Historical Tours

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  • Queen Victoria's Favourite - Disraeli and Hughenden

    Hughenden - a beautiful house owned by the National Trust is set deep in the rolling greens of the Buckinghamshire countryside. This was the home of Queen Victoria’s favourite Prime Minister - Benjamin Disraeli. But Disraeli was so much more than a Queen's favourite. He was a writer, a performer,...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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-...

  • 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.

  • 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...

  • Waterloo Uncovered: The Bones of the Battlefield

    A major breaking story filmed by History Hit.

    Incredibly rare bones of men and horses have been discovered in July 2022 at the Waterloo Battlefield - and History Hit has been there to record the excavations as they unfold.

    The veterans support charity 'Waterloo Uncovered' returned to the Water...

  • The Relics of Egypt: Exploring the Largest Museum in the World

    A stone’s throw from the iconic Cheops pyramids, another famous man-made creation rises, towering over the Giza Plateau: The Grand Egyptian Museum.

  • The Uniform of the British Army

    The British Army is one of the world’s most experienced fighting forces. From Blenheim to Waterloo, from Balaclava to the Somme, it has played its part in the history’s most bloody conflicts. But as these troops executed Herculean tasks in the worlds harshest terrains, what were they wearing? How...

  • 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...

  • 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.

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Inside the Wolf's Lair: Hitler's Hidden Nazi Headquarters

    Luke Tomes joins WW2 expert and Third Reich expert Jonny Whitlam to explore the remains of the Wolf's Lair complex today, imagining how decisions of such immense consequence were made in this remote, heavily fortified forest, and how close history came to taking a very different turn.

    During Wo...

  • Henry's Forts: Castles on the Coast

    On the 26 February 2021, around 38 metres of wall collapsed at Hurst Castle, one of a series of vital coastal forts built by Henry VIII in the 16th century to protect England from threat of invasion by the European powers. Recently, Dan went out on his kayak to assess the damage at the castle whi...

  • 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.

  • 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 ...

  • Lindisfarne: Faith and Vikings

    In 793 AD, the holy island of Lindisfarne was subject to one of the most infamous Viking raids on Britain. ‘Heathen' men plundered the sacred monastery in an event that shook Christian Europe.

    Dan Snow travels across the tidal causeway to Lindisfarne to discover the rich culture of this holy pla...

  • 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...

  • Britain's Wild West: Discovering Hay Castle

    The peaceful South Wales town of Hay-on-Wye offers few clues today of its brutal past on a violent frontier. A monument to this history can be found in Hay Castle. Once right on the border between England and Wales, it sits in a region densely packed with castles that saw border skirmishes and bi...

  • 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...

  • Rare Planes that Changed Aviation Forever

    Ever wondered how we went from flying small wooden machines, to supersonic jets taking off vertically in the space of less than 70 years?

    Luke Tomes travels to Brooklands Museum in Surrey, one of Britain’s first operating aerodromes and home to one of the oldest and largest aircraft factories, t...

  • 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...

  • 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 ...