Essential History | The top sights in London, Madrid and beyond
The best cultural and historical sights in London, Madrid and beyond.
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is renowned as the 'mother of all parliaments' This post is a self-guided walk through the heart of political Westminster, taking in Parliament and associated sights. The walk starts in Smith Square, Westminster, home to party HQ's, lobbyists and political associations and ends in Trafalgar Square. It will take [...]
Lincoln’s Inn Fields is named after the former recreation ground for lawyers learning and practising their profession at the adjacent Lincoln’s Inn - one of London's four Inns of Court still operating today. Originally, two separate fields, it was home to public executions before becoming a training ground for parliamentarian troops during the English Civil [...]
Somerset House has an illustrious past. The site was once the home of Lord Protector Somerset then Tudor and Stuart queens of the realm before becoming the first home of the Royal Academy (1771-1836), the Royal Society (1780-1857), a London headquarters of the Royal Navy - and then a government tax and records office (1789-1985). [...]
Gateway to the first capital city of England, Colchester, the ‘old gate’ has seen more than its fair share of British history. It’s the route taken by the Barons (laying seize to the Tower before Magna Carta was agreed in 1215), home to Geoffrey Chaucer for ten years from 1374 and the gate through which [...]
During the fifteenth century, London’s merchants and elites supported the Yorkists in the infamous Wars of the Roses. So, in 1485, it was somewhat ‘cap in hand’ they greeted the victor of the Battle of Bosworth Field, the Lancastrian Henry Tudor - soon to become King Henry VII. Henry settled in Greenwich and embellished an [...]
Holland Park in west London is the former estate of Holland House, home to Henry Fox Lord Holland and his family from the late 1700s. Henry’s son, Charles James Fox, was a prominent Whig politician. A leading libertarian and lifelong thorn in the side to George III, he was Britain’s first foreign secretary. Today, the [...]
St Katharine Docks were opened in 1828 to provide capacity for Britain’s largest import (and second largest export after wool); tea. Arriving in tea chests from China and India it was a roaring trade, accounting for around 400,000 tea chests per year. For 140 years, these docks were central to satiating the appetite for the [...]
The National Army Museum has recently completed a curatorial overhaul of its European collection of artefacts charting ‘Conflict in Europe’ from the 1700s to the present day. Covering territorial and balance of power disputes in continental Europe, the gallery explains the Army's role in helping maintain Britain's influence in European affairs. Waterloo artefacts - including [...]
Covent Garden is home to the world-renowned Royal Opera House, the Royal Ballet and the London Transport museum – as well as some of the best shopping, food & drink and street entertainment in London. This post is about the foundation of Covent Garden. Covent Garden was originally a medieval orchard and garden, belonging to [...]
Renowned for being the home of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane has a colourful past stretching back to the fourteenth century. Named after Sir Thomas Drury, who built a house here during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, it peaked as a select and fashionable neighbourhood in C16-17. However, one hundred years later, it had [...]