The Blue Boar Inn in Leicester

A ‘Grand Hotel’ of Richard III’s time

On his way to the battle of Bosworth, Richard III stayed in Leicester, leaving on 21 August.    According to tradition, he spent the night at the Blue Boar Inn[i], though Peter Hammond thinks it more likely that he stayed at the castle.[ii]  However, as this post is about the inn, it doesn’t really matter where Richard actually resided.

Blue Boar Inn, in: C.J. Billson, Mediaeval Leicester, 1920 (Public domain via Wikimedia Commons)

The Redemption Windows in Leicester Cathedral

The Redemption Windows

in Leicester Cathedral

On 24 April this year, two new stained glass windows were dedicated in Leicester Cathedral.  I had a chance to see them, face-to-face, in the beginning of June.  A much-anticipated visit and I was not disappointed!

Redemption Windows, Leicester Cathedral

David Kindersley

Today would be the 101^st birthday of David Guy Barnabas Kindersley, stone-carver and type designer.  He was born on 11 June 1915 in Codicote, Hertfordshire.  Among his extensive work is the Richard III Memorial Stone.  Some of David Kindersley’s work is at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The memorial stone was originally in Leicester Cathedral.  It had been a project of Rev T.C. Hunter-Clare, to which the Richard III Society had contributed. It was dedicated in August 1982.

Since January 2015, just prior to Richard III’s reburial in Leicester Cathedral, the memorial stone has been on permanent display at the King Richard III Visitor Centre, Leicester.

David Kindersley died on 2 February 1995 in Cambridge.

The photograph was taken in 2013, showing the memorial stone in its original position in Leicester Cathedral.

Richard III Memorial Stone

To learn more about David Kindersley, you may wish his obituary in the Independent: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituariesdavid-kindersley-1571426.html

Leicester City – the unexpected EPL Champions

Congratulations to Leicester City on winning the English Premier League title.  This morning, this was the first thing I read, when checking the overnight news on my phone.  Imagine me cheering loudly in a still sleeping house.

Anyone who knows me, realises how utterly unlikely this reaction is.  I’m not interested in sport, never have been, and least of all in soccer.  Nevertheless, here I am supporting a soccer team on the other end of the world.  Just don’t expect any technical analysis of the Leicester’s game plan from me here.

How to Bury a King

Book Review:  How to Bury a King:

The Reinterment of King Richard III

Pete Hobson, How to Bury a King: The Reinterment of King Richard III.  Zaccmedia, 2016

On 26 March 2016, the one year anniversary of Richard III’s reinterment in Leicester Cathedral, three books and a CD were launched in St Martin’s House adjacent to Leicester Cathedral.

The launch was held in the great hall of St Martin’s House, with the choir singing to publicise the release of the CD.  He lieth under this Stone features much of the choral music performed at Leicester Cathedral during the reinterment week in March 2015.  Of course, it also includes ‘Ghostly Grace’, composed especially for the occasion by Judith Bingham.

The three books were How to Bury a King by Rev Peter Hobson, acting canon missioner at Leicester Cathedral, Flowers for a King by Rosemary Hughes, who was responsible for the floral arrangements in the Cathedral, and Richard III – His Story, by Leicester artist Kirsteen Thomson.

The Consequence of Coincidences

A guest post by Julia Redlich

We welcome Julia Redlich to Dottie Tales, who tells us in today’s guest post about finding Richard III as a Consequence of Coincidences.

This is not just a coincidence, but having written a recent contribution to the Richard III NSW Branch website called Not Looking for Richard, this is just a natural consequence. The first feature dealt with finding mention of King Richard in unexpected novels and the pleasure derived from discovering authors who viewed him as a human being, not necessarily a villain.

Coat of Arms of Richard III

The Coat of Arms in Richard III’s Tombstone – the Dean’s Discussions at Leicester Cathedral

We welcome Rosalind Broomhall to Dottie Tales, who tells us in today’s guest post about making the Coat of Arms in Richard III’s tombstone.

This week we went to the third of the Dean’s Discussions at Leicester Cathedral – a series of talks with the craftsmen (and women) who worked on the Richard III reinterment project. The talk this week was with Thomas Greenaway, the creator of the Coat of Arms that lies in the Kilkenny marble of the tombstone.

Richard III’s Reinterment Week

One week in Leicester –

a personal reflection on Richard III’s Reinterment Week

In March this year, concluding a month-long trip through Europe, my husband and I spent a week in Leicester. But not any old week, but the week, Richard III’s Reinterment Week. For me, and undoubtedly many others, this was a once in a lifetime experience. What follows is a very subjective trip down memory lane.

A Funeral Pall for Richard III

Many of us who were in Leicester for the week of Richard III’s Reinterment admired the beautiful pall, which was laid over his coffin while he was lying in repose in Leicester Cathedral.

The Book of Hours of Richard III

When visiting the UK in July 2012, I attended an exhibition at Lambeth Palace Library: ‘Royal Devotion: Monarchy and the Book of Common Prayer’. While the various Books of Common Prayer and their history was interesting enough, the drawcard for me was a book which predates the Reformation (and hence the Book of Common Prayer) – the Book of Hours of Richard III (MS 474).