Blog Archives:
An Intimate History of Your Home – a new article from the History Today blog
Hello there. As my latest book is out in paperback this week, I thought you might enjoy an article explaining what it’s all about. This was published yesterday on History Today’s blog. Do check the rest of their site out too, heaps of interesting things. ‘My everyday routine as Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces takes me
Continue ReadingA quick history of domestic lighting
The history of domestic lighting has been governed by economics, but also by snobbery and tradition, and occasionally by a dangerous desire for novelty. As ‘If Walls Could Talk’ is being repeated on the TV at the moment, I thought you might enjoy a quick history of domestic lighting. Yawn, what a dull subject, you
Continue ReadingAn 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.
Continue ReadingIf Walls Could Talk
I’ve been cold, tired and hungry for most of December, but I’ve also been having a glorious time. For the ‘If Walls Could Talk’ series, I’ve been down a Victorian sewer, spent the night in a Tudor bed, worn eighteenth-century underwear in public, cooked eight Tudor chickens on a spit and done a load of Tudor laundry using urine
Continue ReadingMy new TV series
My new TV series was announced today in Broadcast magazine. Of even greater interest is the fact that the Lord Chamberlain told me this evening that he’s having his white stick or ‘wand’ of office re-designed, by (who else?) wand expert J.K. Rowling. Isn’t that fabulous?
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