History Shorts: snippets of local history

A sign in the little village of Corfe Castle in Dorset proclaims that Edward the Martyr, King of Wessex, was treacherously stabbed by his stepmother Elfrida (also Ælfthryth or Alfrida) in AD 978. What evidence is there that the evil stepmother did it? Well, none of course! Edward's reign was short, lasting less than three years before his violent death. Byrhtferth, writing around 1000, is an almost contemporary source. He describes the murder as an act of treachery but does not name Ælfthryth as responsible:  One day towards evening the remarkable and elected king, seeking the consolations of brotherly love, arrived at the house where his beloved brother was living with the dowager queen, as we have said. The magnates and leading men went to meet him, as was only fitting; he [the younger son] remained inside with the dowager queen, his mother. Those magnates had agreed among themselves a wicked plot: they were possessed of so damnable an intention and so murky and diabolical a blin...

The early Christian figure known today as St David was canonised and declared patron saint of Wales in the 12th century more than 500 years after his death (supposedly on 1 March 589). Today's St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire stands on the site of a monastic community founded by David in the 6th century. He was an important figure in the region well before canonisation, certainly if the story of a visit to the site by William the Conqueror is true. His canonisation probably helped cement Norman influence in the region. The pope who canonised him, Callixtus, declared St David's Cathedral in Pembrokeshire as a place of pilgrimage so important that two pilgrimages here were equivalent to one in Rome.  And it effectively remains a place of pilgrimage today, albeit for tourists as well as worshippers. The Shrine of St David was constructed in the 12th century but damaged during the Reformation. The version seen today is a 21st century restoration, featuring icons by artist ...

Or, The brief existence and mysterious demise of Littletown Site of Littletown (Destroyed A.D. 1838). Image: CC-BY NLS It’s clearly marked on OS maps from the 19th and 20th century: Littletown, Destroyed A.D 1838. It sounds dramatic, right? An official record of a noteworthy event. At the very least, something that would warrant a mention in a local newspaper. Well, apparently not. Indeed, evidence of Littletown’s actual existence is scant, never mind its apparently sudden demise.  Location, location, location  The site where Littletown (sometimes Little Town) once stood is in present-day Oxfordshire, though in an area that was part of Berkshire until 1974. Its location is close to the river Thames, on the northern edge of Little Wittenham parish on its boundary with Long Wittenham parish. The nearby pair of wooded hills known as Wittenham Clumps or Sinodun Hills, one of which was the site of an Iron Age hillfort, are a familiar landmark. The wider area has yielded Bronze Age,...

The Dorset chalk figure known as the Cerne Giant was most probably created in the early Middle Ages, according to recent dating work. Contextualising the archaeological work by the National Trust, authors of a new study say the figure was cut in the ninth or early tenth century when there was much interest in the Greek hero Hercules. In their paper in the journal Speculum , Thomas Morcom and Helen Gittos explain at length when and why the figure was cut in the image of Hercules and why it was done in this West Saxon landscape. By PeteHarlow,  CC BY-SA 3.0 , Link The Cerne Giant, located outside the village of Cerne Abbas, is approximately 55 metres long and 51 metres wide. The hill on which it was carved also features an Iron Age earthwork, which the authors say, has never been investigated archaeologically but which was considered important enough to give the hill its name until recently.  Previous attempts to date the giant placed its creation either sometime in prehistory o...

The Covid-19 lockdown and economic downturn have affected most strands of society, including museums and other cultural venues. How can they remain relevant in a post pandemic world while trying to generate much needed income? A dynamic digital offering is one answer. London Transport Museum is trying just that with a series of 'virtual' tours from its Hidden London portfolio ; in effect, an intimate series of Zoom meetings focused on two disused underground stations that can't be visited in real life. At £30 a head, these aren't particularly cheap but I couldn't resist buying a ticket to find out if an online visit was worth it. I chose a visit to Brompton Road, a Leslie Green designed station on the Piccadilly line which was open to passengers between 1906 and 1934 (the other available tour is of King William Street station). Passenger numbers at Brompton Road were lower than expected for a station initially built with four lifts (it gradually lost these and other...

The Farset is the now mostly underground river that is said to give Belfast its name*. There has been talk of 'daylighting' the river in places, ie uncovering it from its culverted fate to flow openly again. This could boost nature and air quality and also potentially alleviate flood risk. Belfast's underground rivers have been linked to some of the flooding experienced by the city. Most articles about the Farset focus on the stretch from High Street to the Lagan. While it's not universally known that a river of some importance in the city's development once flowed here, I'm betting a fair few High Street shoppers know of its existence underfoot. But on the Google Map below I've expanded outwards to try to map some of the Farset's known locations along its whole course, while guessing at a few more. " The lost river that gave Belfast its name " is an interesting 2013 article from the Belfast Telegraph  which has provided the basis for many ...

