Archives: Resources

    Transcript for Cavendish 3

    Having fled the chaos of Colchester and St Johns Abbey, Elizabeth and her brood of Lucases are now in London. This seems odd, for a group of royalists to fleeRead More

    Transcript for Cavendish 2

    Now Elizabeth’s mother, pregnant and deserted at the age of 3, widowed with a family of 8 at 40, was clearly a person of some poise and confidence, well ableRead More

    Transcript for Cavendish 1

    Now then ladies and gents, welcome to the shedcasts, and the start of another biography. And for my subject I have chosen one Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle. Ask meRead More

    British Civil Wars Maps

    A collection of maps to help ypu through the English Revolution and British Civil Wars: England and Wales with battle sites Ireland and battle sites Scotland and battle sites MapRead More

    Transcript for Sh 41e

    And so we come to the last 50 years or so of this series. 1945 to 2000. I have been dreading it I have to tell you, because clearly it’sRead More

    Transcript for 41d

    I think we should start by going back a step, just a tadge, and talk about the origins of the Labour Party, since it will of course be a bigRead More

    Transcript for Sh 41c

    Now this, for me is the most exciting stuff – the 19th century, where the world really changes – or at least notices that it’s changed, a century of reform,Read More

    Transcript for Eleanor 5

    While Eleanor was busily prepared by her household ladies for the big event, the union ofnot justtwo people but alsoof France and Aquitaine, the news would have been spreading rapidlyRead More

    Transcript for Sh 41b

    Right, then – we come at last, kicking and screaming, to the Exclusion crisis, the 1670s, and the first really recognisable political parties – Whigs and Tories. Let me setRead More

    Transcript for Shedcast 41a

    Hello and welcome to the Shed, and a new mini series of shedcasts, Parliament, Politics and Party. I had a couple of problems I should share with you about arrivingRead More

    Transcript for Shedcast 40b

    Last time we talked about early tourism; well, we cheated a bit and took pilgrimage to be a tourist activity which is a bit of a stretch really. But hey,Read More

    Transcript for Sh 40a

    It so happened that one day, many moons ago when the world was young that I thought – how nice it would be to get some people over here toRead More

    Maps: Early Colonial North America

    These maps accompany episodes 364-367. For a comprehensive and detailed map of Native American peoples, you might like to visit the Native Land Digital Map. Native American People of  EasternRead More

    Bibliographies: Civil Wars

    Britain in Revolution, Austin Woolrych (Superb ‘ bible’ of the English Revolution everything you wanted to know) Black Tom: Sir Thomas Fairfax & the English revolution, Andrew Hopper (detailed lifeRead More

    The village of Ewelme

    Ewelme, South Oxfordshire One fine day my son Henry and I set off down the Chiltern scarp to the now out-of-the-way village of Ewelme, and did some video’ing. I blatheredRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 21

    As dal Verme contemplated his fox in a cage and rubbed his hands with glee, Hawkwood and Florence faced the ruin of all their hopes, the absence of Armagnac, theRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 20

    Let us turn at this point away, very briefly, from John Hawkwood and talk of another captain with whom he will spend some time sparring in the not too distantRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 19

    Now, just to help your sanity and in the interests of setting expectations, may I say that we are in the end game now, if not the beginning of theRead More

    The Perfect Sword

    The story of an ancient and exceptional sword found at Bamburgh by author Edoardo Albert

    Transcript for 39d

    Now then, so far we have spoken of a happy, happy story as regards the state of English agriculture; farmers and landowners are relaxed poised and confident, making decent moneyRead More

    The Petition of Right, 1628

    Petition of Right (1628) The Petition of Right is often quoted as one of the steps towards a constitutional monarchy and advancement of the rights of parliament to approved allRead More

    Transcript for Sh 39c

    Last time then we heard about the hard lives of the majority of the people of Victorian Swyncombe, and the remarkable stability of the social structures of which they wereRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 18

    They found ohn Hawkwood in the Romagna, so again well north of Tuscany, and there Giovanni Ubaldini the victor of Brentelles and Italy’s most revered captain of war got downRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 17

    Charles of Durazzo’s campaign with the help of Urban VI was really pretty successful. By 1381 he’d defeated Johanna’s husband, and captured Johanna and incarcerated her. It’s true to sayRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 16

    It worried me when we started off on John Hawkwood’s life that we would constantly be living in camp, sharpening swords, buffing armour, greasing leather, grooming horses, simply preparing forRead More

    Transcript for Sh 38b

    I think I might start this episode with a thrilling expose of Household structure and stuff like that. Well, drop the expose possibly. Now, microhistories make no pretence that theRead More

    Victorian Swyncombe

      A cut down version of a history of Victorian Rural England for member, designed specifically for parishoners. Hopefully there is noting actionable here!  

    Swyncombe Parish

    For those of you with an interest in local and social history, I have put together a few images to support a series of Members’ Shedcasts about Victorian Rural EnglandRead More

    Review of Emergence of the English

    This review was written by Alex Woolf of St Andrews university, and published in the journal of ‘Early Medieval Europe’, 2020, Vol.28 (1), p.157-160 The Emergence of the English. ByRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 15

    Hawkwood went from Cesena to a small village in Lombardy, in the territory of the town of Cremona as it happens. The village of Gazzuolo lies on the banks ofRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 14

    Despite being embroiled in a war against a powerful coalition of major Italian cities, and being under the kosh of rebellion from the vast majority of towns in the PapalRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 13

    Now then, July 1375, and the war of Eight Saints, the defensive league put together by Florence, including the might of the Visconti, but also Siena, Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, theRead More

    The Great Rebuilding

    The story of the transformation of England’s vernacular architecture in the 16th and 17th centuries

    Transcript for Hawkwood 12

    So, the story in the New York media in 1943 records an anecdote told by Johan Smuts of South Africa, relating a conversation between Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. WinstonRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 11

    Hawkwood made the best use he could of his well-earned patch of local military superiority, rampaging around burning and pillaging as you do, though he was rudely interrupted by theRead More

    Transcript for Hawkwood 10

    Now then, I mentioned that in May 1368 John Hawkwood had gone to a wedding which is nice – everyone loves a wedding do they not? All the opportunities forRead More

    The Times: Right to Roam

      Nick Hayes lives on a houseboat moored on the north bank of the Thames alongside Hardwick House in south Oxfordshire, the clues to his work and passion displayed onRead More