Hello all, I hope that you folks are doing very well.  I hope that you working on your plans.  Well, it has been a while since I did a documentary on Royal History, so today I am going to do such a documentary.  It has been sitting on my documentary review list, so I want to knock it down.  I am not sure how it will go, so here it goes!  Today I am going to look at a documentary about the Normans and how they came to rule England.  The run time for this documentary is 45:26.  It is called the Normans and it is part of the Kings and Queens of England.

It was the year 1066 and it would become the turning point in English History.  William, the Duke of Normandy led his troops into battle at Hastings to take the throne of England.  It would have been the end of Anglo-Saxon rule in England.  For the next 150 years, England would be ruled by the Norman Kings.  This documentary follows the story of William I, Henry I, and Stephen.  Then it follows the story of Henry II, Richard, and King John.

Alan Ereira introduces the story of the English crown.  He talks about the battle of Hastings at the start of the documentary.  It was here that William the Conqueror and his troops defeated Harold.  He took the English throne for himself.  He transitions to the Bayeux Tapestry which is the story of how William the Conqueror came to England to become king.  William was a warrior and was willing to fight to keep what he had.  He made Harold swear to promise to support him in his quest to become King of England.

Harold did not keep his promise, after Edward the Confessor died, he had himself elected king.  William believes that Harold has broken his promise would invade.  Harold Hardrada, a Norwegian king with a link to the English throne would also invade.  Harold had to fight for his throne.  He would defeat the Norwegian king.  Harold would rush south but would be defeated at Hastings. 

William the Conqueror would march to London and would be crowned King.  He would stamp his authority on England.  He would seize private property.  The people at York would rebel against him and William the Conqueror would severely punish the inhabitants.  York in the years after this punishment was still devastated.  The church would become Norman.  He would kill the monks who refused to follow him.

The Normans would be challenged because they did not speak the language of their new people.  They would have to rely on the English to govern.  William would have to learn to request the English traditions.  He would have to promise to uphold the laws of Edward the Confessor.  Eventually, William the Conqueror died and he named his younger son William Rufus as king.  His oldest Robert would have been named the Duke of Normandy.  His youngest son, Henry would be given 5,000 pounds.  The brothers would not be content with what they had.  They fought each other.  Robert would eventually go on a crusade. 

William Rufus would plunder the church and eventually, he would be assassinated.  Henry would seize the throne of England.  He put himself forward as king.  Some people balked at this wannabe king, but he pushed his claim displacing his older brother from the throne.  It would be the first elected English king since King Harold.  Robert would try to challenge Henry’s claim to the throne.  However, he was bought off with a pension.  Henry would eventually invade Normandy and would imprison his brother.  To learn more about the Normans and how they ruled England continue to watch the rest of this documentary.

Alan Ereire is a very different narrator in comparison to David Starkey or Lucy Worsley.  I think Lucy owes us a good documentary on the Kings and Queens of England now.  Anyway, it would have been nice to have this episode divided into chapters to make it easier to pull segments out.  It was an older documentary, but the information was very good.  It would be interesting to see a newer documentary with new information.  I would put this on my potential documentaries to show to a history class.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on when you are reading this and doing your planning.  I hope that you are doing well as well.  Today I am going to do a documentary on Wallis Simpson.  The run time for this documentary is 51:16.  The documentary is called Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters.

Wallis Simpson would find herself in the center of a national scandal.  She was accused of ensnaring Edward VIII and luring him away from the English throne.  However, this documentary has revealed a cache of fifteen secret letters.  These were written by Wallis Simpson and they were written at the time of abdication.  These cache letters reveal a different side to Wallis Simpson.  The letters were discovered in an attic and show a woman who longed to hide away from the world.

It was billed as one of the greatest love stories in history.  She was one-half of one of the greatest romances.  This is the story of a man who left everything for the love of a woman.  However, it was the woman who would realize that she was in a no-win situation.  Wallis’ biographer Anna Sebba discovered the cache of letters and this is where the story begins.
Wallis Simpson was making her way back to her home after a day in court.  She was being driven in a car sent by the king.  You would think that she would be celebrating the fact she was divorcing her husband, however, she puts pen to paper with the man she was divorcing.  It was an unlikely shoulder to cry on.  She was terrified of what was to come in the future.  The divorce continued to press on and it was splashed all over American newspapers.

