CH5 - Walking Tudor England (2021)

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb wends her way around the country on the trail of history's most fascinating dynasty.

Part 1: The South Coast
Suzannah Lipscomb walks around the country on the trail of the Tudor dynasty. She begins in Hampshire, walking the coast from Southsea to Southampton. To this day, Portsmouth is home to the Royal Navy, whilst Southampton is one of Britain's great trading ports. Suzannah's walk begins at Southsea Castle, where Henry VIII in 1545 watched as his flagship Mary Rose sank in the waters of Solent. Both ship and castle were part of his ground-breaking defence plans to fortify the south coast, and establish England as a naval superpower. Suzannah encounters the fortifications of Old Portsmouth, the home of Henry's revolutionary Tudor navy, and gets a lesson from a Tudor blacksmith.
Episode 1 takes Suzannah to the south coast to explore how Henry VIII transformed England into a naval power. She starts at Southsea Castle to the Mary Rose at Portsmouth, via the village of Little Woodham, before reaching Lee on the Solent, and ending up at Southampton, a port which flourished under Elizabeth I.

Part 2: East Anglia
Suzannah Lipscomb visits parts of the rich, rural lands of Tudor East Anglia associated with 'Bloody' Queen Mary, including the castle where she was crowned and a site in Norwich where protestants were burned alive. She unearths the extraordinary events that led Mary to the throne, and questions whether England's first queen really deserves her fearsome reputation.
In East Anglia, Suzannah's journey takes her from Norwich to Old Hall at Barnham Broom, south Kenninghall where Mary fled for her life, and to Framlingham Castle where she battled to become queen. The final stops are beautiful Lavenham and Cambridge.

Part 3: Heart of England - Midlands
Suzannah Lipscomb walks from Kenilworth in Warwickshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire to uncover some of the stories behind Elizabeth I's reign, and the men who served her and their East Midland buildings – from Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester and Kenilworth, Sir Thomas Tresham and Rushton Triangular Lodge, Christopher Hatton, the Lord Chancellor who helped to judge Mary Stuart, and Holdenby House to Fotheringhay where Queen of Scots was executed and finally Sir William Cecil at Burleigh near Stamford.
In the Midlands, Suzannah visits some of the grandest houses ever built, including Kenilworth Castle and Burghley House, as well as seeing where Mary Queen of Scots was executed at Fotheringhay and a mysterious triangular structure at Rushton Lodge.

Part 4: London
The fourth episode is a walk across London, featuring from the site of Greenwich Palace to the Dutch church at Austin Friars, to which refugees came from 1550. Suzannah explores Tudor London as she walks along the River Thames between Greenwich and Hampton Court Palace, and she examines the London Bridge which back then usually featured a few severed heads. She also visits the prison at Bridewell and the site of the former brothels.
In Tudor London, Suzannah goes from Greenwich to London Bridge, through Turnmill Street – the 16th century's red-light district – through the Tudor pleasure gardens of the Southbank, via episcopal Fulham, down to Hampton Court Palace.

Part 5: The Weald
As Suzannah visits The Weald, a quiet corner of Kent and East Sussex, she discovers details about Henry VIII's life and visits Hever Castle. Walk is starting with the Stafford residence of Penshurst Place, where the third Duke Edward Seymour's banquets reminded Henry VIII of his own family's weak claim and led to the 'Good Duke of Somerset's beheading at Tower Hill. Hever Castle, childhood home of the Boleyns is just a short walk away and there are many portraits of both families, including Arthur Tudor. Ashdown Forest, where Henry hunted deer and boar is close to hand, as is Michelham Priory where Henry VIII's fourth and fifth marriages took place and which was given to Anne of Cleves.
In episode 5, Suzannah goes to The Weald in Kent and East Sussex, from Henry VIII's hunting lodge at Penshurst Place, to Hever Castle, a 14th-century coaching inn, Ashdown Forest and through to Mitchelham Priory, once owned by Anne of Cleves.

Part 6: Yorkshire
The series concludes in Yorkshire, concentrating on the Reformations. In this final episode, Suzannah walks across the hills and dales of Yorkshire, from Pontefract to York. She discovers details about the Reformation, including Henry VIII's original break with Rome, Edward VI's Protestant iconoclasm, and Elizabeth I's harsh stance towards Catholics who defied her. The Earls fled and were attainted, whilst 600 commoners were executed. Elizabeth I's early tolerance of law-abiding Catholics ended as she was excommunicated.
In Yorkshire, Suzannah travels from Pontefract to Clifford Tower, St Mary's Abbey and St Michael Le Belfry in York, before heading north west to a manor house that played a critical role in rebellion – Markenfield Hall – and back to York.