The History of England Magazine

East London’s riverside districts with their industrial buildings and warehouses, were the scene of many fires. In July 1794, an incident at Ratcliffe resulted in London’s biggest fire to take place between the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz of 1940.

It is well known that the Tower of London has been a place of imprisonment, torture and execution over the centuries…

England is not a country of frequent revolutions; some say it is because the weather is not conducive to outdoor marches and riots. However, weather or no weather, in the early 1800s, working men began to demonstrate on the streets…

The story of how the American Civil War almost brought the British cotton industry to its knees…

Wool as a raw material has been widely available since the domestication of sheep. In medieval England, wool became big business…

London Bridge has a long history of ‘falling down’, however on this occasion the wooden bridge, built by William the Conqueror, was one of the victims of the London Tornado of 17th October 1091…

Situated off the western coast of mainland Cornwall and basking in the warmth of the Gulf Stream, the Isles of Scilly were – until 1986 – involved in the longest running war in history.

The year is 1601 and the ageing Queen Elizabeth I is just two years from death. Shakespeare’s play Richard II is commissioned to be performed at the Globe on the eve of the Earl of Essex’s planned rebellion…