The documentary then shifts to a discussion on the abdication and the divorce.  Events would have moved quickly after the divorce to the abdication.  Government officials as well as the British people would not accept the divorced Wallis as Queen.  The Government and King Edward VIII were heading towards a collision course.  It was during this time that the Crystal Palace burned down at this time, perhaps a reflection of the coming firestorm.

On the day of the Crystal Palace fire, Wallis would have written to her ex-husband telling him that she wanted to go away.  The story would have finally broken in the British press.  She was now firmly in the King’s hands and could not leave by her choice.  Wallis was sent to France and away from the King.  During this time, Wallis would have pleaded with the king not to abdicate and marry her.  However, King Edward VIII would not be deterred.  She made one last attempt to escape marrying Edward, but it was too late.

Wallis was now facing a life sentence with Edward.  During this time, she would have realized that she had loved Ernest Simpson.  Edward VIII abdicated and retreated to Austria, while Wallis remained in France.  She continued to reach out to Ernest Simpson, the man she truly loved for a man whom she would come to resent.  As Wallis sat in her villa, she would use the time to reflect on Ernest Simpson.  Then the documentary shifts to Wallis’ childhood and how she craved security.
She would marry Ernest Simpson and they would make their way and settle in England.  Wallis would be thrown into high circles.  One of those contacts would eventually put her in the path of King Edward VIII.  He enjoyed the way she treated him.  Ernest enjoyed Wallis’ connection to Edward.  Ernest’s grandnephew talks about how Ernest admired the tweed that Edward was wearing and Edward gave him the leftover material.  So Ernest had an overcoat made of the tweed which survives.  This was a funny story that was mentioned in the documentary.

The documentary continues with the story of Wallis Simpson and the letter she left behind.  She was a woman who enjoyed her time with the King.  She looked forward to the day when Edward would turn his attention towards a younger woman.  To learn more about Wallis Simpson, continue to watch the rest of the documentary.

This was a fantastic documentary and reveals a different side to the story of the abdication.  This would be a good documentary for research purposes.

Hello, good morning and I hope that this day is going well for you.  Today I am going to do a documentary on the Wars of the Roses.  I am going to explore the mastermind of the Wars of the Roses: Queen Margaret.  The run time for the documentary is 49:20.  It is called the Wars of the Roses: The Rose of Rouen.

The feud between the houses of York and Lancaster finally comes to an end.  The struggle for power continues to escalate.  The Battle of St. Albans rocked English nobility.  The Duke of York takes control of England as protector and defender, however, Queen Margaret would not let this happen standing still.  Queen Margaret was a foreigner in the English court.  She was a woman who took power at a time when women did not take power.  However, she was a woman who was willing to defend her and her husband’s rights.  Why did she become the center of War of the Roses?

The battle of St. Albans would have settled things politically and there was a period of peace in England.  The nobility would be willing to work with the Duke of York.  That said there was a small minority that was opposed to the Duke of York and they would look to get revenge.  1455 would continue on, and the Duke of York and the Neville family would remain in power.  The Duke of York sought to legitimize his position as the protector of England.  The nobility was reluctant, but with the threat of war looming, the nobles agreed to the position.

However, there was another pressing matter that the Duke of York wanted to pursue: Calais.  The garrison that was stationed there was not getting paid.  The garrison would steal wool to get paid.  Eventually, a solution was reached and the garrison was paid.  The Earl of Warwick was appointed garrison commander.  However, York’s position declined, when the King recovered his health.  The Duke of York was removed from his position and he became king in both name and deed once again.  In the midst of the battles, Queen Margaret had developed a deep hatred for the Duke.

Teasing out the real Queen Margaret can be a challenge.  She has come down in history as a wanton woman who behaved like a man.  She would do anything to remove York’s influence from the King.  She had grown up in France where the nobles were willing to stand up against their king.  She saw the Duke of York as a threat because he could potentially claim the throne for himself.  She would fight to keep her husband on the throne as well as the rights of her son Edward to inherit the throne.

