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Extraordinary Stories of Britain

History Podcasts

Extraordinary Stories of Britain is a history podcast packed with fun and informative tales from our island’s long and storied past. Visiting little-known corners of British history, shedding new light on familiar faces, uncovering unusual - and sometimes bizarre - facts along the way, this is the podcast for anglophiles, history buffs, and anyone interested in finding out more about the UK. From killer queens to grime and punishment, from medieval medicine to celebrity cats, from secret sewers to pickled philosophers, we leave no historic stone unturned. Follow our blog at: www.storiesofbritain.com

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Location:

United Kingdom

Description:

Extraordinary Stories of Britain is a history podcast packed with fun and informative tales from our island’s long and storied past. Visiting little-known corners of British history, shedding new light on familiar faces, uncovering unusual - and sometimes bizarre - facts along the way, this is the podcast for anglophiles, history buffs, and anyone interested in finding out more about the UK. From killer queens to grime and punishment, from medieval medicine to celebrity cats, from secret sewers to pickled philosophers, we leave no historic stone unturned. Follow our blog at: www.storiesofbritain.com

Language:

English

Contact:

07956268060

Episodes

Westminster Abbey Coronations - from Mishaps to Majesty

3/15/2023
For a thousand years, British kings and queens have been crowned at Westminster Abbey. This podcast tells the story of the coronation: from babbling bishops to falling dukes, spurned queens to monarch murders, stolen stones to dazzling diamonds and belly-busting banquets to mighty majesty.

Duration:00:34:48

Jack Sheppard - The Most Famous Man in Britain

3/1/2023
Thee hundred years ago, Jack Sheppard was the most famous man in the country. Britain’s first celebrity was not a royal, an actor, or aristocrat - but a petty thief. This podcast tells the story of how an East End chancer became so famous, that a third of London’s population took to the streets to see if he could cheat the noose.

Duration:00:33:06

Newgate Jail - London’s Hell on Earth

2/1/2023
For 700 years Newgate Jail was the darkest, dirtiest and most miserable dungeon in London. We uncover some of its terrible and terrifying prison stories: from cannibals to the fearsome ghost of a black dog; from a boy chimney sweep sent to hang at Tyburn, to a world-famous novelist imprisoned for his ideas. Hear about London’s Georgian Mafia boss, and the man who inspired Dickens’ Fagin. Songs, stories and strange tales in this prison podcast.

Duration:00:32:38

Stonehenge - the History and the Mystery

12/18/2022
For our December episode, we are at Stonehenge for the winter solstice. We investigate the mystery of Stonehenge’s little-known neighbouring sister Woodhenge - was it once home to the largest “city” in the world? We hear about the strange legend of the Cuckoo stone. We find out how – 4,500 years ago - the first stones at the henge were dragged 180 miles from Wales. We tell the story of how the first metalworker in Britain came to be buried near the henge, and find out how to dowse the...

Duration:00:34:06

Women and Witchcraft - The Horrifying History of Female Sorcery

11/27/2022
This podcast tells the story of witchcraft. From the ancient witches of Wales to the medieval sorceress known as the Witch of Eye. From the brutal torture of the pilliwinks, to the British king who wrote a book on witches. From the gruesome story of the Pendle Witches, to a “witch” imprisoned during WW2 by the British government.

Duration:00:35:43

The Pendle Witches - A Halloween Special

10/30/2022
Our Halloween special tells the story of the Pendle witches - the most famous witch trials in British history. This chilling court case saw dozens of Lancashire women imprisoned for witchcraft, with accusations of stolen babies, teeth taken from corpse skulls, talking dogs and crippling curses.

Duration:00:22:10

Dead Fascinating - The Strange History of Death and Burial

9/3/2022
We dig up some stories of death and dying. How much did it cost to get to heaven in medieval times? What is a corpse road? And a sin eater? Hear about the "outcast dead" and find out why Victorian Londoners were literally dancing on a giant graveyard. What was the necropolis railway? Who were funeral mutes? Which graveyard hosts a tomb time machine And which internationally famous cemetery was invaded by vampire hunters in the 1970s. Another half an hour of extraordinary stories.

