From My Blog
Green silk brocade shoes from the 1740s
If you would like to see the green silk brocade shoes from the 1740s that I took into the Woman’s Hour studio yesterday, look left.
My fellow curator Susanne is a very naughty prankster
My fellow curator Susanne is a very naughty prankster. She took many people in when she claimed to have ‘discovered’ a photograph of Kew Palace showing George III looking out of the window. Her latest was to tell everyone she had a valuable Hogarth print to show us. Then, to everyone’s horror, she accidentally ripped
Our new exhibition ‘The Enchanted Palace’
Our new exhibition ‘The Enchanted Palace’ opened at Kensington Palace today. It’s genuinely the most innovative project I’ve worked on while at Historic Royal Palaces and I beg you to visit it. Rather gratifyingly Google lists 103 news stories today. Here’s just one.
An attempt to recreate Sir John Harrington’s flushing toilet of 1596
That picture shows an attempt to recreate Sir John Harrington’s flushing toilet of 1596. Great work was done with the saw and drill by producer James and plumber Andy, and there was triumph all round when IT REALLY WORKED! We successfully flushed down some cherry tomatoes to stand in for excrement.
Filming at the Dennis Severs house, 18 Folgate Street
Two days of filming at Dennis Severs’ house in Folgate Street, Spitalfields. Having been round many times as a rapt visitor, I was intrigued to learn how the house actually works behind the scenes. The secrets I discovered which I cannot reveal! This particular sequence was about Georgian lighting: by candlelight you can see how the gilding on Georgian
Sandersons wallpaper factory in Loughborough
At the Sandersons factory in Loughborough, I had the PRIVILEGE of making William Morris wallpaper using an original Morris block. Unfortunately my efforts looked rather like those potato print pictures kids make at playgroup. Not as easy as it looks!
not very cool to brag, but bear with me
Yes, I know it isn’t very cool to brag about compliments one has received, but bear with me, this one is really great. A lovely lady in Finland writes: ‘I’ve watched TV programs of Yours. I’m very happy to tell you that those programs they are refreshing unlike some ‘traditional’ history documents. There are enough
a week without washing culminates in Pomander Day
Pomander day. I had to take a pomander to work today because it was the end of my week following a Tudor personal hygiene regime: no bath or shower. Or shampoo, toothpaste or deodorant. The pomander was made according to George Cavendish’s description of Cardinal Wolsey’s: an orange with the meat removed, replaced with a sponge
A busy day back at the office at Hampton Court
A busy day back at the office at Hampton Court. I felt like Mrs Delaney, c. 1750: ‘she works for all hours and occasions, and finds full employment for her hands even between the coolings of her cup of tea’.
A wonderful Xmas at Swarkestone Pavilion
A wonderful Xmas at Swarkestone Pavilion, built in the 1630s for William Cavendish’s step-daughter Cate, and probably designed by John Smithson. I first visited years ago,while researching my PhD on dear old Smithson. This visit I spent my time devouring biographies of Alan Clark, James Lees-Milne, and France Partridge. The state of my belly suggests that I might have devoured some Xmas
