History Tours of Britain

By visiting the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, you can journey back in time to the moment when the Tudor dynasty was born. In 1485 in Bosworth, Leicestershire, a bloody battle took place between the houses of Lancaster and York. For thirty years these houses had been fighting for control of England in a series of battles known as the War of the Roses.

The Battle of Bosworth Field was the deciding battle and saw King Richard III losing his life on the battlefield and Henry Tudor becoming King. Henry Tudor, the great-great-grandson of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, married Elizabeth of York , thus uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster and beginning a new house called the Tudors.

Hampton Court Palace started off as a manor that was acquired as a grange by the Knights Hospitallers of St John Jerusalem in the 13th century. This religious order eventually rented out the property and land, and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey obtained it on a 99 year lease in 1514 and began transforming it from a private house into a huge palace complex fit for a king. Wolsey built the palace to impress the whole of Europe and it was a wonderful fusion of Catholic iconography and Renaissance art and architecture, with an incredible “long gallery” which made use of terracotta.

Visited on the Executed Queens Tour and the Anne Boleyn Experience. Attendees get to stay in the exclusive Astor Wing of the castle. Hever Castle is a setting for all of our luxury tours. Just imagine walking in Anne’s footsteps! The History of Hever Castle The beautiful Hever Castle, situated in the lovely Kent countryside [...]

This manor was built by the fourth Earl of Shrewsbury in around 1510, although it is thought that some kind of lodge existed there from the 12th century.

It was surrounded by a large deer park and was a hunting lodge or country retreat for the Earl. It is famous for being the place where Cardinal Wolsey stayed on his way to to London to stand trial and as the place where Mary Queen of Scots was kept under house arrest by the sixth Earl of Shrewsbury, George Talbot, and his wife, Bess of Hardwick.

The Tower of London is famous for being the site of much bloodshed and for being the prison of many hundreds, if not thousands, of people since it was first built by William the Conqueror in the late 11th century.

For those interested in the Tudor period, the Tower of London was used as a fortress, prison, a royal palace where the monarch would stay prior to their coronation, and a place of execution. Anne Boleyn spent the night before her coronation in 1533 in the Queen's apartments of the Royal Palace and she was also imprisoned there after her arrest on 2nd May 1536. She was beheaded at the Tower by a French swordsman on 19th May 1536 after being found guilty of treason, adultery and incest.

If you are looking for a genuine Royal experience, there is nowhere better than Windsor Castle. The oldest and biggest occupied Castle in the world, Windsor is in fact the official residence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, something which surprises many who believe it to be Buckingham Palace. Being a working Castle is an [...]

Arguably the most significant location in Britain, in terms of the Tudor monarchs, the history of Westminster Abbey dates back to over one thousand years. Originally a Benedictine Abbey established by St. Dunstan in the 960s, the Abbey as we know it dates from the reign of King Edward the Confessor. The monastery was surrendered [...]

One of the most picturesque and historic towns in the whole of England, Stratford upon Avon and its many, many visitor attractions is a must-see location for anyone interested in the history of the Tudor period. Birthplace of the Bard, William Shakespeare, Stratford has built an entire industry around its pride in its most famous [...]

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in Bankside, London, was built in 1987 by American director and actor, Sam Wanamaker, as a memorial to the original Globe Theatre which was built in 1599 by the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, William Shakespeare’s playing company, and which sadly perished in a fire on the 29th June 1613 during a performance of [...]