Historical Tours

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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...

  • 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...

  • The Cardiff Castle Hidden in the Centre of London

    Chris Lloyd spotted a house in London which reminded him of Cardiff. It turned out it had a huge link to the Welsh capital, as well as currently having a very famous resident.

  • 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...

  • Versailles: Palace of Science

    Versailles, the magnificent royal palace near Paris, home to a grandiose monarchy that was swept away in the Revolution. But there was another side to Versailles - this was also a Palace of Science.

    In this special film, Dr. Maddy Pelling visits the Science Museum in London to explore a remarkab...

  • 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...

  • Karnak: Decoding Egypt's Greatest Temple

    History Hit’s ancient history expert, Tristan Hughes, digs deep into one of Ancient Egypt's greatest treasures, a site that ranks among the world’s most impressive religious sanctuaries in both its size, splendour and importance.

    But there is another, fascinating side to exploring Karnak beyond ...

  • 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.

  • 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...

  • RRS Discovery: Aboard the World's First Polar Research Vessel

    Dan Snow steps aboard the RRS Discovery in Dundee, the first purpose built scientific research vessel for the Antarctic. Guided around the ship by Ali Gellatly, he learns what life and adventure was like aboard this unique vessel.

    The legendary polar explorer Captain Scott commanded Discovery's...

  • 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.

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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 ...

  • Auschwitz in 33 Objects

    1 season

  • Live from the British Museum: The Scythians

    2,500 years ago groups of formidable warriors roamed the vast open plains of Siberia. Ferocious nomads, they roamed from Southern Russia down into Iran – a whole region that makes up the middle portion of the Silk Roads. Feared, loathed, admired – but over time forgotten… until now. A new major e...

  • 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 ...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • 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...

  • Great British Houses

    1 season

  • 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...

  • 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...