Remains of Burleigh House @ Loughborough University

The 17th century walled garden at Loughborough University.

Loughborough University has shot up the rankings of late, but how many of its students know that it's built on the site of a Royalist garrison? ...

Stephen Croad Prize 2023

Some photos from Historic Buildings and Places’ annual lecture at the Alan Baxter Gallery in Farringdon, where I was delighted to be awarded the Stephen Croad Essay Prize for my paper on Balthazar Gerbier and Hamstead Marshall.

Receiving the Stephen Croad Essay Prize from Giles Quarme FRIBA.

After receiving my certificate, I gave a short talk on why the topic is of interest to me and my key findings. The essay will be published in Historic Buildings and Places’ journal next year.

Speaking about my essay on Balthazar Gerbier and Hamstead Marshall.

Gerbier is perhaps best know to 17th century historians as a Dutch courtier who helped the Duke of Buckingham develop his art collection, but Gerbier also designed buildings. The drawings for one of these, Hamstead Marshall, survive in the Bodleian Library.

The house was somewhat unusual for its time (construction began in 1662), and my article fills in some gaps about its construction, discusses some possible problems encountered, and suggests what Gerbier was ultimately trying to achieve by building what I call a 'proto-Baroque' house for his patron, the 1st Earl of Craven.    

Guest blog: Princess Elizabeth Stuart (1635-50) (Mary McVicker, writer)

The Five Eldest Children of Charles I  (1637) by Van Dyck (Princess Elizabeth Stuart second-right).

I knew that a couple of Charles I's children (Henry and Elizabeth) had shared a heart-breaking few minutes with their father prior to his execution, but as both died young, their stories have rather been lost.

In this guest article, writer Mary McVicker reflects on the short life of Princess Elizabeth Stuart (1635-50), revealing a dramatic existence governed by the tides of war ...

Colchester Siege Spectacular (19-20 August, Castle Park, Colchester)

My article and interactive map on the Siege of Colchester (1648) still get a lot of traffic - it appears there's still great interest in the siege, so it's great to see that the city's holding a weekend-long event over August Bank Holiday - see video preview above.