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PODCAST

The English Heritage Podcast

English Heritage

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. Follow us wherever you get your podcasts.

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All Episodes

50:16

Reinterpreting Dunkirk and Operation Dynamo

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/05/21

Next week marks 86 years since Operation Dynamo: the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied troops from the beaches of Dunkirk during the Second World War. But beyond the history that we all know lies a far more complex human story.Beginning inside the wartime tunnels beneath Dover Castle, Amy Matthews is joined by English Heritage historian Dr Kathryn Bedford alongside Yves Janssen and Gautier Jacqmaire from the Dunkirk 1940 Museum to explore the pressure, fear and exhaustion experienced on both

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51:19

Northumberland and the Border Reivers

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/05/14

From the 14th to the 17th century, survival in the turbulent borderlands between England and Scotland depended on family, loyalty and the strength to defend what was yours.In this episode of the English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews explores the violent world of the Border Reivers, the families who controlled this contested landscape for centuries, through fortified farmhouses and ruined peel towers. Historian and writer Alistair Moffat and English Heritage curator Andrew Roberts uncover how

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39:23

A history of natural history

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/05/07

As broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough celebrates his 100th birthday, Amy Matthews explores how Britain learned to observe, record and make sense of the living world and why those early questions about nature still matter today. Beginning at Down House, the family home of Charles Darwin, this episode explores how natural history was shaped not just by Darwin’s famous ideas, but by generations of collectors, classifiers and curious observers. From ancient thinking to early citizen

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34:15

Northumberland: the story of Norham Castle

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/04/30

On the banks of the River Tweed, where England meets Scotland, Norham Castle has stood watch over one of Britain’s most contested landscapes for centuries. But beyond the sieges, treaties and shifting borders lies a more human story. In this episode, Amy Matthews explores a world of fishermen casting nets below the castle walls and soldiers bracing for attack. Historian Dr Will Wyeth and Norham local Jim Gibson explain how Norham has always been a working community as well as a strategic

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46:35

Windmills: restoring England’s working giants

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/04/23

Mills have towered over English landscapes since the medieval period. In this episode, Amy finds out how modern conservation and passionate people are working to keep windmills alive today. Sibsey Trader Windmill is a magnificently restored mill, now reopened to the public in Lincolnshire. This Victorian tower mill has been rescued from the brink after decades of decline. Nick Holder and Joseph James explain how these beautiful buildings have shaped communities, powered industry, and transformed

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50:20

Northumberland: castles and the borderlands of power

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/04/16

A stone knight, an emerging frontier and a story of shifting identity: this time, Amy and her guests explore how the Anglo-Scottish border began to evolve in the centuries following the Norman Conquest, right through to a critical 1237 treaty. English Heritage’s Will Wyeth and Professor Richard Oram from the University of Stirling explain how the people and landscape of Northumberland were critical in shaping this story of competing loyalties, powerful figures and soap-opera style characters, from

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45:54

Memories of flowers: a country house and its community

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/04/09

Some blocked plumbing at Brodsworth Hall, a pre-ball dancefloor drama and the fiercely competitive annual May Queen crowning at the local school: these are just some of the stories that emerge from this country house’s ‘floral’ history! This week, Amy is joined by Eleanor Matthews for a joyful celebration of flowers. They’ll listen to the memories of gardeners, housemaids and locals to find out how flowers have connected the house and gardens at Brodsworth to its local community through the

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50:02

The bittersweet history of chocolate

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/04/02

It might feel like an everyday treat now, but a dip into the history of chocolate reveals a story of global trade, empire, aristocratic tastes and industrial revolution. This week, Amy is joined by food historian Sam Bilton and English Heritage historian Dr Andrew Hann to trace chocolate’s journey from a bitter, spiced drink of status and ceremony to the sweet comfort and ritual we know today. From a commemorative chocolate tin sent to troops in the Boer War through royal courts, chocolate

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50:18

The Partners: who were Seely and Paget?

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/03/26

Creators of an Art Deco masterpiece at Eltham Palace in London, Seely and Paget were one of the most remarkable architectural partnerships of the 20th century. In this episode, Amy explores the men behind the names, tracing how two well-connected young men who met at Cambridge went on to leave their mark on churches, colleges and country houses across the country and reshape Eltham Palace into one of Britain’s most striking Art Deco homes. English Heritage’s Dr Andrew Hann and Seely and Paget

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35:27

The hidden history of women in construction

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/03/19

When we picture the building of Britain’s great country houses, it’s easy to imagine architects, craftspeople and wealthy patrons...but they’re almost always men. However, after a closer look at the records, a different story becomes clear. From brickfields and workshops to family building firms and busy construction sites, women have always been present during the construction of the buildings we know and enjoy today. This time on The English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews is joined by Dr

