? And how did it come to be installed in a chapel in Peterborough Abbey?

London, United Kingdom. Recounts the story of Dr Alexander Stewart Brown from Brockley who lost his life following a series of unfortunate events.

London, United Kingdom. Recounts the story of Constable Percy Edwin Cook, who died in 1927 trying to save some workmen from a High Tension Chamber in Kensington.

London, United Kingdom. Recounts the controversy around the death of Fireman Joseph Ford who died in 1871 while helping to rescue people from a burning house on the Grays Inn Road.

Former Medieval Diocese of Elmham (North Elmham), United Kingdom. Norfolk is undoubtedly Boleyn heartland, where the family first established themselves as important members of the county, and Salle village and Church in Norfolk remain a vital part of the Boleyn story.

London, United Kingdom. Brooke House has one of the saddest stories of any of Henry VIII's lost palaces, since it was only demolished in the 1950s. Now nothing remains of the palace in which Henry VIII was reconciled to his eldest daughter, Princess Mary.

London, United Kingdom. Henry VIII's main London residence from 1523 to 1530 served as a backdrop for some of the drama of the King's Great Matter: Henry's attempt to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn.

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. This place fulfilled the promise of its name in 634 when Oswald of Northumbria won his famous victory over Cadwallon.

Grimsby, United Kingdom. The Yorkshire seaside resort of Withernsea came into being as a result of Victorian railway expansion, with a pier being built as one of the first visitor attractions. The sorry tale of that North Sea pier is a short and disastrous one. But its story is not over yet.

Brundall, United Kingdom. The seafront Hippodrome at Great Yarmouth has been in continuous use as a circus since 1903. Its first owner made his name as a performer and knew how to please the crowds of Edwardian holidaymakers with daring shows and a venue that embraced the latest Art Nouveau style of design.

Byfleet, United Kingdom. Only the gatehouse of the once lavish Esher Place remains, but step back in time to imagine the palace in its prime. It was a house of exile for Cardinal Wolsey and a place of mourning for Henry VIII, before serving as a private residence for the remainder of the sixteenth century. It even witnessed an early seventeenth century exorcism.

London, United Kingdom. Take a trip to Suffolk Place, the shortest occupied palace of the Tudor era. This lavish mansion was grand enough to host the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, when he visited England in 1522, while it also played host to a princely Christening.

London, United Kingdom. As the fountainhead of maritime insurance Lloyd's is the most famous coffeehouse. Its story is emblematic of the rise and fall of London’s coffeehouses: part of their meteoric rise was the appeal of auctions; their fall came when these public spaces turned private. Exploring Lloyd’s also reveals the coffeehouse's deep links to the slave trade, from auctions and escaped ensl...

St Petersburg, Russia. In 1911, when Vaslav Nijinsky returned from Paris to dance at the Mariinsky, his revealing costume raised eyebrows in the Tsar's box...

St Petersburg, Russia. Pause on the Anichkov bridge to take in the distinctive architecture of Petersburg, and consider how the city itself could thematise looking.

Paris 01 Ancien – Quartier Place-Vendôme, France. How did the square behind the Paris Opera Garnier come to be named for a Russian aristocrat?

London, United Kingdom. Jonathan's Coffee House was at the heart of what has been dubbed ‘the financial revolution’ in late seventeenth-century London. It was home to the stock-jobbers, the scene of the 1720 South Sea Bubble, and the beginning of London's Stock Exchange.

Paris 01 Ancien – Quartier Place-Vendôme, France. Paris is well-known as a centre of fashion and luxury. The elegant stores on the Rue de la Paix offer a glimpse into the sensations of the early twentieth century, and the class distinctions which structured women's spaces.

Potters Bar, United Kingdom. Visit the old palace at Hatfield, childhood home to the future Elizabeth I. It was the place where she learned of her accession to the throne, in 1558, while sitting reading under an oak tree in the palace's park.

Headley, United Kingdom. Journey to the site of Henry VIII's most spectacular building project, a palace that was intended to rival to great Chateau de Chambord in France.

London, United Kingdom. Explore the remains of Henry VIII's childhood home, a palace that also served as a Byzantine Emperor's holiday home and housed a medieval king's personal library. You can even take a walk through Henry VIII's sewer system.

London, United Kingdom. Bethlem Royal Hospital, or Bedlam, is probably the most infamous 'madhouse' in England. Many people think of it as a place where the mentally ill were locked up against their will. But for many patients, this was far from the case. Learn about those who wanted to be in this institution.