In celebration of the new peace, the King had organized a Love festival where both York and Lancaster would join together hand in hand.  However, there was a thread of cynicism with the festival goers.  The King was useless.  The Queen was willing to work against the Yorkists in the interests of her son.  The situation was volatile and that volatility would eventually explode.  Queen Margaret would use the tension to goad the Earl of Warwick to open rebellion.  So the war was on, and Queen Margaret would gather her forces to fight against the Duke of York and his supporters.  In September 1459, the Yorks and the Lancasters would clash again.  Who would emerge from this clash?  How would Margaret continue to maneuver her way through English Politics?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

My first impression was that this is an older documentary on the Wars of the Roses.  The film quality was not very great.  Some of the imagery in the documentary struck me as very cheesy.  The historians were very good at providing additional context to the times of the Wars of the Roses.  It was refreshing to see that a documentary was actually about the subject.  Over all, I found this documentary very good and the information was very well done.  I would show this documentary to a history class and I would use this as a starting point to do research on Queen Margaret.

Good morning, good evening, or good afternoon depending on when you are reading this.  Today I am going to do a documentary on the Wars of the Roses.  The Earl of Warwick was a big figure in the Wars of the Roses.  The run time for this documentary is 49:24.  The documentary is part of the Wars of the Roses series and is called The Kingmaker. 

The Wars of the Roses continues to rage on when King Edward IV from the House of York secures the throne with the help of the Earl of Warwick.  King Henry VI sought refuge in Scotland.  However, this uneasy peace is short-lived.  Only one family can emerge.  Both sides seek to get into the good graces of the Earl of Warwick.  He was the most powerful man in England behind the King of England.  So what went wrong?

The story begins with a focus on the Earl of Warwick, who would become known to history as the Kingmaker.  He was also the best mate of King Edward IV.  He played a large role in the Wars of the Roses.  King Edward IV from the House of York would have cut a dashing figure in comparison to King Henry VI.  King Edward would have been the ideal king.  He was six foot and devastatingly handsome.  He was also a brilliant general and very well-educated.  At the time he became King, not much was expected of him.  The nobles would have been more willing to cooperate with him instead of Henry VI. 

There were still pockets of resistance against Edward IV.  They would have been loyal to the former king.  The support for the former king was primarily found in the north and they were encouraged by the Scottish king.  Jasper Tudor and the Duke of Exter continued to lead the Lancastrian resistance.  However, the Earl of Warwick would be back against this resistance.  Queen Margaret would continue to fight to claim her husband’s throne back.  She raised French troops and found some success in taking several castles.  With her little band of troops would try to make their way to Scotland.  However, the troops encountered many storms along the way and ultimately the potential rebellion failed.

Eventually, the Yorks would take back the castles.  Some Lancastrian supporters would eventually swear allegiance to the York King.  The Duke of Somerset would be one of these nobles who would become one of Edward’s biggest supporters.  The King was very generous eventually naming the duke as leader of his personal bodyguard.  This would have been seen as pure foolishness, however, by being generous to those who swore allegiance to him.  However, Somerset’s defection caused many to question him.  There was an attempt to lynch Somerset.  Somerset was eventually set away and it would be Somerset who would rise in rebellion against King Edward.  In the meantime, Queen Margaret would continue to ferment rebellion in the north of England.

King Edward, fed up with the Queen’s continued rebellion would make peace with both the Scots and the French, which cut off Margaret’s support.  Eventually, at the Battle of Hexham, King Henry was defeated and the Duke of Somerset was beheaded.  Edward would turn his attention to marriage and the question on everyone’s minds was who would King Edward marry?  The Earl of Warwick was looking for a foreign alliance, while King Edward had his own ideas.  He would marry the widow Elizabeth Woodville.  So why would King Edward marry this widow?  How popular would this marriage be?  How would Elizabeth and her family handle their newly elected status?  What would the Earl of Warwick do?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

This documentary is divided into chapters which make things easy to pull out sections for lectures.  The episode title was extremely deceptive because it was described as “Was King Henry VI Murdered?”  Also, it seemed to really jump around at the beginning of the documentary which made it hard to follow.  Then it finally slowed down and it was easy to pay attention to.  This was a very interesting documentary and other than the beginning was very well put together.  Anyway, I would recommend showing this documentary to a history class, because the story was very well told.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this.  I hope that this day is finding you very well.  I am working through my documentary list and I am working on a documentary from the History Makers series.  The run time of this documentary is 55:09.

Francis Drake was one of the first people to circumnavigate the globe on the Golden Hind.  Drake was a fearless sailor and clever.  The English aristocracy employed the sailor to collect wealth through plunder and the slave trade.  Drake was considered a brave hero in the Elizabethan era.  However to the Spanish he was a pirate who was to be arrested.

