THE ENGLISH HERITAGE PODCAST
Every object has a story to tell. But how can one mystery item lead us on a journey through history, people and places?
In the English Heritage podcast, comedian and writer Amy Matthews brings you entertaining tales from unexpected places. Each week, we begin with a mystery item and with the help of English Heritage experts and special guests, Amy explores what our past can tell us about our present and perhaps our future.
From Mob Rules to the Modern Match: A History of Football
To celebrate the men's football World Cup this year, join host Amy Matthews as we dribble through the surprisingly long history of the beautiful game.
Historian Will Wyeth and curator Peter Moore unpack a fascinating cabinet of curiosities, from a Victorian leather football discovered in a castle toilet to records of Mary, Queen of Scots watching an early match at Carlisle Castle.
We also discover how Polish Special Forces kept morale high with a pitch at Audley End during World War II and explore the childhood homes of sporting legends Bobby Moore and Laurie Cunningham.
Listen to the English Heritage PodcastHenry VIII's Super Forts
When Henry VIII separated from the Catholic Church, he was left feeling vulnerable to invasion from France and Spain. His answer was to build England’s first national coastal defence network. Rising like medieval spaceships along the English coast, these ‘device forts’ were a series of rounded stone fortresses. But how did they operate? What made them so formidable? How did they change the nature of warfare with their cutting-edge cannon technology?
Join Amy, alongside English Heritage’s Andrew Roberts and Kathryn Bedford, as they explore the story of Henry VIII's spectacular coastal fortifications and the threats they were built to face.
You can watch all three of our special coastline episodes here.
All Episodes
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Speaking with shadows
When you’re wandering about a historic place, what voices do you hear echoing off the walls? Are they the ones you learnt about at school – or do you wonder about the shadowy, quiet voices that may have gone unheard?
Travel from 17th-century Northamptonshire, where we hear about the heroic servant who may have become Britain’s first black pub landlord, to wartime Essex, where Polish special forces soldiers trained in secrecy for life or death missions to their homeland.
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