British History

Readers diving into the 2019 Hay Festival.

The Man Who Transformed a Welsh Town Into a 'Kingdom' of Used Books

Thanks to Richard Booth, who died on August 20 at the age of 80, the town is still known as a literary hub

An 8,000-Year-Old Platform in Britain Could Be the Oldest Boat-Building Site Ever Discovered

The Stone Age platform, where log boats may have been constructed, reveals early knowledge of advanced wood working techniques

After Roger Fenton, Prince Albert, May 1854, 1889 copy of the original

Thousands of Unseen Photographs, Documents Digitized for Prince Albert’s 200th Birthday

The collection highlights the royal consort’s role in shaping Victorian society, from his interest in photography to his passion for social reform

London's 'Eiffel Tower' Is Still Losing Money

Built for the 2012 Olympic Games, the ArcelorMittal Orbit has not turned into the tourist attraction it was expected to become

Graduate student Karen Fleming recreated Hilda's face using wax

See the Face of Hilda, a Toothless Iron Age Druid Woman

A Scottish university student has recreated Hilda's likeness out of wax

The cloth is embroidered with animals, plants and narrative scenes

See Scrap of Cloth Believed to Be From Elizabeth I’s Only Surviving Dress

The fabric, set to go on view, was previously used as an altar cloth in a small village church

The musical finds the six queens competing for the dubious honor of telling the most tragic tale

The Six Wives of Henry VIII Are Coming to Broadway

In 'Six,' the Tudor queens get a chance to share their side of the story

Out of 200 styluses found during excavations, this was the only one with an inscription

This Ancient Roman Souvenir Stylus Is Inscribed With a Corny Joke

Loosely translated, the message reads, ‘I went to Rome and all I got you was this stylus’

Moving on

A Statue in the U.K. Had to Be Moved Because It Was Too Popular

Visitors flocked to see ‘Seated Figure’ by the artist Sean Henry—and damaged the surrounding landscape of the North York Moors in the process

The Charles Dickens Museum Acquires ‘Lost’ Portrait of the Author as a Young Man

The 1843 painting by Margaret Gillies surfaced at an auction in South Africa in 2017

The First Investigation Into the Allied Waterloo Field Hospital Is Unearthing Cannonballs—and Limbs

The dig, conducted by military veterans and service members, suggests just how close Napoleon's forces might have come to victory in the epic battle

L to R: Preparatory sketch for "Scylla" and 1938 oil painting of "Scylla"

Tate Acquires Archive of Works by Little-Known Surrealist Ithell Colquhoun

The collection, featuring some 5,000 sketches, drawings and commercial artworks, promises to instigate a 're-evaluation of her whole career'

Alan Turing Will Be the New Face of Britain’s £50 Note

Persecuted at the end of his life, the British mathematician and code-breaker is now widely admired as a father of computer science

The entrance to Taiohae Bay, on the island of Nuku Hiva, where Herman Melville lived in 1842.

How a Voyage to French Polynesia Set Herman Melville on the Course to Write 'Moby-Dick'

We retrace the journey that had a long-lasting influence on the enigmatic author's improbable career

The ruins of the Grey family's ancestral seat, Bradgate House

Is This the Childhood Home of Lady Jane Grey, England’s Nine-Day Queen?

Stone structures unearthed below the brick ruins of Bradgate House may date to the Tudor period

Seaweed, it's what's for dinner.

A Remote Scottish Island Needs Help Protecting Its Seaweed-Eating Sheep

North Ronaldsay is looking to hire a warden to rebuild the dike that has long kept its sheep on the coastline

The Fortingall Yew.

U.K.'s Oldest Tree Is Being Besieged by Tourists

Visitors to the Fortingall Yew are snapping twigs, stealing needles and tying beads and ribbons to branches, which experts believe may be stressing it out

Scotland's Tiny Artificial Islands Date to the Stone Age

Five crannogs in the Outer Hebrides were built 5,000 years ago, perhaps for ritual purposes

Smithson and Hungerford family members scanned a geneology treee, searching for their place among the clan.

Mr. Smithson’s Family Goes to Washington

A contingent of descendants, related to the founder of the Smithsonian Institution, embarked on a tour of the museums

Hans Holbein's portrait of Anne of Cleves convinced Henry VIII of his bride-to-be's charms

Historian’s New Novel Raises Controversial Theory: Henry VIII Divorced Anne of Cleves Because She’d Already Given Birth

Alison Weir acknowledges the claim, which pulls on previously unexplored evidence, is "inconclusive and speculative" but says it might make readers think

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