Mar 9, 2025
Winchester was well situated for trade to make its way to and from the city. Roman roads approached it from all directions and the River Itchen was navigable to Southampton Water. From there continental trade links were accessible.[i] Winchester had developed along a...
Feb 23, 2025
Winchester was a thriving town in the medieval period as well as the seat of powerful and wealthy bishops. It had developed along a grid system with the medieval streets being laid out in the late 9th C. The High Street was known as ‘market street’ by around 900 and...
Mar 29, 2023
The font at St. Mary’s Parish Church, Luppitt, East Devon The small parish of Luppitt, nestling in the Blackdown Hills, lies a few miles from Honiton. I came across Luppitt a few years ago when researching the very colourful Sir Peter Carew (d. 1575) of Mohuns Ottery...
Feb 7, 2023
Walking around Bruton, particularly down by the riverside, one can get the feeling of medieval Somerset. The single-span bridge would have seen trains of packhorses and mules, laden with woolsacks, woollen cloth, and silken cloth making their way through Bruton and...
May 31, 2022
Baptism is a key, and usually the initial, sacrament in the life of a Christian. Early Christians performed the rite with immersion in water. In the medieval Christian church, the process of infusion was practiced – the pouring of water on the head of the new...
May 30, 2021
Whilst the roots of the Benedictines grew from the Italian countryside, they established some of their monasteries as key centres in England. The Benedictines played an integral role in society, culture, learning and the economy of England from the 7th C through until...
