Medieval bridge uncovered in Shrewsbury

From the BBC

Archaeologists have been revealing details about the discovery of a medieval bridge in Shropshire.
…
The bridge, known as St George’s Bridge, once acted as a gateway to the town from Wales and was in existence during the 15th Century.

And why is this of interest to Tudor fans?

It is thought that future King of England, Henry Tudor, used the bridge in 1485 to enter England from Wales on his way to the battle at Bosworth.

Here’s another article, with a picture: Historic gateway discovered at dig

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Searching for Shakespeare

The National Portrait Gallery in London is marking its 150th anniversary and will be celebrating with a special exhibit on Shakespeare and the “Chandos” portrait, which was the first in the gallery’s collection. More information and a review of the exhibit from The Observer

There has been a slew of news articles out lately about the portraits of Shakespeare and this exhibit, so I’ve just selected a few to point to here:

Britain’s National Portrait Gallery unveils ‘true’ image of Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s Likeliest Likeness, Forsooth

To be or not to be the Bard’s portrait?

The only true painting of Shakespeare – probably

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Remains of Bermondsey Abbey on display

The major development on the Bermondsey Square site has provided the unprecedented opportunity for archaeologists to explore this important site.

Bermondsey Abbey was founded from Cluny in France shortly after the Norman conquest.

More here

Katherine of Valois, grandmother of Henry VII, died at Bermondsey and Elizabeth Woodville (widow of Edward IV and mother of Elizabeth of York) retired there in Henry VII’s reign.

Mostly better now

Thanks for everyone’s patience while I’ve been sick over the past few weeks. I’m mostly on the mend now (even managed to work in the garden for a couple of hours today!) and will be back at posting and emailing and working on the site.

My Ladye Nevells Booke – British Library Fundraising campaign

The British Library is fundraising to secure the unique 16th-century music manuscript ‘My Ladye Nevells Booke’ for the nation. It is one of the finest Tudor music manuscripts in existence and contains 42 pieces for keyboard by William Byrd, the greatest English composer of his age.

Click for images and information on how you can donate

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A few small updates

Sorry for the lack of anything on this blog for nearly two weeks. We had our annual board meeting at work at the beginning of February and literaly 12 hours after it finished, I woke up sick and have been dealing with that ever since. I’m almost back to 100% now though!

Over the weekend I sorted through some links that I’ve had saved for a while and finally added them to the Links of Interest section. I also did some reading and note taking and now need to get down to the library and photocopy some of Statutes of the Realm…

Book News – The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper

Karen Harper, who has written several mysteries featuring Elizabeth I has now turned her pen to Mary Boleyn. The novel will be coming out at the end of February in the US and UK. You can pre-order it by clicking the link below and help support this website through the Amazon Associates program.

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Another article on the Greenwich chapel

From The Bexley Times, with some new pictures:

A ROYAL chapel last seen more than 350 years ago and used by three generations of monarchs has been uncovered by gardeners.

The original brickwork of a 16th century royal chapel, built by Henry VII, was discovered during work to relay pavements at the Old Royal naval College, Greenwich.

Full article here

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Spanish Ambassador to honour Katherine of Aragon

PETERBOROUGH will get its first visit from the Spanish Ambassador on Monday as he pays tribute to one of history’s most famous figures.

Carlos Mirana is due to visit the city for the Katharine of Aragon commemorative service, as this year marks two decades’ of Peterborough’s twinning with Alcala, in Spain, where the first wife of Henry VIII was born.

The former queen is buried in Peterborough Cathedral, making the anniversary of her death an important fixture in the city’s calendar.
A service is due to take place on Monday, to mark the 470th anniversary of her death.

Full article here

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Henry VII’s Chapel Found at Greenwich

The existence of the chapel, part of the Royal Palace of Placentia, a Tudor favourite but pulled down in the 17th century to be replaced by Greenwich Hospital – now the Old Naval College – has long been known from paintings and records.

But until a bulldozer’s bucket scraped against brickwork a month ago, no physical evidence of the chapel had ever been discovered.

Full article from The Telegraph here

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A few changes to the main page

I’ve made a couple of changes to the main page in my experimentation with Google Ads. I have been hesitant to put advertising on the site, but I would like to be able to have the site pay for itself now. I’ve been getting some money from purchases through the Cafe Press store, but right now it’s only bringing in about a quarter of the total yearly cost.

I’ll try to keep the ads to a minimum and as unobtrusive as possible. I’ll probably be messing around with stuff on and off over the next few weeks, so things may change for day to day!