Seventy-five years have now passed since the publication of a little guide book entitled Walks Around London , written and illustrated by Joan Bloxam [Joan Mary Bloxam, 1884-1948] and published by the Athenaeum Press. My 1936 first edition was possibly bought by an A Groves in 1937, judging by the signature on the inside cover. As a guide book, this edition of Walks Around London is no longer particularly useful: pre-World War II and a transformation in commerce and transport, the London it describes is radically different from that swarming with tourists and shoppers today. But it is a quaint delight, punctuated with lovely little illustrations and a sense of the more simple pleasures in life, with no foreboding of the dark days that would visit the city in only a few short years. The introduction by Howard Marshall observes, "Her charming sketches will remind us happily, in days to come, of London as we knew it before the town planners set to work. It may even rouse L...

Titanic Belfast visit , a set on Flickr. I was able to fit in a visit to the Titanic Belfast building recently and was very impressed with the experience. On the plus sides, it focuses quite heavily on the industrial history of Belfast and Northern Ireland to good effect (such as the Shipyard Ride), the cabin recreations are fascinating, the building itself is of course striking and the public spaces around have been landscaped in an interesting manner. The gift shop, perhaps not surprisingly, falls a little on the side of bad taste - after all, this was a shipping disaster, not really a reason for keyrings and chocolates! However, such a modern tourist facility does need to turn a profit so it's hardly surprising to see a range of tie-in tat on offer. All in all we probably spent almost 4 hours touring the exhibition - it's very in-depth and was also very busy, good to see for business but it made some of the areas quite claustrop...

Green man , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. I've just spotted in the Radio Times that Dr Richard Taylor's excellent Churches: How to Read Them series is getting a repeat run on BBC4. (Tonight, Nov 30, is episode 2 Medieval Life - try to tune in if you haven't seen it. There's also a DVD or iPlayer!). In a (very) little nod to the series I'm blogging this photo of a carved Green Man from All Saints Church, Cuddesdon, Oxfordshire! (The church was built in the late 12th century although includes later additions.)

On the family history trail , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. Last year I did a little research into my dad's family history and came across details of a great uncle of his who was killed in the First World War. In fact, he was killed in what must have been one of the very first skirmishes of the war, in France on 27 August 1914. My dad knew nothing of this ancestor, and was amazed to discover his family link to a name on the cenotaph in Bessbrook village.

Kilburn Grange Cinema , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. Wanting to indulge in some first-hand historical sources, I once bought an old photo album off a well known online auction site. I still have no idea to whom it originally belonged - frustratingly, there are no names attached and I can't identify most of the places in the photographs. A couple of images immediately stood out however: the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford, and this shot of Kilburn Grange cinema in London. I scanned the image to try to establish what films were showing - the only title I could identify is Passions of Men , potentially the short film of that name released in 1914, the same year the cinema opened. I have also scanned and posted the Radcliffe Camera photo to my Flickr account, but hopefully I will soon find the time to look through and possibly publish some of the other photos from the album - my contribution to Flickr Commons, hopefully with the blessing of whomever originally took the photos...

Long Bridges bathing place , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. This was once a public swimming area in Oxford.

My last station was Brompton Road, this photograph of the Leslie Green designed facade taken on Cottage Place. The building was used as an Anti-Aircraft Operations Room during the Second World War, and apparently was also used to question Rudolf Hess. It was a long day, sore on the feet, and yet I had covered so little. Hopefully this little project can be revisited in the future. Update 17/11/2011 : The Today show on BBC Radio 4 had a feature on this station, in the context of a developer who wants to open restaurants and visitor attractions at some of these ghost stations. Interesting to hear, but would have enjoyed photos! Inside a 'ghost' Tube station

Old railway sign , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. A relic of the Metropolitan railway at Gloucester Road station.

South Kentish Town disused tube station on Kentish Town road featuring the distinctive ox-blood facade of a Leslie Green designed building. It first opened in 1907 but was abandoned in 1924 as a result of low passenger numbers - a timely strike at a local power station took the station out of use and it wasn't returned to operation. During the Second World War, it served as an air raid shelter while in 1951 it featured as the subject of a short story written and performed by John Betjeman on the BBC Home Service. Retail units now occupy the surface building that once led to the underground railway. Its basement currently hosts an Escape Room . The Abandoned Stations website has photos from inside the former station.

Back on the street, I had to take a photo of the Eisenhower bunker on Chenies street. Used during the Second World War as a deep level shelter and by Eisenhower as a command centre, it was more recently used to store documents and television news footage.

Spirals , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. Stupidly, I never took a picture of the Nationwide Building Society building on High Holborn which stands in the vicinity of the old British Museum tube station. I did spend some time wandering around looking for spooks, and much more time in the Museum itself admiring the roof.

Strand entrance , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. This was the entrance to the Strand/Aldwych underground station on the Strand itself.

Aldwych station , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. First called Strand station, then Aldwych station, this Tube station was closed in 1994. During the Second World War it served as an air raid shelter. It has also been used for testing Tube services and as a filming location. This photo was taken on Surrey Street.

Down Street , a photo by bishib70 on Flickr. This disused Tube station was on the Piccadilly line. During the Second World War it was used as an air raid shelter, including by Churchill's War Cabinet. The frontage is Leslie Green era.