The story begins with the reign of Queen Mary I.  The English had no interest in exploration and the French and Spanish capitalize on the lack of English interest.  Even English explorer Cabot was ignored and so the French would take initiative in North America.  The Spanish would take the lead in claiming more and more land for their growing Empire.  It was amongst this time Sir Francis Drake was born.  He was born to a protestant family who were persecuted by Queen Mary.  The Drakes would be driven out of their home county and into another church.  His father would eventually become a church vicar.  He would grow up detesting Catholicism.

Queen Elizabeth would become queen, ending the persecution.  Slowly England would recover and carefully avoided outright war.  It was the era of the privateer and sailors would become skilled pirates.  The privateers would make expeditions.  Francis Drake would learn his craft on board these ships.  He would get together with his cousin John Hawkins, whose family was financing voyages to West Africa.  I found myself drifting in this section and all of a sudden the types of ships were being discussed.  A new ship type evolved during these time and they were faster than what had originally been built.  Suddenly there was a discussion on the defeat of Drake at the hands of the Spanish.  Some of his sailors were executed.  He would never trust the Spanish again.  Drake never forgot and vowed to seek revenge.

Drake would spend his time in Atlantic and would raid Spanish ships.  He would add to his fleet of ships.  He would defy Queen Elizabeth I, who wanted to keep things friendly.  However, he kept attacking the Spanish ships and would gain treasure for the crown.  During this time, he would lay his eyes on the Pacific Ocean.  He vowed to sail on those seas.  He would take treasure.  Eventually Spanish and English relations would deteriorate to the point where Queen Elizabeth would summon Drake.  I got confused at this section, I thought it was a discussion on Drake planning on more raids against Spanish Colonies instead of a discussion on circumnavigating the globe. 

In 1577, Drake and his ships would set out on an expedition.  The location was secret.  The crew was uneasy about their destination.  Drake was the sole commander of this expedition.  I still felt unclear about this section, was this about sailing around the world?  Anyway, a restlessness arose among the crew and there was a near munity against Drake during this time.  Drake’s authority was questioned and so Drake put the mutineers on trial.  I still was not clear about the purpose of the voyage when there was a discussion about raiding because it seemed that it was implied that Drake would be go around the world.  Eventually because Drake figured the Spanish would ambush him, only then this section became clear that it would become an around the world trip.

After his return, there was a discussion on Drake and his accomplishments afterwards.  He would eventually be called back into service again.  To learn more about this part of his life, continue to watch the rest of the documentary. 

This documentary had a very old feel to it.  Although the information was good, I found myself drifting periodically through the documentary.  It could be good for research purposes.  However, I would not show this to a history class.  It was very confusing at some points, and I feel like a student would be confused as to what they were watching.

Good morning, I am going to move on through my documentary review list and flashforward to the year 1805.  I am working through my documentary playlist and trying to knock down my playlist.  I keep discovering new documentaries throughout the year and I add them to my list.  Nelson is a change for this blog.  Today’s documentary is going to be about Trafalgar and Admiral Horatio Nelson.  Here goes nothing.  It has a run time of 1:16:40.  It is called Nelson’s Trafalgar.

Admiral Horatio Nelson is one of Great Britain’s biggest heroes.  He was the admiral of the British Navy, whom the public believed would save them from Emperor Napoleon’s Invasion.  He was known for heroic deeds and many controversies.  He was the man whose shoulders rested the future of the Royal Navy was placed upon.  He romanced Lady Hamilton.  He would die at the Battle of Trafalgar.  So how could this man put aside his worries and lead the British Navy to a great victory?

The year was 1805 and Emperor Napoleon was planning an invasion of Britain.  He planned on knocking British power out of the English Channel and then invading Britain itself.  The British public knew that only one man could save them from the invasion: Admiral Horatio Nelson.  However, Nelson was nervous about defeating Napoleon at sea.  He would grow sick with worry at the thought of planning to defeat Napoleon.  His health suffered greatly.

In the meantime, the French fleet escaped the Mediterranean and would hook up with the Spanish fleet.  They were making their way to Britain.  No one just knew where this massive fleet would end up.  When he returned to Britain emptyhanded, he would have to face the scrutiny of the Royal Navy commanders and the public.  The public still adored Nelson.  His battle wounds would make him the most recognizable man of the day.  That said the Royal Navy would be examining Nelson’s decisions over the past two years.  He could be reckless and make questionable decisions. 