Duration:00:33:21

The Lea - The story of London’s East End River

6/25/2022
The first in our walks podcasts features the River Lea in East London. Marc Z and Mr Londoner walk the lower section of the Lea to uncover the origins of India Pale Ale; a tale of stranded Vikings; how four Eton schoolboys ran an East End sporting empire; the terrifying story of the St Paul’s bomb exploded on Hackney Marshes; and the day when Lionel Messi played at the marshes. Hear about WW2 bunkers on the Olympic Park, the largest bell in the world, the oldest tidal mill in history, and...

Duration:00:31:23

Women and Crime – Britain’s Bad Girls

5/13/2022
Six true crime stories featuring notorious women criminals. From a celebrity pickpocket who performed on the London stage, to an aristocrat turned highwaywoman. From a cross-dressing pirate to the first documented girl gang, and the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Hear about these bad girls in this podcast.

Duration:00:34:30

Women and Protest - How they Fought for Justice

3/26/2022
Eight stories of women who fought for liberty, justice and human rights. From a 17th century campaigner left to rot in prison for running an underground press, to the women of Peterloo murdered by a Manchester militia army, from a rural vicar’s wife who became the mother of India, to the first person to raise the anarchist flag.

Duration:00:42:15

History of Men‘s Fashion - Part 2. From Tudors to Teddy Boys

2/7/2022
The second part of our history of British fashion. Find out how you could get sent to prison for wearing the wrong trousers, why Piccadilly was known for ruff trade, how the bowler got its name, and who were the original mad hatters. We uncover the secrets of the oldest shoe in Britain, hear about the top hat riots of 1797 and reveal how a famous prime minister invented the onesie. Hear how The Mods and hippies of swinging 1960s London and Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's 1970's punk...

Duration:00:30:06

Women and Writing – Their Words Made History

1/18/2022
Seven women who changed English literature. An anchorite who spent 30 years in one room, and became the “mother of English prose”. A passionate pilgrim known as the first female autobiographer, two women who can both claim to have written the first-ever science fiction novel, an enslaved woman who was sold four times, and the only female journalist on the WW1 trenches.

Duration:00:33:29

History of Men‘s Fashion - Part 1. From the Codpiece to the Three Piece

12/15/2021
Hear the story of British fashion, eight hundred years of menswear - from medieval to today. Why did priests try to ban the button? Why did King Edward IV outlaw pointy shoes? Hear the saucy story of King Henry VIII’s codpiece. Discover the origins of the word “bigwig”. Hear about the rise and fall of the man who invented the suit. And find out about the most famous menswear street in Britain: Savile Row - which has tailored David Beckham, the Beatles and Elton John, and stitched Michael...

Duration:00:22:05

Women in Science - How They Changed the World

11/17/2021
Women in Science. Seven stories of women determined to bring their discoveries to the world. Hear about a pioneering fossil hunter who left us with a famous tongue twister, and the creator of the world’s first computer programme. Find out about nurse who stopped hospitals from killing their patients, and the inventor who saved thousands of soldiers from gas poisoning. Hear how a brilliant chemist was robbed of a Nobel prize by her colleagues, and listen to the story of Britain’s first, and...

Duration:00:26:07

Sick Notes - A History of Gory Medicine

10/6/2021
Why are hundreds of skeletons hidden under a London market? Which disease was cured by frogs? Where can you find the skeleton of an “Irish Giant”? Why did the Queen's doctor prescribe rooster testicles? Was there a 17th century inoculation for smallpox? What was the Soho plague?

Duration:00:25:28

Women and War - Stories of Women in Conflict

10/1/2021
Which British warrior queen decapitated Nero? Why did Elizabeth I meet an Irish piratess? How did England’s 17th century female spy escape from Holland? Why did Margaret Bulky become a man? Did a Hindu queen defeat the British army? Who were the suffragitsus? Hear the tragic story of the special-ops agent who won the George Cross.

Duration:00:29:08

Talking Heads - What Happened to Executed Heads

9/1/2021
Discover the gruesome truth about Anglo-Saxon border markers Find out who was sewn back together after their execution What happened when a York gladiator was bitten by a lion? Which Elizabethan courtier’s body part ended up in a cupboard? What terrible sight greeted people entering the City of London? What horror washed up in the River Thames in Barnes? Half an hour of extraordinary stories about heads without bodies.

Duration:00:30:28