Historical Tours
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Broadway Tower: A Folly of Delight and Daring
High on the peak of the Cotswolds stands one of the most remarkable buildings in Britain. Built as a folly in the final days of the 18th century, Broadway Tower sprung up during the height of the French Revolutionary Wars under the distracted watch of the architect James Wyatt. In the following y...
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Hidden in the Trees: Cardiff's Forgotten Landmark
A History Hit Community film. For nearly a thousand years, something high in the forest has been watching over the Welsh capital. A community pulled together in the Sixties, giving St. Mary's church in Caerau a short new life.
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Inside Britain's Secret Nuclear Bunker
In the wake of the Second World War, Britain moved to cement itself as one of the world's main nuclear powers. The erection of a series of nuclear bunkers followed across the UK, tasked with protecting a fortunate few against any devastating nuclear attack. Sarah Agha explores Britain's secret nu...
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The Dennis Severs' House: A Theatre of the Imagination
Art historian Dan Cruickshank gives Alice Loxton a tour of the Dennis Severs' House in Spitalfields.
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How did the English Civil War affect our buildings?
Historian Michael Sewell reflects on how the British Civil War impacted and destroyed landmarks that were cherished and used by communities. Using Colchester as his Case Study he will show the conflict shaped our town’s landscape forever and show the lasting legacy of the conflict in English hist...
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Whitefriars: The Lost Priory of Gloucester
In July 2021, the remains of a 13th Century Carmelite friary, also known as Whitefriars, were recently found by archaeologists beneath a demolished multi-storey car park in Gloucester city centre.
Historians knew roughly where Whitefriars had stood, but its exact location was a mystery. The dig,...
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Queens Lands' of Norfolk: Sixteenth Century Walsingham Priory
Andy Silen-McMillin has been mapping and examining the financial patterns associated with the queen’s lands of consort queens from the Elizabeth of York to Anna of Denmark. One of the focus points has been the impact of various policies brought out by Henry VIII and his dissolution of the monaste...
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RAF 100: Inside Cranwell College
For over 100 years, the Royal Air Force has defended the skies of Britain and projected the country’s power and influence around the world. As the world’s oldest independent air force, it also has a rich and often astonishing history – one that is filled with the stories of extraordinary men and ...
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Kensington Palace: Untold Lives
Dan Snow explores behind the scenes at the majestic Kensington Palace, the glittering centre of the royal court in early Georgian England. It's a very special time to visit - the Historic Royal Palaces team has been delving deep into the archives to lift the veil of the public facing court and e...
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Uncovering The Bayeux Tapestry
One of the world's most famous and well-preserved pieces of medieval embroidery, the 70-metre-wide Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, culminating in the Battle of ...
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Legendary Megastructures
1 season
Take a trip to France to discover the construction secrets to some of its most legendary megastructures. See how Napoléon the 1st instigated many constructions that are anchored in the Parisian landscape. The Arc de Triomphe, the Vendôme Column, the Palais de la Bourse, the church of La Madeleine...
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Secrets of the Churchill War Rooms
Winston Churchill, wartime Prime Minister of Great Britain and its empire during the Second World War, is one of the most recognisable figures of world history. The man dominated Whitehall and Westminster, but many of his most vital decisions during the war years were taken away from the public e...
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England's Royal Churches
This film celebrates the glory of England's forgotten royal churches and their links to the most opulent country residences.
The church has always been at the heart of the English monarchy. From operating as a place of contemplation and refuge to symbolising national celebration, art historian...
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Ham House: Women of the Civil War
Our Great British Houses series continues with another gem of The National Trust’s collection. 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-...
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Warbirds of World War Two: A Tour of the RAF Museum
Of all the chapters of the Second World War, none are as daring, nor as intriguing, as the Air War. In the skies over Europe, some of the most iconic aircraft to ever take flight, did battle in a life or death struggle for supremacy. Today most of these aircraft are gone, but at the Royal Air For...
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George Washington: The First Battle
Dan Snow goes to Pittsburgh to explore the extraordinary story of how an over-ambitious young George Washington fought for the British and helped to fire the shots that started the Seven Years War, the world’s first global conflict.
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Bignor Roman Villa
West Sussex has its fair share of stunning Roman sites: Fishbourne Roman Palace, Stane Street, the Novium, the list goes on. But one of the region's star Roman attractions has to be Bignor Roman Villa. Situated deep in the heart of the Sussex countryside Bignor is home to some of the most impress...
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Greatest Discoveries: Pompeii
1 season
Tristan Hughes visits Pompeii to discover its incredible archaeology and the invaluable information it has revealed about this Roman town. Episode one explores the vibrant cosmopolitan centre that this prosperous port town was before its destruction - delving into the lives of particular Pompeiia...
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The World of Stonehenge Revealed: Decoding the Find of the Century
Described as the "most important piece of prehistoric art to be found in Britain in the last 100 years", an elaborately decorated 5000 year-old chalk cylinder, discovered buried with 3 child skeletons in Yorkshire and as old as the first phase of Stonehenge, is going on display at the British Mus...
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Auschwitz: The Evolution of Terror
Join Holocaust expert and historian Dr James Bulgin as he is given unprecedented access to Auschwitz-Birkenau to uncover how this site was transformed, step by step, decision by decision, from a concentration camp for political prisoners into the epicentre of one of the worst crimes in human hist...
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The Romantics and Us with Simon Schama
1 season
From popular revolt to obsession with the self, Simon Schama explores the legacy of the Romantics.
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Inside Blenheim Palace
One of the grandest private houses in the world, the site of Blenheim Palace has been host to the murder of a royal mistress, the downfall of a quarrelling Duchess and the birth of Sir Winston Churchill. Dan Snow takes a tour of one of Britain's most famous attractions.
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American Revolution: The First Battle
250 years ago, on April 19th 1775, the first muskets were fired in the American War of Independence - the famous "shot heard round the world".
In this special History Hit film, Dan Snow explores the key sites where it happened on this day - Battle Green, Lexington; The Old North Bridge, Concord...