Harvington Hall Ticket Portal

As son of Edward III, brother to the Black Prince, father to Henry IV he sired the Tudor dynasty and was a pivotal figure, always close to the English throne, perhaps eyeing up his nephew’sthrone?   Rich, powerful and haughty, a focus of hate in the Peasant’s Revolt, Helen Carr paints a revealing portrait of the man who held the levers of power on the English and European stage whilst patronising the arts, pressing for religious reform, and, pursuing passionately the women he loved….and according to Shakespeare, gave the most beautiful of all speeches on England.​

"One of the most exciting voices in narrative history" (Dan Jones) Helen is an elected Fellow of The Royal Historical Society, Times & Sunday Times best-selling author, and writes for BBC History Magazine, TLS, The Spectator, Unheard & The New Statesman. Author of the Times best-selling, The Red Prince: John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, one of the Sunday Times best books of 2021 she was shortlisted for the prestigious Elizabeth Longford Prize. Her new book "Sceptered Isle, the Revolutionary Fourteenth Century"will be published in 2025. ​

Vanished from the Tower of London, never to be seen again. Our three experts pick through the clues of this most enduring of mysteries: the Princes in the Tower. Traditionally considered victims of a ruthless uncle, there are other suspects . What if there was no murder? Did both Princes survive their uncle's reign and even that of their brother-in-law Henry VII? Hear compelling evidence that gives weight to all these alternative scenarios:  a rounded and complete assessment of the most fascinating mystery in history. Consider if the Princes were murdered? And ff so, who really murdered them? Join the debate.  Acclaimed historians Dr Nicola Tallis, Nathen Amin and Matt Lewis,  will share their own theories before opening up the investigation to the audience, who can give their views and ask our panel of experts questions.​

As England’s most celebrated royal dynasty, it’s often overlooked that the Tudors were a Welsh family. How did Henry Tudor, an ‘unknown Welshman’ in the words of his defeated foe, Richard III, become an English king? In this riveting new talk, Nathen Amin explores how one redoubtable Welsh family thrived during lean years of political chaos, national instability, and inter-generational bloodshed to leave behind a complex legacy that changed the face of England and Wales forever. It is the story of the Tudors, but not as you know it.​

​​Nathan Amin is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, an experienced public speaker, author and researcher, who focusses on the 15th century and reign of Henry VII. His 4th book "Henry VII and the Tudor Pretenders: Simple, Warbeck and Warwick” was an Amazon Best seller. He has featured on British, Australian and German radio and television, as well as in print and online media across the UK, and has presented at leading history and book festivals. ​

On 6 July 1483, a coronation took place at Westminster Abbey. London had been preparing for the solemn ceremony, but not to crown Richard III and his wife Queen Anne. The coronation of Richard III followed the long accepted standards for creating a king, but was also singular and novel in a number of interesting ways. Matt Lewis explores the long and complex history of the coronation before delving into the meaning of its constituent parts. When was the first consecration of a king in the British Isles? What does the Recognition represent? Finally, we will consider the unusual elements of Richard III’s coronation and what they can tell us about him, his accession, and the reign that was beginning.​

Matt Lewis is an author, historian and presenter. Co-host of History Hit’s Gone Medieval podcast and Chair of the Richard III Society, he has written several books on various medieval subjects and especially the War of the Roses.​

Henry VIII married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard, in 1540. He ordered her arrest in 1541 and her execution in 1542. For centuries, Catherine has been presented as either the author of her own destruction or the victim of everyone around her. What was the true personality of Henry’s fifth queen? Her rise to the throne was very different to the one described by tradition – were there, in fact, members of her family who desperately wanted to prevent her marriage to the King? Did she later commit adultery with Thomas Culpepper and why was there a surprising attempt to save her from the block at the last minute? The remarkable true story of Catherine Howard’s rise and fall is told by her biographer, Gareth Russell.​

Gareth Russell is a historian and broadcaster. He is the best-selling author of The Palace: From the Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court (a BBC History Best Book of 2023). His other works include Do Let’s Have Another Drink: The Singular Wit and Double Measures of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (a Times Book of the Year 2022), The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era (a Daily Telegraph Book of the Year 2019) and his biography of Queen Catherine Howard, Young and Damned and Fair.​

