The Jewel Tower, Westminster, London

London is packed full of amazing places to see, some famous and some which you have to search out. There is so much history and beauty here, great theatre, art galleries and museums - and as you'll know, if you're a regular reader of this blog, we like to explore as much of it as possible!

Although I'm a big fan of the Westminster area of London, I hadn't, until recently, discovered the Jewel Tower, which is right opposite the House of Lords. If you're coming to London, a walk around here is a must, to take in Parliament Square, with its iconic statues (including Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela), Big Ben and, of course, the Houses of Parliament themselves. Exploring the Jewel Tower is kind of an added extra - I wouldn't come here just for this, but a a visit won't take you very long, and is intriguing.

It's history buffs (like me) who will really enjoy this place. The Jewel Tower dates back almost 650 years - it was built originally in around 1365 to house Edward III’s treasures, mainly gold and silver - and is very different to the rest of the Gothic Houses of Parliament. In fact, it's one of only two buildings from the Medieval "Palace of Westminster" to survive the fire of 1834.

The Tower is three stories high, but not very wide. It originally had a moat going round it and you can see this when you go outside (although it's gravel now)..

It's a small place, the kind which will only take you an hour, or even less, to look around. We enjoyed our visit (be warned - there are steep stairs), finding out about the history and seeing the eight pieces of medieval sculpture (initially from Westminster Hall) which you can find on the upper floor. They date back to the late 11th century! We also enjoyed the old records room, which is in one of the turrets and is entered through an iron door which bears the date 1621 and the cipher of King James I, as well as seeing the items on display in the various cases, including a sword which was over 1000 years old.

[caption id="attachment_3487" align="alignnone" width="675"] The door to the Turret Room, with the year and James 1's cipher on it[/caption]

The tower was used for storing the treasures of many monarchs until 1512, when Henry VIII was on the throne and relocated his court to Whitehall.In 1547, an inventory listed an whole range of objects including clothing, table and bed linen, furniture, gaming-tables and even toy dolls used by Henry VIII’s daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.It seems it had become a bit of a overflow house!

Later on, the House of Lords began to use it as a repository for all its parliamentary records (these are now in a new archive), while later still it was used for storing and testing official weights and measures.

When we went into the shop afterwards, we enjoyed seeing some 14th century carvings on the ceiling, and some weights and measures on the wall. And it meant that I finally understood what a bushel and a peck are (they're in a famous song from Guys and Dolls, but I had never seen them before!)

Our visit to the Jewel Tower was free as we are English Heritage members. It costs £4.70 for adults and £2.80 for children. You can find out more about it on the English Heritage website.

More London history:

Taking a tour up Big Ben

A visit to Highgate Cemetery

Bosworth Battlefield - where Richard III died

[caption id="attachment_2454" align="alignnone" width="1200"] All of us in front of the battlefield[/caption]

Richard III must be one of the most famous (or infamous) monarchs ever, and that’s despite being king for just two years, from 1483 to 1485. His reign heralded the beginning of the end of the Wars of the Roses and his death ushered in possibly the most well-known royal family of all, the Tudors, plus of course, there is the question of the Princes in the Tower and a reputation forever damaged by Shakespeare’s iconic play.

Richard has also been in the news more recently as his body was discovered in a Leicester car park back in 2013. We visited the Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester last year and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. In fact, we seem to have been on something of a Richard odyssey, as we also had a trip to beautiful Fotheringhay, where Richard was born. And now we’ve just returned from BOSWORTH, the battlefield where Richard was slain, and where he became the last English king to die in battle.

Bosworth is in Leicestershire and is, I may as well say right here, an excellent place for a day out, with or without the kids. The site has been beautifully maintained and is huge. When we went, there were lots of groups there enjoying the sun and outdoors. It’s free to walk around the site – although you do have to pay £2.50 for parking (I wonder if this should be free for those visiting the exhibition).

[caption id="attachment_2455" align="alignnone" width="1200"] It was beautiful walking around the sites[/caption]

We very much enjoyed our walk around the battlefield site, enjoyed the views, and appreciated the information points on the way. It seemed quite bizarre to think of a bloody battle going on in this beautiful place, especially as we were looking out on quiet fields of green and, at one point, watching canal boats roll lazily by.