In the meantime, he returned home to his mistress.  For twenty-eight days he would remain on land before he would be sent out to sea once again.  His early years in the Royal Navy were marked with daring and oftentimes reckless decisions.  He was a man of action who led from the front.  Where did this recklessness come from?  His mother died when he was very young and his father was left to raise his surviving children alone.  However, he was a man who should have remarried.  Eventually, Nelson decided to go into the military and the navy.

A career in the Navy was a challenge for the Young Nelson.  He would become sick from time to time.  However, he was a willing sailor and fighter.  It was said that he would lose twice as many men as other generals.  His pride would often get in the way of things.  He would gain honors and would eventually be named as a Naval Captain.  He would become a larger-than-life legend during this time in the Navy.  He would often get injured many times over the years.  When he lost his arm, he would have to learn to use his left arm.  He called the stump “his fin.”  He would call himself a wreck of a man as a result of his injuries.  Despite his injuries, he continued to be a popular man amongst the public.  How could this reckless man become admiral of the British Navy?  How would he become a legend?  To learn more about Horatio Nelson follow the rest of the documentary.

From the start, it does feel like an older documentary and I could not put my finger on it.  Perhaps it was the dark camera filter, I do not know.  It was interesting to hear that he was a nervous wreck when it came to fighting.  It was a little bit choppy at the start and the timeline was out of order.  Anyway, the historians were very well-spoken as well as the narrator.  It was very well put together.  This would be excellent for research purposes, especially for biographies on Nelson and it would be a documentary to show to a history class.

This is the story of William the Conqueror.  He made his mark in history by invading England in 1066.  Who was the real William the Conqueror?  The primary source records are scarce when it comes to William's history.  When was William the Conqueror born?  What were his motivations for invading England?  He goes down in history as a brave man but was he that brave?  What was he like?  This docudrama is a dramatic retelling of William the Conqueror’s Story. 

William the Conqueror grew up in Normandy in the court of his father Robert the Magnificent.  The exact date of his birth is not known.  His mother was a local girl, so he was called a bastard his whole life.  Before Robert the Magnificent went off on a pilgrimage he had William crowned the Duke of Normandy in a grand ceremony.  He was only seven years old.  However, the nobles did not let him rule without a fight.  They did not want to be ruled by a bastard.

His uncles tried to overthrow him and there was an assassination attempt.  William was tipped off about the attempt and he fled on his horse.  This story starts the beginning of the legend of William the Conqueror.  He was young, brave, and strong.  He was a bastard and a loner.  He was capable of riding over long distances with killers at his heels.  He fled to Falaise where he would shelter from his enemies.

He was a man who never doubted his legitimacy.  His ancestors came from illegitimate marriages.  So when his legitimacy was questioned, he would take action against them.  At age 18 William took his first political action.  He reached out to the King of France.  Together they took down the rebel barons.  William was able to prove his leadership during this battle.  He took his rightful place as the Duke of Normandy after this battle.

After his marriage, he got married.  He was faithful to his wife Matilda.  She was the daughter of the Count of Flanders.  Matilda was also a descendant of the Carolingian Dynasty, so this would provide additional legitimacy to William’s rule in Normandy.  He was marrying into the highest royal line.  William and Matilda were devoted to each other.  William had no known mistress nor a known bastard while married to Matilda.

News of the marriage reached Rome where the Pope did not accept the marriage because they were cousins.  However, William ignored the pope and married Matilda anyway.  Together they built two great abbeys and this seemed to have assuaged the Pope.  William was going to settle down into a provisional life…until Edward the Confessor, the King of England named William as his heir.

It was the first step in the Beaux Tapestry that was created.  Edward the Confessor sent his half-brother Harold to Normandy.  Together they went to war in Brittany and became friends.  William made Harold swear over relics that Harold would back his claim to the throne of England.  This oath was most likely sworn in the crypts of the Beaux Cathedral.  Harold swore that after the death of Edward the Confessor, the King of England that he would hand over the kingdom to William.

Edward the Confessor died and on his death bed, he promised Harold that he would be King.  The next day, Harold crowned himself King.  William was not happy with Harold’s decisions.  William immediately planned an invasion of England to take the English throne.  Did Harold really go back on his word to William?  The sources are scarce at best.