Anne spent her formative years in France. During that time, she became accustomed to the French court and its people. She learnt the French culture, language, and fell in love with it to the point where she became a true francophile. When she came back to England in 1521, Anne Boleyn had no idea what fate had in store for her. By 1527, she had become Henry VIII's object of affection and desire. During that time, she also developed friendships and networks with French agents and diplomats. This talk stems from her latest book Thorns, Lust & Glory.  It reveals how much Anne Boleyn trusted the French with her life and status. She became an alternative French princess. It also discusses the extent to which the French betrayed her in the end. ​

​
Dr Estelle Paranque is an Associate Professor in History at Northeastern University London as well as a Research Fellow within the Centre of the Study of the Renaissance at the University of Warwick. She extensively published on the Tudors and the Valois dynasties, Anglo-French relations. She is the author of Blood, Fire & Gold: The Story of Elizabeth I of England and Catherine de Medici (2022) and more recently of Thorns, Lust & Glory: The Betrayal of Anne Boleyn (publication date: 2 May 2024). She has appeared on various TV programmes and podcasts including The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family.​

Lesley Smith Mary Queen of Scots was queen of Scotland and France, and a direct claimant for the English throne. She was a great beauty, and very well educated, but some would argue, was a fool for men, something her cousin and rival Elizabeth of England was careful to avoid. After being forced to flee from Scotland by her rebellious subjects, she was held prisoner at various properties in the Midlands and Yorkshire. Among these, her most hated was Tutbury Castle, where she was held on four occasions – once for eleven months. It was here that she first became embroiled in the plots which were eventually to cost her life. She left Tutbury for the last time two days before Christmas in 1585 when she was moved to nearby Chartley. There she was arrested and sent to Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire where she was executed in February 1587. This presentation gives you a chance to meet the tragic queen during her final imprisonment at Tutbury and share her hopes and fears as her dramatic tale approaches its bitter conclusion.​
​

Lesley Smith is an English Scholar, historian and heritage publicist. She is the curator of Tutbury Castle where Mary was imprisoned.  Perhaps she is best known for her performances on stage as Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I. Described as: “A remarkable social historian of the 16th Century who is passionate about and committed to raising public understanding of the subject” (Confernment of Hon Masters University of Derby 2006)​

Adored only child of King Henry VIII and his first wife Katherine of Aragon, the young Princess Mary grows up as the sole heiress to the English throne. But her father wants a son, and Mary’s world falls apart with her parents’ marriage. England is in crisis, Mary is banished from the court, kept apart from the mother she adores. The King promises to restore her to favour, but first Mary must do something for which she will never forgive herself. She seeks solace in her faith. But when her brother Edward VI dies, she finds herself fighting for the crown – and for her very life. Emerging triumphant, all seems fair for the reign of Queen Mary. And then, very quickly, things began to go badly wrong... Alison Weir’s new Tudor novel, a tale full of drama and tragedy, tells the story of how a princess with such promise, loved by all who knew her, becomes the infamous Bloody Mary.​

​
Alison Weir is the top-selling female historian in the UK: over three million books sold worldwide. She has published 35 history books, including on each of Henry VIII’s six wives, Eleanor of Aquitaine, The Lady in the Tower and Elizabeth of York, and historical novels. Her latest biography is Queens of the Crusades, and her latest novel is Elizabeth of York: The Last White Rose​

Beneath the much vaunted gloss of ruffs and shimmering silks, the deeply committed religious reformers, the political visionaries and great literary figures of the years between 1550 and 1660 lurks the rest of humanity and human experience in all its grubby glory and tarnished glister. Sixteenth and seventeenth century England was a place of vitality, experimentation, expanding horizons and lots of small minded, petty, badly mannered, irritating and irreverent oiks, guls, gallants and harridans. And I love them all.                                  A history of bad language, insulting gestures, brawling, and scandal. People’s anti – social and irritating ways reveal what mattered to them, how society functioned and the kind of world they lived in.​

​
Ruth Goodman is a social and domestic historian working in television (presenting and consulting on several highly successful prime-time television series), also in theatre, film, museums and educational establishments. She is an international bestselling author with How to be a Tudor and also How to be a Victorian and most recently How to Behave Badly in Renaissance Britain and The Domestic Revolution – How the Introduction of Coal into our Victorian Homes Changed Everything.​

Each Tudor monarch made their name with a Dudley by their side—or by crushing one beneath their feet. This is the story of a family competing in a murderous game for  the English throne. Witness cunning, adultery, and sheer audacity from history's most brilliant, bold, and deceitful family. Welcome to the House of Dudley.​ 