There’s a sundial and flags (including Richard’s standard) at the top of the site and there is also a nice eating area (we forced ourselves to try some ice-cream and cake) and shop. Plus, there are a number of guided walks on offer (including a ghost walk, which sounded great) and even shows involving birds of prey.

I don’t think that many visitors take advantage of the exhibition, which is a real shame, as it’s extremely well done and puts everything into context.

The exhibit at the Heritage Centre isn't huge, but it is thoughtful and has some excellent interactive elements. It begins by giving some historical background and also introduces a number of characters who take you through the events as they happen, and from their points of view.

[caption id="attachment_2457" align="alignnone" width="1200"] The two kings, on show at the Heritage Centre[/caption]

There are lots of costumes to try on (we were amused that those doing this when we were there were all adults!) including armour (I tried on a helmet which was extremely heavy), while the display of the battle itself is really good and managed to explain the tactics extremely well.

[caption id="attachment_2458" align="alignnone" width="1200"] This is the amazing silver boar, found a few years ago[/caption]

We all enjoyed trying out the bow and arrow (Robert was the best) and there were some fascinating side exhibits, including one very gory one on barber surgeons. I also loved seeing the artefacts on display, especially the remarkable and tiny silver boar badge which is believed to have been given to one of Richard’s knights before the battle began.

We all liked it and Robert, aged 11, was especially impressed. Here are his thoughts:

“The exhibition had so many cool, interactive things to do from watching videos from different people’s point of view or seeing how far you could shoot an arrow. I loved watching through the eyes of a warrior in the battle and playing games on either Richard or Henry’s team. One of my favourite activities was looking for the secret fact: when you saw a special symbol you had to look out for the hidden information. They were in secret compartments, on the ceiling and even inside the wall! I really enjoyed going to the exhibition as I learnt lots from the displays and also had fun with the different Battle of Bosworth related things to do.”

[caption id="attachment_2459" align="alignnone" width="1200"] One of the secret messages at the Bosworth Heritage Centre[/caption]

Bosworth Battlefield and Heritage Centre are located in Sutton Cheney, Nuneaton, Leicestershire. Tickets for the Heritage Centre cost £7.95 per adult and £4.85 for children aged 3 to 15. There are often special offers (including a leaflet on the website) which offer a kid’s ticket free with an adult one. . A ticket for a family of four is £21.50.

Read about our trip to the Richard III Visitor Centre in Leicester and to Fotheringhay, where the King was born.

We visited Bosworth after staying at the wonderful Dandelion Hideaway and glamping! It's just a quick drive away.

Five reasons to visit Hampton Court (by Robert, aged 9)

[caption id="attachment_1215" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The Palace, picture provided by Historic Royal Palaces[/caption]

My class and I were lucky enough to go on a school trip to Hampton Court, which is one of the 50 palaces that Henry VIII lived in during the Tudor times (although it was built by Thomas Wolsey, who was Henry's chief minister). It was later a home for Henry's daughter, Elizabeth and Charles II. It is also celebrating its 500th anniversary this year!

These were the highlights of my trip:
1) The Kitchen Tours
The kitchen tours were a really fun way to learn about Tudor food plus you got to touch everything you saw. But when you go, maybe don't touch the fire!
We had a brilliant tour guide who was extremely funny and told us loads of facts. For example: did you know that instead of making 600 individual bowls of soup, the cooks built a giant hole around a metre deep and around 80 cm in width? It looked so cool.
And, did you know that a low class servant would get 4 kg of meat, two loaves of bread and four pints of beer for one meal twice a day? At feasts everything was made from sugar - the plates, cutlery and glasses, even the chessboard. After you took an opponent's piece, you got to eat it as it was made of marzipan. Also if you had a battle ship that you loved. you could tell Henry, and his cooks would make a two metre long model of your ship out of sugar and marzipan.

The kitchen tours were one of my favourite parts of the day, but I would try and get a tour guide too, or otherwise  an audio guide for the kitchens as there weren't many boards or posters with facts on.

