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British History

Wallis Simpson and Prince Edward outside of Government House in Nassau, the Bahamas, circa 1942

Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson’s Sprawling Bahamas Estate Is Up for Sale

After abdicating the British throne, Edward was appointed governor of the Bahamas, where he temporarily lived in a lavish home in Nassau

Volunteers have placed sandbags along the beach in hopes of preventing further flooding.

U.K. Storms Unearth Bones From Historic Scottish Cemetery—and Archaeologists Are Worried

The burial site, which contains remains from both the Picts and the Norse, is at risk of disappearing due to coastal erosion

This porcelain pot with enamel decorations is one of 100 teapots on display in the Met's updated British Galleries.

A Story of an Empire, Told Through Tea

The Met has revamped its British Galleries, drawing on luxurious artifacts to highlight the country’s history of exploitation

The Box Museum in England will open this May with an exhibit featuring 14 19th-century naval figureheads

Rescued From Rot, 19th-Century Naval Figureheads to Feature in New Exhibit

A collection of 14 restored wooden statues, including a two-ton William IV, will be shown at the Box Museum in England

Workers discovered the bones in a lead container hidden in the walls of the Church of St. Mary and St. Eanswythe.

Bones Unearthed in English Church Likely Belong to Seventh-Century Saint

Eanswythe was the granddaughter of Ethelbert, the first English king to convert to Christianity

Florence Nightingale in bed at South Street in 1906, aged 86

Celebrate Florence Nightingale’s 200th Birthday With Exhibit Featuring Her Famed Lamp, Pet Owl

The Florence Nightingale Museum in London seeks to illuminate the “full story” of the pioneering healthcare reformer

Jeremy Bentham's auto-icon is now on display in a glass case in University College London's Student Centre.

English Philosopher’s Dressed-Up Skeleton Goes on View in New Glass Display

When utilitarian thinker Jeremy Bentham died in 1832, he requested his preserved remains be displayed in “an appropriate box or case”

Dame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan, chief controller of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, is one of six women set to be recognized with "blue plaques."

London Will Install Six New Plaques Commemorating Women’s History

The move is part of an ongoing effort to correct gender imbalances in the city’s 150-year-old “blue plaque” initiative

Parliament at sunset

Cool Finds

Secret 17th-Century Passageway Discovered in British House of Commons

Parliament has posted photos of its members and collaborators delighting in the discovery

A scanned page from The Lytille Childrenes Lytil Boke, a 15th-century courtesy book of table manners and etiquette for kids

Don’t Pick Your Nose, 15th-Century Manners Book Warns

The taboo on booger hunting stretches back centuries, reveals a book recently digitized by the British Library

This detail of a map, one of many in the collection of cartographic enthusiast George III, shows the Saint Lawrence River and Quebec during the French and Indian War in 1759, the year before George became King of England (and its American colonies).

These Newly Digitized Military Maps Explore the World of George III

The last British monarch to reign over the American colonies had a collection of more than 55,000 maps, each with their own story to tell

A reconstruction image showing the scale and decorated interior of Bishop Bek’s 14th-century chapel at Auckland Castle

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Identify Site of Long-Lost Chapel Razed During English Civil War

The “sumptuously constructed” 14th-century chapel was roughly the same size as Sainte-Chapelle in Paris

Drone image above the wreck of HMS Erebus

Divers Recover More Than 350 Artifacts From the HMS ‘Erebus’ Shipwreck

The treasure trove could help answer questions about what happened during the disastrous Franklin Expedition

Winston Churchill visits bomb-damaged Birmingham, England, during the Blitz.

How Winston Churchill Endured the Blitz—and Taught the People of England to Do the Same

In a new book, best-selling author Erik Larson examines the determination of the ‘British Bulldog’ during England’s darkest hour

Archaeologists unearthed the remains of at least 48 individuals, including 27 children.

Mass Grave Shows the Black Death’s ‘Catastrophic’ Impact in Rural England

At least 48 individuals were buried in a single grave in Lincolnshire, suggesting the community struggled to deal with an onslaught of plague victims

Left, the British Army camped at Balaklava in the Crimea. Right, an angelic Nightingale animates a stained glass window crafted around 1930.

The Defiance of Florence Nightingale

Scholars are finding there’s much more to the “lady with the lamp” than her famous exploits as a nurse in the Crimean War

Charles Dickens, seen at his desk in 1858

Charles Dickens Museum Acquires Trove of Author’s Unpublished Letters

The London museum recently purchased more than 300 literary artifacts assembled by a private collector in the U.S.

A piece of worked glass unearthed from the English island of Lindisfarne that researchers suspect may have once been a Viking game piece

Cool Finds

This Glass Gaming Piece May Hail From First Viking Raids in England

Discovered on the island of Lindisfarne, the artifact was likely once part of a Hnefatafl board game set

A Ludus Latrunculorum board found in Roman Britain

The Best Board Games of the Ancient World

Thousands of years before Monopoly, people were playing games like Senet, Patolli and Chaturanga

Researcher Peter Robinson led the team that developed the first app version of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.

Education During Coronavirus

A New App Guides Readers Through Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’

The tool includes a 45-minute audio performance of the work’s General Prologue in Middle English

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