Dr Joanne Paul is an award-winning historian, broadcaster and writer with a passion for sharing her research on Renaissance and Tudor history. She is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex and a 2017 AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker. She has published in the Cambridge University Press 'Ideas in Context' series and has been widely praised for her work on Thomas More, William Shakespeare, Machiavelli and Thomas Hobbes. The House of Dudley is her acclaimed history of the Dudley family. ​

The year is 1544 and King Henry, the Eighth of that name, is engaged upon Royal Progress about his Realm; and has halted here to afford his Loyal Subjects the opportunity to have 'audience' with their Sovereign Lord and King The King, recently married to his new, and sixth, wife, Queen Catherine Parr, is in poor health; his leg continues to cause him considerable pain and he is often in a poor humour! In the course of the 'audience', His Majesty will recount the events of his long reign; telling of his wives and his children, and His Majesty will invite his Loyal Subjects to Petition him or question him on ANY related subject : a lively Q&A is assured !'​

​John White, the holder of an Honours Degree (History and War Studies), a Masters Degree (Heritage Management), a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, Fellow of the International Napoleonic Society, Fulbright Fellow at the University of South Carolina, member of ‘Equity’, has achieved considerable experience as a ‘Performance Historian’, serving clients across the UK and overseas. John is an established book reviewer for various publishing houses which, in turn, gave rise to numerous talks and lectures for, amongst others, the V&A, the National Army Museum, and the British Army. However, it is performance and ‘historical interpretation’ that are John’s principal loves, with him now offering in excess of 20 ‘characters’! ​

Join Schola Albion for an evening of beautiful music composed in Elizabethan England by secret Catholics and by their contemporaries in Europe. Conductor Adam Wills Begley presents a panoramic programme of Catholic Renaissance polyphony, juxtaposing cladestine works written under Protestant rule with the opulent works permitted by Catholic monarchs in Italy and the Spanish Netherlands. Madrigals and motets by Philips, Byrd, Tallis, Lassus and Monteverdi evoke a thrilling dialogue between Catholics at home and abroad.

Schola Albion is a professional vocal consort with a mission to restore the polyphonic heritage to the parish church. Founded at the Birmingham Oratory, the Schola is in demand throughout Britain for workshops and recitals that empower local church choirs to tackle the sacred masterworks of the Renaissance.

Adam Wills Begley is the former Director of Music at the Birmingham Oratory and Artistic Director of the Schola de l’Oratoire Saint-Joseph, Montréal. Previously Director of Choirs at Our Lady and the English Martyrs, Cambridge, and Choral Scholar at St Martin-in-the-Fields, Adam has led performances in over 26 countries and in six continents.

David Lewis accompanies on his harpsichord (a modern copy of a single manual Ruckers instrument from 1637 made by Andrew Wooderson of Bexley). He read music and was organ scholar at The University of Keele. Outside his career as an educationist he conducts, sings, and plays both organ and harpsichord.

Elizabeth I is one of England's most famous monarchs, whose story as the ‘Virgin Queen’ is well known. But queenship was by no means a certain path for Henry VIII’s younger daughter, who spent the majority of her early years as a girl with an uncertain future. Before she was three years old Elizabeth had been both a princess and then a bastard following the brutal execution of her mother, Anne Boleyn. As a teenager the predatory attentions of Sir Thomas Seymour had devastating results: a heartbreaking rift with her beloved stepmother Katherine Parr. Implicated in the Wyatt Rebellion of 1554 – a plot to topple her half-sister, Mary from  her throne, she was imprisoned in the Tower of London where her mother had lost her life. Adamantly protesting her innocence and eventually liberated, she spent the remainder of Mary’s reign under a dark cloud. The uncertainty of her future lifted On 17 November 1558, when she succeeded to the throne at the age of twenty-five, she had endured more tumult than many monarchs experienced in a lifetime.​
This colourful talk charts Elizabeth’s turbulent and unstable upbringing, exploring the dangers and tragedies that plagued her early life, drawing on primary sources written by Elizabeth herself and her contemporaries. This heart racing story of Elizabeth’s youth as she steered her way through perilous waters towards England’s throne is one of the most sensational of its time.​​

Dr Nicola Tallis is a British author and historian. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. As a historical researcher she is a regular contributor to both historical magazines and television and author of five books: Crown of Blood (2016), Elizabeth’s Rival (2017), Uncrowned Queen (2019), All the Queen’s Jewels, 1445-1548 (2022), and Young Elizabeth (2024)​