[caption id="attachment_1216" align="aligncenter" width="683"] The Great Hall at Hampton Court, picture courtesy of Historic Royal Palaces[/caption]

2) Ghost hunting
If you go to Hampton Court, be sure to look out for ghosts. Over the years there have been many ghost sightings, including three of Henry VIII's wives, and the class who went on the trip a year before us told us that they felt the presence of one. Watch the Hampton Court video to find out more about these ghostly visitors!



The ghosts that are supposed to be there include Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard and Sybil Penn, a royal nurse who is often described as the "Grey Lady" and who looked after Elizabeth I when she fell ill from smallpox. Sybil died from the illness, but she didn't start haunting Hampton Court until her nearby grave was disturbed in the 19th century.

Sadly we didn't see any ghouls and the man who did the kitchen tours thought it was a bunch of utter nonsense! However, I think you should definitely look for some if you go to this iconic palace.

3) Henry's Apartments
In Henry's apartment there were loads of ways to find facts, by reading, doing and watching. I really liked the room where there was a screen in each corner as there was a person on each screen and they were all having a conversation. There were Tudor games to play, paintings to look at and a throne in each room. The audio guide was great as it asked you lots of questions and gave the point of view of different Tudor characters.

4) The maze

The Hampton Court maze is probably the most famous one in the world! It was planted in the 17th century when William and Mary were on the throne and more than 300,000 visit it each year. It is really good fun, but it is not very easy to get out of...

5) The Chapel and Young Henry Exhibition

For me the young Henry exhibition was not as good and not very informative, so only go to that near the end. However, I did really enjoy being in the chapel. You got to see what a proper Tudor church looked like. It was amazing.

Overall, Hampton Court was a great day, I found out so much and there were lots of places to have a little bit of fun. There was also grass as far as the eye could see.

A visit to Hampton Court to see the Palace, maze and gardens (plus audio guide, children's trail and more) costs £19.30 per adults (£18.20 if booked online) and £9.70 for children under 16 (£9.10 if booked online). A family ticket is £48.20, or £44.90. That's for up to two adults and three children.

It's located in Richmond in Surrey, which is just outside London

Funnily enough, back in 1661: Charles II was crowned King on this very day! He spent his honeymoon with his wife, Katherine of Braganza, at Hampton Court.

More by me:

A visit to Dr Johnson's House

A visit to the Churchill War Rooms

We are so happy to have been shortlisted for the Bibs (Brilliance in Blogging Awards) for 2015, but we really need your help to get through to the final 5. Please could you visit this link (http://www.britmums.com/2015/04/vote-for-you-favourite-bloggers-bibs2015/) and then scroll down to travel and then us (Family Travel Times)? We'd be so grateful. You don't have to vote in all categories, though there are lots of great blogs in there!

Our stay at the Spread Eagle Hotel In West Sussex

Jess writes: This weekend, my mum, dad and I stayed for two nights in the gorgeous Spread Eagle Hotel and Spa in Midhurst, West Sussex - part of the South Downs National Park. Please watch the video below for a short round-up of our visit...

[kad_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfmMcXj9gL0" width=400 height=300 ]

We stayed in the Queen's Suite, which is the biggest room in the entire hotel. It was spacious and had a lovely four-poster bed - something I found very exciting. Queen Elizabeth I is said to have stayed in our very room, which gave it a wonderful historical link, but unfortunately no one was able to give us any specific information about when and where!

The suite had two rooms: the main one where mum and dad slept, and a smaller one with a fold-out sofa bed. This was more than comfortable, and probably could have accommodated me and my brother at a push (although I doubt either of us would have been very happy)! The hotel does have rooms for families and is able to construct beds for children in most rooms, although it seems to be suited more for families with one child rather than two.

The room was huge and also had a very nice bathroom with a good shower and stand alone bath. We were all fascinated by the history it contained, and I particularly loved the wig powder closet in the corner which was equipped with three wig stands and a mirror!

In fact, there was history dotted all around the hotel, including 17th century stained glass windows, an eagle statue from the Second World War, old clocks and furniture, a suit of armour and even a proclamation of the beginning of the reign of King Edward VIII (who never actually took the throne).

The back part of the hotel, where the bar is, dates from the 15th century, which is remarkable and we also found old stocks just a minute away from the hotel, as well as many blue plaques about the writer H.G. Wells, who was educated and worked in Midhurst.

