The Secrets Of Spencer House | A Stately Home In Central London

The Secrets of Ham House | And What's so Strange about the Bath!' About 10 miles from the centre of London is one of the most magnificent houses of Stuart England, Ham House. This lavish mansion is a treasure trove of 17th century art and architecture, a dazzling red-brick jewel on the muddy banks of the River Thames. But Ham House also has a remarkable history of espionage and secrets. During the tumultuous years of the English Civil War, the Commonwealth and the Restoration, Ham House lay at the heart of political conflict. In this documentary, Alice Loxton discovers how the Murray family - friends of Charles I and led by a remarkable mother-daughter team of Catherine and Elizabeth Murray - survived this troublesome period. Despite being fiercely loyal to the crown - even ferrying secret letters to the exiled Charles II - the Murray’s also maintained a friendship with the Cromwell family. It was an audacious act of bravery, resilience and espionage.

The Secrets of Salisbury Cathedral | The Tallest Spire in Britain' Join Alice Loxton as she explores the secrets of Salisbury Cathedral in Wiltshire. In this video Alice travels up the tallest church spire in the United Kingdom, visits the world's oldest working mechanical clock and sees one of the only four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta. Drone footage captured by Jacques Eloff.

Alice Loxton delves into the hidden secrets behind some of Britain's most iconic historic locations.

This special new film reveals an extraordinary Tudor life-story and an amazing creation. We meet the extraordinary Bess of Hardwick and go inside the incredible home she built, a spectacular construction in glass and stone that defined the elegance and grandeur of the Elizabethan age, typifying a woman who rose to the top of the Tudor tree. Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb expertly explores the glorious rooms, luscious tapestries and intimate portraits that capture the remarkable personality of Bess and the Elizabethan dream-house she built in her own image.

The Secrets Of The Hospital Of St Cross | And Why There Are No Patients!' History Hit's Alice Loxton explores the secrets of the Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty in Winchester, England. St Cross isn't really a hospital at all, at least in the modern sense of the word. Instead, it's the oldest almshouse in England still in use for its original purpose and arguably the oldest charity in the country. Although anyone can visit the site today, since its foundation, the charity has only catered for men. The main activity of the Hospital continues to be the provision of individual, private apartments for a living community of about twenty-five elderly men. Known as ‘Brothers’ they wear black or red gowns and a trencher hat for daily church and other formal occasions. They come from a wide variety of backgrounds, and are usually single, divorced or widowers. Founded around the year 1132, the almshouse was set up by Henry of Blois to support thirteen poor men who were unable to work and to feed some 100

The Secrets Of Wells Cathedral | The First Gothic Cathedral In England Join Alice Loxton as she unveils the secrets of Wells Cathedral, getting up close and personal with all aspects of the building's history. Among other things, that means abseiling down the cathedral's facade - not for the faint hearted! Also in this video, we’ll be getting inside the mind of a medieval mason, we’ll be uncovering the mysteries of the magnificent chained library and we’ll be traversing stones which are so weathered by time that they have been compared to a rolling ocean. The cathedral we see today was begun in 1176, and completed over the next couple of centuries. The endeavour paid off, because the result is quite magnificent. The west front of Wells is one of the most glorious examples of medieval architecture in the world. Because cathedrals took so long to build, the fashions often changed whilst they were being built. So, Durham Cathedral, for example, has rounded Romanesque arches at one end and pointed Gothic at another. But at Wells, the fashions stayed the