Insights and behind the scenes from our palaces
Using Heritage Science to Conserve Queen Caroline's State Bed
13 September 2024
Work on Queen Caroline’s much-loved State bed, which we care for on behalf of the Royal Collection Trust, continues at Hampton Court Palace and our attentions are now drawn to protecting the feet of this priceless historic object.
Caring for the Tower of London through lockdown
11 May 2021
While the Tower of London was closed to the public during the Covid-19 pandemic, much work was underway to protect the fabric of the building and the future of the palace. Assistant Curator Alfred Hawkins reveals one of the important projects that he has been working on behind the scenes.
Walter Hungerford and the Buggery Act: LGBTQ+ History and Punishment at the Tower of London
19 February 2021
As part of LGBT History Month, Olivia Martin examines a darker side of the Tower's history. On 28 July 1540, the first execution under the Buggery Act, the first civil law to criminalise homosexual behaviour, happened on Tower Hill.
500 years of the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula
19 September 2020
Assistant Curator of Historic Buildings Alfred Hawkins introduces some of the extraordinary stories surrounding the Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula, the little Tudor church at the heart of the Tower of London.
Excavations at the Tower of London's chapel
21 October 2019
Earlier this year, once-in-a-generation excavation works taking place outside the entrance to the Tower's Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula uncovered amazing finds, which shed new light on the history of the Chapel and what life was like for those who lived at the Tower 500 years ago. Historic Buildings Curator Alfred Hawkins explains the process of archaeological excavations.
Why we need to stop looking for sex: letters and LGBT+ royal history
25 February 2019
'How do you know?' I've been asked this a lot recently when I've been talking about LGBT+ royal history. I'm glad to be asked it, because it gets to the heart of studying LGBT+ identities in the past. In this post, I'd like to talk about the evidence and assumptions, which tell us a lot about sexuality in the past, and today.
A Head in the Bloody Tower
04 December 2018
When I started my job at the Tower of London I fully expected to encounter extraordinary things every day. And true to form I was only onto my second week when a fragment of a wall painting on the upper floor of the Bloody Tower was revealed.
Happy Birthday Henry VIII
28 June 2018
On 28 June 2018, Henry VIII will celebrate his 527th birthday. From wherever he is watching. Our most famous Tudor monarch would no doubt have expected a decent seat in Heaven: most early modern rulers tended to believe they had a divinely sanctioned right to rule as they pleased, and Henry was a king who appointed himself as Supreme Head of the English Church.
Astronomy at the Top of the White Tower
12 March 2018
The White Tower of the Tower of London has three square turrets and one that is circular. One of the most interesting uses for this circular turret took place in 1675 when it became Britain's first temporary royal observatory.
The Peasant's Revolt: The only time the Tower of London was breached
28 September 2017
At the Tower of London, William the Conqueror’s White Tower, and the huge curtain walls of Henry III and Edward I cast a shadow of impregnable royal strength over the City. In reality, the Tower’s fortunes as a defensive castle were somewhat mixed. It depended rather upon the loyalty and efficiency of its garrison, and the stocking of its weapon stores and food larders.