A Journey Through Tudor England: Hampton Court Palace and the Tower of London to Stratford-upon-Avon and Thornbury Castle

by Suzannah Lipscomb

Overview

For the armchair traveler or for those looking to take a trip back to the colorful time of Henry VIII and Thomas Moore, A Journey Through Tudor England takes you to the palaces, castles, theatres, and abbeys to uncover the stories behind this famed era. Suzannah Lipscomb visits over fifty Tudor places, from the famous palace at Hampton Court, where dangerous court intrigue was rife, to less well-known houses such as Anne Boleyn’s childhood home at Hever Castle, or Tutbury Castle, where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned.

In the corridors of power and the courtyards of country houses, we meet the passionate but tragic Kateryn Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife; Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day queen; and come to understand how Sir Walter Raleigh planned his trip to the New World. Through the places that defined them, this lively and engaging book reveals the rich history of the Tudors and paints a vivid and captivating picture of what it would have been like to live in Tudor England.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605984605
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	06/01/2013
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Suzannah Lipscomb, PhD, co-presented "Inside the World of Henry VIII" on the History Channel. Her new three-part series on the Tower of London aired on National Geographic Channel. She is the author of 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII, and writes frequently for BBC History Magazine and History Today. She lives in London.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

London and Greater London

The Tower of London 12

National Portrait Gallery 17

Tudor Portraiture 22

Westminster Abbey 24

Charterhouse 29

Lincoln's Inn 34

Guildhall 39

Eltham Palace 44

Richmond Palace, Surrey 48

Hampton Court Palace, Surrey 53

An Heir and a Spare 57

South East

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Berkshire 62

The Mary Rose, Hampshire 67

Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire 72

The Vyne, Hampshire 77

Royal Processes 81

Hever Castle, Kent 85

Leeds Castle, Kent 89

Food in Tudor England 93

Penshurst Place, Kent 96

The Early Tudor Great Hall 101

Rochester Castle, Kent (with Allington Castle) 103

Christ Church College, Oxford, Oxfordshire 108

Broad Street, Oxford, Oxfordshire 113

Loseley Park, Surrey 117

Arundel Castle, West Sussex 120

South West

Pendennis and St Mawes Castles, Cornwall 128

Buckland Abbey, Devon 132

The Spanish Armada 136

Sherborne Castle, Dorset (with Sandford Orcas Manor House) 140

Hailes Abbey, Gloucestershire 145

Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire 148

Thornbury Castle, Gloucestershire 153

Clothing in Tudor England 157

Glastonbury Tor and Abbey, Somerset 161

Montacute House, Somerset 164

West Midlands

Ludlow Castle, Shropshire (with Castle Lodge) 170

Tutbury Castle, Staffordshire 174

Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire 178

Shakespeare's birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire 183

Elizabethan Theatre 188

Harvington Hall, Worcestershire 191

East Midlands

Bosworth Battlefield, Leicestershire 198

Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire 202

Social Climbing the Tudor Way 207

Burghley House, Lincolnshire 210

Kirby Hall, Northamptonshire (with Holdenby House) 214

The Elizabethan Prodigy Houses 219

East of England

St John's and Trinity Colleges, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire 224

Peterborough Cathedral, Cambridgeshire 230

Hatfield Old Palace, Hertfordshire 235

Tudor Sports and Pastimes 238

Kett's Oak, Wymondham, Norfolk 243

The Shrine at Walsingham, Norfolk 247

St Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk 250

The Church of St Michael, Framlingham, Suffolk (with Framlingham Castle) 255

North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber

Gawsworth Hall, Cheshire 260

Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire 264

The Typical Tudor House 267

The Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, Merseyside 269

Pontefract Castle, West Yorkshire 273

Fountains Abbey, North Yorkshire (with Whitby Abbey) 278

Acknowledgements 283

Further Reading 285

Appendix: Opening Times and How to Get There 291

Index 311

Editorial Reviews

"A genuinely useful and discriminating guide for all Tudor fans. Full of fascinating true stories. It helps us to see the world as the Tudors must have seen it." - Hillary Mantel, Man Booker Prizewinning author of Wolf Hall

"A lively and expert guide through bloody Tudor history." —The Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Lipscomb adds something new and different to the growing list of books on Tudor England. ... [A] breezy, easy read for armchair travelers." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

A genuinely useful and discriminating guide for all Tudor fans. Full of fascinating true stories. It helps us see the world as the Tudors must have seen it.

Hilary Mantel

Lipscomb (Early Modern History/Univ. of East Anglia; 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII, 2009) combines her credentials as historian/TV presenter/author to give us a thorough history/guided tour of the Tudors. The author divides the narrative geographically into seven districts, including greater London, tracing the stories of Henry VII, Henry VIII and his children. Rather than confusing readers, the geographic technique allows one to view the impact these monarchs had in each area. Sadly, no maps are supplied for each section. They would improve visualization and allow travelers to plan a visit. Still, once readers have finished this unusual book, they will discover their knowledge of the Tudor kings and queens has considerably expanded. Henry VII, the first Tudor and victor at Bosworth, reigned from 1485 to 1509. The building of Richmond Palace was Henry VII's only break from his miserly ways as he fought to secure his dynasty. He died there, as did his granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth I, almost 100 years later. Henry VIII's lifestyle markedly contrasts with his father's, as he built, or "acquired," more than 60 houses and palaces, not least of which was Hampton Court. There are, logically, more places connected to Henry VIII and Elizabeth for the simple reason that their reigns were longer. Edward VI, Mary and the pitiful Jane Grey together only reigned just over a decade. Lipscomb avoids becoming an architectural or archaeological guide while pointing out ruins worth a look--e.g., Westminster Abbey, as well as less-renowned sites like Kenilworth Castle, which has a "baleful and crestfallen air." A clever history of how the Tudors ushered England into the medieval age, illustrating the broad influence they exerted both then and now.

Kirkus Reviews

A lively and expert guide through bloody Tudor history

The Cleveland Plain Dealer