Best-selling author, broadcaster and Tudor historian Tracy Borman will take the audience behind closed doors to explore the private lives, loves and scandals of the most celebrated royal dynasty in history. Familiar tales, such as Henry VIII’s turbulent marital history and the truth behind his daughter Elizabeth’s claim to be the ‘Virgin Queen’, will be told alongside lesser-known stories and characters. Tracy will reveal every aspect of these famous monarchs’ private lives: what they ate, how they dressed, their health, hygiene and love affairs. This is the Tudors as you’ve never seen them before – and be warned…it’s not always a pretty sight!​

 Tracy Borman Phd is a well-known historian, broadcaster and author.   She has written numerous books on the history of the monarchy, most recently: Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: the mother & daughter who changed history. CEO of the Heritage Education Trust and Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces, she was also made Chancellor of Bishop Grosseteste University in Lincoln in 2022.

The Tudors in Love examines  the big questions with a fresh take. Why did Henry VIII marry six times? Why did Anne Boleyn have to die? Why did Elizabeth I’s courtiers hail her as a goddess come to earth? The dramas of courtly love – the legends of King Arthur and chivalric fantasy -- have captivated centuries of readers. Too often they’re dismissed as something existing only in books and song. But in fact they both made and marred England's most romantic royal dynasty. ​

​
Sarah Gristwood is the author of five books on the Tudor age - Game of Queens, Blood Sisters, Arbella, Elizabeth and Leicester and, most recently, The Tudors in Love: The Courtly Code Behind the Last Medieval Dynasty. Contributing regularly to Sky News, the BBC, and many documentary series on royal and historical affairs, she is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society who has also published on twentieth-century figures from Beatrix Potter to Elizabeth II, and just edited Secret Voices, an anthology of women's diaries.

Be entertained listening to the fascinating lives of the Tudors, such as Alys Brigandine, burnt for murdering her husband at the third attempt; the evangelical Robert Pakington of Harvington Hall, the first person to be assassinated with a firearm; daring Sir Peter Carew, suspected of being a spy in Constantinople; and brilliant Margaret More, among the first English women to have her work published, all vividly revealed by Melita and based on her meticulous research.   ​

Melita is an experienced and entertaining public speaker, author of a number of acclaimed history books, founder of the Tudor times website, with a Masters in Historical Research. She is a doctoral candidate at UCL. Her latest book is 1000 Tudor People. ​

This talk explores how text and, especially, images were produced to promote the “New World” as a space for English exploration, trade, and settlement. It reveals  how the “New World” project relied on propaganda and spin to highlight both the moral and fiscal advantages that it could offer to all those who invested their time and money in the process. ​

Katrina earned her PhD in early modern literature and culture (University of Sussex, 2015). She created the YouTube channel “Reading the Past” (11M total views) & is an educator (for school groups) and live costumed historic interpreter at various heritage sites. An expert contributor for various programmes & documentaries including  5Select’s “Lady Rochford (Anne Boleyn’s sister-in-law), “The People's Piazza: A History of Covent Garden”, on BBC 2 in 2022 and “Queens That Changed the World” on Channel 4 in 2023.​

Join Phil Downing, the manager of Harvington Hall, and Paul Hodgetts, priest hole specialists, as they unravel the mysteries of these secret hiding places. Discover why priest holes were created and how they were ingeniously used by those seeking refuge. Phil and Paul have recently immersed themselves in a nationwide exploration,  uncovering fascinating insights into these historical spaces. Don’t miss this captivating presentation, as Paul shares the new edition of his father’s book, “Secret Hiding Places,” enriched with the new discoveries from their recent investigations. ​

Phil Downing is the manager of Harvington Hall, and his love for history is truly contagious. Known for his engaging talks at historical societies, where he captivates audiences, Phil’s main area of expertise lies in the intriguing realm of priest holes. His dedication is evident after spending 36hrs inside a priest hole for charity. In addition to speaking engagements, Phil regularly features on podcasts. Most recently he appeared on  “The Gunpowder Plot: The Countdown to Treason” (Channel 5) providing insights of the significance of priest holes. ​

Paul Hodgetts has been an occasional volunteer at Harvington since the 1980s. His father, Michael, was Historical Director here until 2020 and renowned within the world of recusant history as – among other things – the authority on priest hides. Following Michael's death in 2022, Paul is working to make Michael's research as widely available as possible, including republishing the book "Secret Hiding Places" and creating a website.​