Category: Picture of the Week

Altar of the Chapel of St. John the Evangelist in the White Tower of the Tower of London. Photo May 2003.

Walking in to Edinburgh Castle, with the spikes at the bottom of the portcullis visible. Photo May 2000

I had a weird dream last night about going back to Edinburgh Castle so I had to post a picture from my real visit 12 years ago. Apparently, in dream geography, you can see the landmarks of New York City from the walls of the castle. Who knew? 🙂

Stairs in the ruins of the library at Raglan Castle. Photo May 2003.

Greenwich, England. Photo May 2003.

Today was a big day for the Royal Borough of Greenwich with HM The Queen re-opening the Cutty Sark and the Royal River exhibition at the National Maritime Museum. The pre-fire and pre-restoration Cutty Sark is at the left of this photo. St. Alfege Church in the center is the 18th century replacement of the medieval church that collapsed in 1710. It was the site for the baptism of Henry VIII and the burial place of composer Thomas Tallis.

Items recovered from The Mary Rose. Photo June 2000.

View from the walls of Warwick Castle. Photo May 1998.

Walking up the entrance to Dover Castle. Photo May 2003.

Costumed historical interpreters at Hampton Court Palace. Photo June 2000.

(I totally missed another arbitrary milestone with the Sunday news round-up – it was my 1000th post here!)

Old Palace at Hatfield. Photo May 1998.

I’ve always loved the patterns in the brick at the Old Palace.

Glastonbury Abbey. Photo May 1998.

I was looking back through the photos I have for the Picture of the Week and realized that I haven’t used one of Glastonbury since March 2009, so I thought it was time for another. As I mentioned before, Glastonbury was dissolved in 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII.

Tree-lined walk up to Holy Trinity Church in Stratford-upon-Avon, burial place of William Shakespeare. Photo May 1998.

Carew Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales. Photo May 2003.

Since tomorrow is St. David’s Day, I thought it would be appropriate to head back to Wales with the Picture of the Week. I’ve featured the carvings of the arms of Henry VII, Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon at Carew, but I think this is the first time I’ve had a picture of the whole castle.

A second IANE carving in the Beauchamp Tower of the Tower of London. Photo June 2003.

I had some interesting conversations on Twitter earlier this week about this second carving, which it seems might also be related to Jane Grey (see previous Picture of the Week).

IANE carved into a wall in the Beauchamp Tower of the Tower of London. Photo May 2003.

This carving has been associated with Jane Grey, who, along with her husband Guildford, was executed this week in 1554. Guildford Dudley and the members of his family who were arrested in the plot to put Jane on the throne were kept in this room and left many carvings, so it isn’t outside the realm of possibility that this is a reference to his wife. It is also a possible reference to Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland (mother of Guildford, etc.). Or it’s possible that it isn’t a reference to either!

The view from atop Harlech Castle in Wales. Photo May 2000.

As I’ve mentioned previously, Harlech Castle was a Lancastrian stronghold during the Wars of the Roses.

Another section of the Lord Leycester Hospital in Warwick. Photo May 1998

As I mentioned when I first posted about this place in Picture of the Week #86, it is on my “to visit again” list since I didn’t go inside when I was there 14 (!!) years ago. Well, it looks like that will probably happen next year since I’ve begun to seriously start researching and planning a trip for 2013. I won’t have any specific info until next year but getting back to Stratford, Warwick and Kenilworth is a definite part of the plans. Most of the rest of the trip, at this early planning stage, will concentrate on East Anglia, an area I haven’t visited at all on my previous three trips.

The arms of Prince Arthur at Carew Castle, Wales. Photo May 2003.

This is a close-up of Prince Arthur’s arms – the wider shot was Picture of the Week #8 and Catherine of Aragon’s were Picture of the Week #102. Arthur’s are the royal arms of the time (three fleurs-de-lis and three lions passant) with a three point label across the top, denoting him as the eldest son.

Here’s a full color version that makes it a little easier to pick out the details from the photo (image adapted from a file at Wikimedia Commons):

Looking over the old Elizabethan gardens at Kenilworth Castle. Photo May 1998.

This is how the gardens looked before the re-design that opened in 2009.

The Tower of London viewed from across the Thames. Photo June 2000.

Great Tower of Pembroke Castle and other buildings of the Inner Ward. Photo May 2003.

I realized as I was looking through my pictures for one to use today, that this marks the first post of year 4 of “Picture of the Week”! So that’s why it’s another Pembroke Castle photo, in honor of the first one I posted back in January 2009.