Issue 13

Knole is one of England's great houses. Owned by the National Trust and still lived in by the descendants of Thomas Sackville, 1st Earl of Dorset, it is possible at Knole to follow in the footsteps of the kings, queens, archbishops and nobility who have been there before us. Dr Elizabeth Norton delves into the medieval and Tudor history of this wonderful treasure house.

From its early days as the capital of the kingdom of Wessex, Winchester had great power, wealth and royal connections. Its glorious Norman cathedral was extended and remodelled in the Perpendicular Gothic style in later centuries, culminating with the building of seven spectacular chantry chapels for its bishops. Dr Emma J. Wells looks at the history and development of this impressive cathedral.

Substantially rebuilt in the most up-to-date fashion of the late fifteenth century, this palace of the Bishops of Lincoln was frequently visited by members of the nobility and Tudor royalty. Julian Humphrys looks at Buckden Palace, the site of a remarkable act of defiance by Katherine of Aragon, and a tragedy for the Brandon family.

After Mary, Queen of Scots' brutal end in a remote area of the Midlands, she was buried in Peterborough Cathedral. This, however, was not to be her final resting place. Dr Emma J. Wells follows Mary's story from death to reburial, looking at her extraordinary tomb in Westminster Abbey.

The Long Gallery at Haddon Hall, in Derbyshire, is not the longest, nor the most opulent, to survive from the Elizabethan and early Jacobean period, but with its wooden panelling, dappled light and air of serenity, it can lay claim to being the loveliest. Deborah Roil explores Haddon Hall's remarkably unaltered Long Gallery.

Nathen Amin is an author, historian and public speaker from Carmarthenshire in West Wales, who focuses on the fifteenth century and the reign of Henry VII. His first book, "Tudor Wales", is a guide to the many and varied places in Wales with links to the Tudor dynasty. His fifth and latest book, "The Son of Prophecy: The Rise of Henry Tudor", exploring the dynasty's roots in North Wales, will be published in July 2024. Nathen is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.