Issue 10

Cawood's convenient location and comfortable accommodation attracted several royal visitors over the centuries, although Archbishop Thomas Wolsey only finally made use of the episcopal palace following his fall from favour at the Tudor court. Julian Humphrys visits the remains of Thomas Wolsey's last home.

Christmastide in Tudor England, beginning on Christmas Day and ending on Twelfth Night, was a religious festival, but it was also a time of entertainment and revelry. The Tudor monarchs celebrated Christmas in magnificent style with feasts for a thousand people. Siobhan Clarke guides us through Christmas at the Tudor court.

St Peter’s Abbey in Gloucester, amongst England’s wealthiest religious houses, had a substantial library of books and manuscripts in the medieval and early Tudor period. Sadly, these were destroyed or dispersed following the Abbey’s dissolution in 1540. Gloucester Cathedral's Archivist, Rebecca Phillips, traces the history of the library, following the re-founding of the new Cathedral of Gloucester, and highlights some of the wonderful Tudor books and manuscripts it holds.

Greenwich Palace, the birthplace of Henry VIII and his two daughters, Mary I and Elizabeth I, was a favoured residence of all the Tudor monarchs. Its location on the River Thames enabled them to journey there by barge, their preferred means of travel. Dr Elizabeth Norton looks at this magnificent Tudor palace and where we can still find glimpses of it today.

Henry VII created a spectacular family mausoleum in the Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey, of suitable status for the dynasty he founded. However, despite their intentions, and best efforts, the subsequent image-conscious Tudor monarchs had surprisingly modest burial sites. In this issue, Dr Emma J. Wells considers the final resting places of Henry VIII’s children.

Tim Clark is a volunteer guide and Church Historian for the Collegiate Church of St Mary in Warwick, in the West Midlands. St Mary’s is best-known to Tudor history lovers for its spectacular Beauchamp Chapel, the final resting place of Ambrose and Robert Dudley, and of Robert’s wife, Lettice Knollys. Tim is also the author of "Faire and Goodly Built: An Incomplete History of St. Mary’s Warwick".