The Spread Eagle is also a spa, and mum, dad and I had loads of fun swimming in the pool and relaxing in the jacuzzi. It was lovely and quiet, and we also sampled many different spa products... Mum and dad enjoyed the sauna and steam room, and I loved putting my feet up and reading the paper by the pool.

We ate dinner and breakfast at the hotel, and we were all blown away by how scrumptious everything was. We do not eat meat, but the dinner menu had more than enough to choose from. I had a creamy potato soup, lentil and coriander samosas and was even given crème caramel made without gelatine when I asked.

Everyone in the restaurant was really kind and friendly, and we had a delightful dinner. Breakfast was also wonderful - I loved my waffles and maple syrup, and there was even a pineapple "pina colada" salad.

[caption id="attachment_1138" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The ruins at Cowdray[/caption]

The Spread Eagle is situated right in the middle of the South Downs National Park, meaning that the scenery was stunning. We walked through the lovely high street to a beautiful path, where we stumbled onto the Cowdray Ruins; one of England's most important early visitor houses. It was breath-taking, but it is only open for visits from the end of May until the end of September. I would have loved to take a look inside, as it was visited by Queen Elizabeth I and King Henry VIII.

Mum, dad and I also ate at a great tea-rooms called the Moonlight in a place called Cocking, before taking a walk up the South Downs Way. Although the weather was dismal, it was nice to take a long walk as this is not something we usually do. In better weather it would have been fun to cycle too.

The Spread Eagle is also near an open air museum - Weald and Downland. We visited it and had a really fun time - a piece from mum is on the way.

Overall, the Spread Eagle was a fantastic place to stay. Everyone was friendly, the food was delicious, the spa was lovely and the room was brilliant. Midhurst was a lovely place to visit, and we all had a great time. My only complaint was that the people at reception, although amiable, were not actually that helpful when we wanted to find out information. They did not know much about the history of the hotel, and didn't give us much information when we asked for good places to go walking. However, I'm sure they could easily learn this and apart from this one aspect, everything was perfect. We would all be more than happy to go back.

More from us:

Staying in a castle

Rooms at the Spread Eagle start from £99 B&B (Standard Room) and The Queen’s Suite starts from £299 B&B. We were given a discounted media rate in order to write about it, but all our thoughts and opinions are our own.

We're linking up with Super Busy Mum at the mid week blog hop this week. Scoot over there to read some other lovely bloggers!

 

Fotheringhay, the birthplace of Richard III

[caption id="attachment_1118" align="aligncenter" width="940"] You can see the mound behind us![/caption]

Britain is full of wonderful hidden gems. One of these is Fotheringhay, It's in Northamptonshire, not far from Peterborough, and is a place full of both history and beauty.

Fotheringhay is a gorgeous, very small village which we visited simply because I remembered going there as a child and being fascinated by its history. I've always been interested in the Tudors and this was the place given to Catherine of Aragon by Henry VIII, and where Mary Queen of Scots met her end, being imprisoned, tried and then literally losing her head in the castle's great hall, in 1587.

The castle itself was built over 1000 years ago, in around 1100. A king who has been very much in the news, Richard III, was born there in 1452 and soil from the castle - blessed by the Bishop of Leicester - will be used at his reburial tomorrow. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, will also sprinkle a portion of the sample into Richard III’s coffin.

You approach the castle via a footpath and it is now basically a mound, flattened on the top, which you climb up - only the earthworks and a conical motte remain. There is no building, and yet it's still a great place to visit. The climb is fun, the views are gorgeous (you are right beside the river Nene) and it's very peaceful.

[caption id="attachment_1120" align="aligncenter" width="940"] The peaceful Nene Valley in Fotheringhay[/caption]

Fotheringhay also has a beautiful church and an array of lovely stone houses. It also has a delicious restaurant, the Falcon Inn, where we sat down for a spot of lunch. However, it is a tiny village, so it won't take you very long to see what's on offer. Enjoy this taste of history!

We loved being in the country and have linked up with Country Kids this week!



 

If you like history, you may enjoy:

Visiting Selby Abbey, nearly 1000 years of history

Winchester, Wolf Hall and more