In the meantime, William was raising an army and the money to invade England.  His men worked on building ships to prepare for the invasion.  A comet was spotted in the sky before the invasion and William took it as a sign.  Was it a sign of changing fortunes for William or for Harold?  William moved his troops further north, waiting for more favorable weather to launch his invasion.  The wind turned and the invasion of England was on.  Would William emerge victorious?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out more.

When this popped up on my feed I was pleasantly surprised and had to do a review of this documentary.  This one would be an excellent documentary for research purposes.  I would show this documentary to a history class as well.  The run time for this documentary is 51:39.

In this final Thirty-One days of Time Team, we will be throwing it back to an older episode of the series.  Tony Robinson has long hair!  Today, the Time Team is hunting for a Mammoth. 
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Time Team is a landfill and underneath all the rubbish there is a village where Stone Age Britons lived.  There have been remains of Mammoths in the ground.  Will the Time Team find the remains of mammoths?  What will the remains of the mammoths tell the Time Team about Stone Age Britain?  The Time Team is in a gravel pit and will try to find out more about the history of Oxford.

Phil Harding talks about how the gravel pit is typical of paleolithic sites and talks about how the gravel pit was formed.  A channel was carved into the Oxford landscape.  However, nobody discovered the channel edges.  Intact surfaces from the prehistoric environment are rare and so the Time Team will use geophysics to distinguish the natural environment.  This is the first time geophysics will be used this way.

John Gater talks about the challenges of working in those conditions.  Gater hopes that the rain will hold off.  If it rains, geophysics may not work in this landscape.  The Time Team is hopeful that geophysics will work.  An air tent is set up in the field to help house the technology used.

A trench goes in and immediately they find bones.  Excavating in the gravel pits has been a challenge because of the bones.  It takes three days to excavate proper bones.  This will cause some delays for the Time Team.  Keeping Phil Harding on track will be a challenge.  In trench one, they are discovering the remains of a tree.  This may be where the river bank was.

On the south end of the pit, the Time Team is looking for the channel and where the river cut a channel.  Christine Buckingham is in charge of the site.  She believes that the river moved over decades.  Will the Time Team be able to find the edges of the river?

Mick Ashton gets in on the dig and discovers a mammoth tooth on the site.  It shows that the mammoth was eating lush green vegetation.  The animal was about 30 years old and would have stood to 10 feet tall.  It even adapted to the British environment.  The mammoth is a distraction from finding the river.  Mick talks about the challenges of trying to save archeology and trying to determine the environment.  Is destroying some known finds provide additional information worth it?  So will archeology be destroyed to determine the environment?

Mick and Tony go up in the air to see the landscape from above.  Mick talks with Tony about the history of the area and why the Time Team is focusing on the geology of the area.  Did the landscape support human habitation?  If it did, how many people live in the area?

The next day, a large trench will be dug.  It will go over the mammoth tusks.  Unfortunately, the weather has changed.  It has rained for five hours and turned the sand into the mud.  One trench will be covered and a second one will be dug.  Unfortunately for geophysics will face an uphill challenge trying to discover the edges of the channel.  In the second trench, another channel was discovered.  Is this a hint of a series of river channels?  Tune into Time Team to find out!

This particular episode of the Time Team would be excellent for a geology class and good for a history class.  Hunting for Mammoths is unusual because the Time Team focused more on geology.

Good morning, Thirty-One Days of the Time Team continues with the Birthplace of the Confessor.  This time, the pressure is on the Time Team, as the whole village gets in on the dig.  Town pride and Time Team clash in this episode.
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Islip has a claim to fame.  It is said that it was the birthplace of Edward the Confessor.  The Time Team needs to find the chapel that was built in his honor as well as the palace where he grew up.  The problem is that the town has never been dug before.  It will be a tall order for the Time Team and they have three days to solve this mystery.  Is Islip the birthplace of Edward the Confessor?

Edward the Confessor is famous for keeping the country safe during his reign and for Westminster Abbey.  He gained the name “Confessor” after his death.  In the meantime, Mick Ashton is talking with the villagers who invited the Time Team to dig in their village.  Tony is skeptical because there were no Saxon finds in the village.  This is the first time there was a dig in the village. 

Stewart Ainsworth and Helen Geake are working together to figure out where the chapel was built.  Ainsworth talks about the challenges map makers had back in the back day.  Mapmaking was not a precise science because the makers and surveyors were relying on local knowledge.  John Gater works on the chapel site.   The chapel area was not an easy area to survey or use geophysics.  The chapel site is in a lumber yard so there will be delays.  The Time Team helps unload some wood.

