One weekend in April we headed on the train to the National Civil War Centre in Newark. We’ve meant to visit since it first opened in 2015 but a recent feature on the local news spurred us on to finalise our plans. The museum is a quick 5 to 10 minute walk from Newark Castle Railway station in a somewhat unprepossessing building next to the Palace Theatre.
The Portland Collection is part of the Harley Gallery in Welbeck, a permanent exhibit of art and other items such as furniture and jewellery that the Dukes of Portland and their families have collected for centuries. It’s housed in a building that used to be where horses were trained by the Portlands.
The Jewel Tower is easy to miss, nestled as it is between the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Built in 1365 it is one of the only surviving sections of the medieval Palace of Westminster which was used to house the royal household’s valuables and later the records of the House of Lords and the testing facility to determine the value of weights and measures.
Banqueting House is part of the Historic Royal Palaces Group and the sole survivor of the Palace of Whitehall which burnt down in 1698. Architect Inigo Jones created the building for James I in 1622 and it played host to sensational masques and balls under the roof of the amazing ceiling painted by Rubens.
Sudeley Castle is famous as being the home to Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife and the only one to survive him. It is also the place where Lady Jane Grey, Katherine’s ward and Queen herself for only 9 days before her execution at the Tower of London, resided for some time. Lady Jane is probably my favourite historical figure, someone I’ve been fascinated by since a school trip to Bradgate Park, Lady Jane’s supposed birthplace, so I was very interested to walk the same hallways she did.
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