Taster Bundle

The astronomical clock at Hampton Court Palace is a marvel of sixteenth-century design and innovation, reflecting the interests of the age in astronomy and astrology. Tracy Borman explains the history and workings of this wonderful timepiece.

The Battle of Bosworth was a defining moment in English history, marking the end of three hundred years of Plantagenet rule and, some argue, the end of the medieval period. Julian Humphrys discusses the battle that saw the death of the last Plantagenet king and the establishment of the Tudor dynasty.

Henry VIII used Hatfield, the episcopal palace built for Bishop John Morton, as a royal nursery. It is most closely associated with Elizabeth I, who retreated there during difficult times in the reigns of her half-siblings, Edward VI and Mary I. Dr Elizabeth Norton explores the remains of this red-brick palace and the momentous events that occurred there.

Julian Humphrys looks at the early history of Christ Church, Oxford University’s grandest college. Initially founded by Thomas Wolsey as Cardinal’s College, it was re-founded by Henry VIII and still maintains its royal links today.

By the time twenty-eight-year-old Henry Tudor landed at Mill Bay in Wales in 1485, on the way to claim the English crown, he had spent half his life in exile in Brittany. Nathen Amin explores the places in Brittany which shaped the young Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty.

When Thetford Priory was surrendered in 1540, access to the centuries-old mausoleum of the earls and dukes of Norfolk was also lost, so Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, established a new family mausoleum near the ducal stronghold at Framlingham. Dr Kirsten Claiden-Yardley examines the tombs of the Norfolk family in the church of St Michael the Archangel, Framlingham.