The chapel could be anywhere.  It could even be in the yard of the pub or a local garden.  The owner permits the Time Team to dig some test pits.  The house may hold a clue as to where the chapel was.  The house was called Confessor’s gate.  The wall is less than 100 years old, however, there was a head stuck into the wall.  Did the locals recycle something found and stuck it in the wall?  It is just another mystery that Time Team will need to solve.

The Confessor’s gate site may hold some better clues for the Time Team.  The plans of the land show something akin to a chapel.  One of the test pits will be extended to see if there is something to the house plans.  Time Team will have two possible chapel sites to examine.  Day one has mixed results.  The site in the lumber yard is proving to be disappointing.  A new map discovery is providing the Time Team with new guidance on where to dig for the chapel.  One site is in a church graveyard, so they will need some special permission to dig in the graveyard.

Tony explores more of the history of Edward the Confessor.  Edward the Confessor left no heirs which lead to the Conquest.  In 1161 he was made a saint.  When he died he left the palace in Islip to a monastery.  The monastery then built the chapel to recognize the birth site of Edward the Confessor.  Is there anything that remains of the chapel or the Saxon palace? 

Will the Time Team find the chapel of Edward the Confessor?  Will the Time Team find Saxon pottery to keep the villagers happy?  Tune in to the episode to find out more.

This was an enjoyable episode to watch throughout.  It was interesting to learn more about Edward the Confessor.  Islip was proud to be part of Edward the Confessor’s story.  Additionally, the Time Team brought in a variety of sources to determine the location of the chapel.  This would be a good episode to show when English history is discussed.

Two more days and then Thirty-One Days of the Time Team will be done.  It makes me sad to be winding down with the Thirty-One Days of the Time Team.  IT was a nice little challenge to do for March and I’m glad that the Time Team came back to YouTube.  In today’s episode, we will learn about King George III and his lost palace.
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Kew Gardens is the setting for the Time Team.  This was the site of the home of King George III called the white house palace.  It was a favorite of King George III.  The White House Palace was where King George III spent his later, made years locked up.  What did it look like?  Where was it located in the gardens?  Time Team has three days to find out more about the palace.

The White House palace was a spectacular home for King George.  A sundial seems to mark the spot where the palace was.  However, it does not tell the Time Team what it looked like.  Was it a house that had a façade or was it built from scratch?  Geophysics works on the site.  However, the results are confusing.  There seems to be a four-meter wide wall.  That does not sound right to the Time Team.  So why was there a four-meter-wide feature on the geophysics results?

Trench one goes in.  The Time Team carefully takes the top layers of turf off the lawn.  There was a Tudor Mansion on the site.  Was it knocked down to build a new home?  Or did the architect just put a new face on the house?  So far, all Phil is finding is gravel.

Stewart is looking at the records for the old palace.  There was a survey done that revealed a plan of the palace.  The plans highlight the location of the rooms.   “Geophysics seems to be doing fine without the plan,” Tony quips.  A second trench is put in the ground.  Time Team is hoping that they end up in the White House.  Phil Works with a turf cutter to help remove the turf.

The White House was where King George III stayed during his fits of madness.  It was a time of change for Britain.  England stood alone against France.  The Industrial Revolution was occurring.  Great Britain was growing wealthy. 

Phil is excavating trench one.  There is plenty of gravel but no archeology.  Nick the site manager wants to close out the trench and move Phil on to another Trench.  Phil insists on staying.  However, everyone is growing worried.  Was the building completely rubbed out of the landscape when it was taken down?  Trench Two puts those fears to rest when there is brickwork is discovered.  Back at trench one, there is evidence of a cellar, and Phil’s instincts are proven right.

Going into day two, things are going well for the Time Team.  However, while John Gater reviews the geophysics results alongside the blueprints of the palace.  None of it is making sense to John.  Another trench will be needed to find the back of the palace.  There is a problem: there is a gas pipe running through the lawn.  This will prevent the Time Team from digging where they need to to find the back of the palace.

Trench one is yielding some more brick as well as a glass stem for a wine glass from the Georgian period.  What else will Time Team find out about the White House?  What will this dig tell us about King George III?  Tune into this episode to find out more.

This episode would be a good episode to show while learning about King George III.  This was the place where George III spent his last years.