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48:21

The secret world of portrait miniatures

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/03/12

Tiny enough to wear around your neck, yet big enough to hold secrets, memories and devotion: portrait miniatures give us an intimate insight into the private lives of the past. In this episode, Amy Matthews is joined by curators Lydia Miller and Peter Moore to explore remarkable stories from this pre-photography phenomenon and delve into English Heritage’s special collections. From beaver teeth used to prepare ivory painting surfaces to secret eye miniatures exchanged between lovers, these

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42:14

The birth of medieval manuscripts

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/03/05

What does an oyster shell have to do with medieval books? This week, Amy explores one of her favourite moments in history: when medieval scribes started to create beautifully illuminated manuscripts. She’s exploring the complex, multi-faceted and highly skilled work that helped create these works of literature and art. From a stinky parchment creation process to fine pigments and steady hands working by candlelight, making medieval books was far from a simple task, as English Heritage’s Dr Susan

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49:27

Poetry, maths and the Milky Way: the unsung genius of...

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/02/26

What do deer shelters, cosmic theories and serpentine garden paths have in common? The brilliant (but often overlooked) mind of Thomas Wright of Durham. This week on The English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews explores the life and work of an Enlightenment polymath who rose from carpenter’s son to mathematician, stargazer and garden visionary. Biographer Simon Webb and historian Dr Andrew Hann explain how this brilliant and influential mind blended poetry, physics, myth and maths to shape ideas

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46:43

Rethinking an Iron Age ‘war cemetery’

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/02/19

Was Maiden Castle really the site of a brutal Roman massacre? Or have we been telling the wrong story for decades? This vast Iron Age hillfort in Dorset is home to human remains that have shaped our understanding of conquest, conflict and resistance for nearly a century. In this episode, we return to the skeletons that made the site famous: young men, women and children bearing signs of violence, to find out what they can tell us about life and death in Iron Age Britain. Amy Matthews is joined

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28:37

Love tokens from history

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/02/12

Forget roses and chocolates this Valentine’s Day. Lovers from the past set the bar high, with romantic poetry, locks of human hair, beautifully crafted silver and even a new city dedicated to a lost love. Join Amy Matthews and English Heritage historians and curators for a look at love tokens, secret messages and heartbreak memorials from our sites, to discover how people in the past flirted, mourned, adored and remembered. It turns out that whether it’s a sonnet, a statue or a sentimental

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46:37

Before 1066: how England’s elites lived, ruled, and...

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/02/05

This isn’t a story of castles and conquest, but of carved pins, private churches, timber halls and even a king’s toilet. In this episode, we’re exploring early medieval England to uncover how wealth, status and authority were expressed before the Norman Conquest. Far from a sharp break in history, new archaeological research reveals deep continuities in how England’s elites lived, ruled...and showed off! Amy Matthews is joined by English Heritage curator Dr Will Wyeth and medieval archaeologist

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35:35

A postie, an emperor, and a 2,000-year-old grain measure

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/01/29

What could a postal worker, a murdered emperor, and a Roman grain measure possibly have in common? In this episode of The English Heritage Podcast, Amy Matthews is joined by Dr Francis McIntosh to explore a remarkably well-preserved Roman modius, or grain measure. Discovered by pure chance in 1915 near Hadrian’s Wall, this object carries an extraordinary story. An official measuring vessel, the modius opens a window into everyday life on the empire’s northern frontier. It tells of Roman

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44:09

Falconry, fashion and threat: a history of people and...

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/01/22

From Darwin’s pigeons to peregrines on Parliament, birds have always been more than background noise. They’ve shaped science, symbolism, status and the very landscapes we live in. In this episode, Amy chats with three passionate bird enthusiasts: English Heritage’s Dr Louise Crawley, head gardener and bird obsessive Anthony O’Rourke, and zoologist and broadcaster Megan McCubbin. Together, they explore our long, tangled relationship with birds: from Victorian taxidermy and medieval falconry to

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39:57

Adventure and obsession: orchid hunting in the 1930s

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/01/15

From steamy jungles and boiling mud pools to a bathroom aboard a luxury yacht, this is a plant story like no other. Sir Stephen and Lady Virginia Courtauld weren’t just art deco tastemakers; they were globe-trotting orchid obsessives, chasing rare blooms across Southeast Asia in the 1930s and (legally!) bringing them home against the odds. Joined by English Heritage’s Dr Andrew Hann and gardener-researcher Hannah Pearson, Amy Matthews follows the Courtaulds’ trail through diaries, photographs and

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45:58

Dogs and devotion: faithful companions and their...

The English Heritage Podcast ·

2026/01/08

From one brown leather dog collar unfolds a story of a family that loved their dogs for generations. And the Thellussons of Brodsworth Hall weren’t the only grand family whose history we can understand more deeply through accounts of their four-legged friends. This time, Amy is joined by English Heritage historians Dr Megan Leyland and Eleanor Matthews to explore how dogs lived alongside people as companions, workers, status symbols and family members. From lapdogs and greyhounds to working

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