The English Heritage Podcast

Step through the doors of Britain’s surviving medieval barns and you enter a space that once fed whole communities.

This week, Amy Matthews meets Dr Lydia Miller and Dr Nick Holder to explore the surprising power of England’s great barns.

This year marks 600 years since the construction of Harmondsworth Barn, an agricultural workhorse that sat at the heart of medieval life. Far from the quiet buildings we know today they were once places of noise, hard work and very high stakes.

Hear about the legacy of the people that once used this place: from mysterious carved horses and protective symbols to the astonishing carpentry that raised these timber giants. With Heathrow now humming nearby and modern debate gathering pace, these humble barns have stories to tell us about community, survival and heritage in the modern day too.

Don’t forget to follow this podcast and leave a review if you love the show

Join English Heritage: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/⁠

Podcast listeners can get 20% off the first year of an annual membership. Use code POD20 at checkout.*   

Support our work: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/⁠    

The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.   



*Offer is available through the use of this code and valid for new memberships by annual Direct Debit only. It cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, on life memberships or renewals.



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Audley End House in Essex is still one of England’s finest mansions. To look at it today, you’d never know it started life as Walden Abbey, a Benedictine monastery dissolved by Henry VIII.

The story of its journey from monastery to mansion involves intrigue, fraud, brazen ambition and a cast of colourful characters. Join Amy, art historian and curator, Dr Peter Moore, and volunteer researcher, Fiona Wilkinson, as they bring the tale to life – quite literally!



Follow this podcast wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review if you love the show.

Join English Heritage: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/⁠



Podcast listeners can get 20% off the first year of an annual membership. Use code POD20 at checkout.*   



Support our work: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/⁠    



The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.   



*Offer is available through the use of this code and valid for new memberships by annual Direct Debit only. It cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, on life memberships or renewals.



Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With their monasteries and castles, historic ports and seaside towns, our coastlines can feel timeless. But the truth is these landscapes, and the communities within them, change all the time.

Join Amy and English Heritage’s Senior Properties Curator, Roy Porter, and Assistant Curator of Collections for the South East, Grace Parsonage. Together, they explore how coastal sites have evolved over time, the unique challenges of caring for historic buildings on the shoreline, and what it takes to protect these treasured places for future generations.

You can watch our coastal series as well as listen to it - either on Spotify or go to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/EnglishHeritage

Follow this podcast wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review if you love the show.

Join English Heritage: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/⁠ 

Podcast listeners can get 20% off the first year of an annual membership. Use code POD20 at checkout.*   

Support our work: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/⁠    

The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.   

*Offer is available through the use of this code and valid for new memberships by annual Direct Debit only. It cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, on life memberships or renewals.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Step into the "blazing mind" of Margaret Cavendish, the 17th-century Duchess of Newcastle who challenged the conventions of her age. In this episode of the English Heritage Podcast, host Amy Matthews is joined by Senior Curator of History Megan Leland and PhD researcher Sophie
White to explore the life of a true original.

A pioneering science fiction writer, philosopher and trailblazer, Cavendish carved out her own place in a male-dominated world. From The Blazing World to becoming the first woman to attend a meeting of the Royal Society, she was always writing for "after-ages".

Discover Bolsover Castle, her creative retreat and "pleasure palace", and learn how the Mind Lab project is bringing her ideas to life for a new generation. Plus, hear how participants Delilah and Henry have followed Cavendish's creative trail to build "Blazing Worlds" of their own.

Margaret Cavendish's Mind Lab is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, English Heritage has been able to deliver this two-year project in partnership with Junction Arts, Writing East Midlands and the University of York.

Join English Heritage: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/⁠

Podcast listeners can get 20% off the first year of an annual membership. Use code POD20 at checkout.*   

Support our work: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/⁠    

The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.   

*Offer is available through the use of this code and valid for new memberships by annual Direct Debit only. It cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, on life memberships or renewals.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A day out at the seaside is still a summertime staple for many British families. From fish and chips on the promenade to a classic 99, messing about in rock pools and trying your luck on the 2p machines, there's so much nostalgia and tradition wrapped up in a day out by the sea. But what started our love affair with the seaside holiday? As with so many things, the Victorians had a big part to play.



Join Amy and guests English Heritage's Dr Andrew Hann and Dr Allan Brodie of Bournemouth University as they go back to where it all began. A trip to the coast was a trend that crossed class boundaries, attracting everyone from the royal household and landed gentry to factory workers and office clerks. Along the way, uncover the surprising reasons the Victorians flocked to the beaches and how their passion for sea air, bathing and leisure helped shape the great British holiday we still enjoy today. After all, everybody decided they liked to be beside the seaside.



You can watch our coastal series as well as listen to it - either on Spotify or go to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/EnglishHeritage

Don’t forget to follow this podcast wherever you get your podcasts and leave a review if you love the show.

Join English Heritage: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/join/⁠ 

Podcast listeners can get 20% off the first year of an annual membership. Use code POD20 at checkout.*   

Support our work: ⁠https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/support-us/⁠    

The English Heritage Trust is a charity, no. 1140351, and a limited company, no. 07447221, registered in England and Wales.   

*Offer is available through the use of this code and valid for new memberships by annual Direct Debit only. It cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotion, on life memberships or renewals.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices