Insights and behind the scenes from our palaces
Protecting wildlife and their habitat at Home Park
22 November 2024
Park Ranger Eleanor Evetts explores the importance of nature conservation efforts at Home Park at Hampton Court Palace.
The Life of Edward Francis: Black history at the Tower of London
15 November 2021
Misha Ewen, Curator of Inclusive History, reflects upon her research on the life of Edward Francis - an enslaved African man who lived at the Tower of London in the late 17th century.
Phillis Wheatley's Visit to the Tower of London in 1773
22 October 2021
Curator Charles Farris explores the incredible life and career of Phillis Wheatley, an important African American poet, who visited the Tower of London in 1773.
Torture at the Tower: The Case of John Gerard
04 October 2021
On the anniversary of the birth of John Gerard, Curator Alden Gregory reflects on the dark history of the Tower of London and how it resonates today.
Templars at the Tower
12 August 2021
Why is Friday 13th thought of as an unlucky date? One possibility is the arrest of the famous Knights Templar on a different Friday 13th, over 700 years ago. Postdoctoral researcher Rory MacLellan writes about this fascinating story of the imprisonment of the Templars at the Tower.
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.