A fabulous find out east in Norfolk calling from centuries past! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

A tomb with a view; Maen y Bardd or The Poet Stone on Tal-y-Fan near Conwy. Part of an amazing historical landscape which at one point, I’m told, was intended to be the route of the A55 expressway. Thank goodness that never happened! #TombTuesday

The first working week of the year ahead; what lights the far horizon?

In King Arthur’s Death (the Alliterative Morte Arthure), ca 1400, a king driven by overweening pride (or surquedry, as the poet has it) exceeds his powers & ignores the ethics of Just War to effect regime change. In the end, he loses his wife, his supporters, his kingdom and his life. Just saying…

Elements of Han Solo, medieval style!

Castles in the landscape

I shall not be sheepish so instead I’ll just say, Happy New Year!!!

End of year escapades high up in the hills. Pen-y-Gaer fortified enclosure above the Aberglaslyn pass near Beddgelert in Wales made for an excellent walking destination over the festive period. #HillfortsWednesday

Where children learn and old lords rest deep in rural England. At St James’s, Somerton, Oxfordshire, village life seems timeless. Here, I was struck by how a transient moment of modern life was left as but a shadow by the tomb chest of Sir Thomas Fermor (d.1580) and his second wife Bridget Bradshaw.

The closest I’ll get to a White Christmas this year! Sheep below Easneye sprinkle their dust of snow out on the old Saxon floodplain. Happy Christmas everyone!

What better for Christmas frolics!?

It’s Christmas Eve and this dog is alert for visitors from afar! I wish all followers of Mythical Britain a very Happy Christmas and all the very best for a restful and enjoyable festive period.

Ricardian riches or Ralphian relics? This banner-bedecked tomb casket at Sheriff Hutton in the North Riding has long been connected with Edward of Middleham, son of Richard III although sculptural style cues date to the 1420s and suggest it might commemorate a lost son of Ralph Neville. #TombTuesday

Not smiling and definitely not in Cheshire; the face of a cat looks down from the walls of St Peter’s at Little Thurlow, Suffolk. One of several delightful corbels at this special little church.

Out upon the western plains the world turns once again; the ancient stones in magic light revive to banish darkness. Stonehenge in winter from an early linocut of mine from many years ago. #WinterSolstice #Stonehenge #WinterSolstice2025

A fabulous lion from the Herefordshire School on the font at the church of St Mary Magdalene, Eardisley. The font, in a large cup shape, is a fine example of this type craftsmanship, combining 12C Romanesque style cues with Celtic-style interwoven work above and below the frieze. #FontsOnFriday

Doors to adoration. This amazing miniature boxwood altarpiece in the British Museum is dated to 1511 and was made in the northern Netherlands. Box is incredibly dense wood but even so the workmanship represents amazing skill and craftsmanship in something less than a foot tall. #AdoorableThursday

Out on the tip of the island where liminal lands dot the sea; a fascinating look at the ancient historic landscape of Cornwall at this time of the turning year.

A great magic circle splendid and special clasping some long lost rich garment. The Strickland Brooch at the British Museum is bewitching in its beauty.

Castles in the landscape

That harbinger of cold Harald’s host calls out to far horizons. Come, my shielded men, it cries, across the German Ocean.

The great ark in waves of green high up in the hillsides; one of my favourite castles in all of Britain and beautifully captured here.

Faces from the distant past, fearful yet so frightening.

Watering down the beer again at the King’s Arms, York, yesterday… #PubsAndFloods

The crucial links which bind the land and stop us turning inwards.

Ancient circuitry, sharp and bright and wired to perfection.

Northamptonshire gold! Beautiful warm stone at the wonderful church at Spratton. Love those early arches offsetting the later aisles; a sure sign of greater riches within! #AdoorableThursday

Delightful Ricardian tomb to Maud, wife of Sir Thomas Harcourt, dated to ca. 1394 at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire. I wonder what poetry she listened to and what music she enjoyed in those far off troubled days? #TombTuesday

Fathers - force your daughter to do something against her wishes and you’ll pay the price! When the Roman emperor tries to marry off his daughter to the heir to the Greek empire, Melior has other ideas! All part of the joy of William and the Werewolf from @wiltonsquare.bsky.social. Order yours now!

Castles in the landscape

Well, let me tell you 'bout the way she looked The way she acts and the colour of her hair Her voice was soft and cool, her eyes were clear and bright But she's not there… William knows the feeling - this multilayered medieval masterpiece tells a familiar story! From @wiltonsquare.bsky.social

He’s big, he’s green, he’s like no one you’ve ever seen. If hear him knocking on your door this Christmas you’d better have a care! Translation and linocuts come together in a wonderful Yuletide package from @wiltonsquare.bsky.social

Into the blue, where once the Danes slipped by eleven centuries past. River Lea looking north on a cold wintry day. #Hertfordshire

The Romance of William and the Werewolf. A fine medieval romance to enjoy this Christmas: knights and ladies, exile and return, a love story - and a werewolf! A story first told in English in 1350 comes alive once more! Published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social and available through all good bookshops!

As we approach Christmas, enjoy some snapshots from the alliterative romances - all my books are published by @wiltonsquare.bsky.social and available through bookshops and online if you fancy a treat. Linocut illustrations add to the flavour!

Oak in its beauty objects to old nails yet somehow they add to its lustre. Delightful doorway at Clare, Suffolk, for #AdoorableThursday

Castles in the landscape

New York, London, Paris, Munich Everybody talk about pipe muzik! Delightful shield with two pipes at Haddon Hall, Derbyshire for #WindowsOnWednesday I’d love to have been the knight wearing this at the joust!

Castles in the landscape

Beautiful form and aesthetic!

Norman font at St.Peter’s, Bromyard in the county of Hereford. Love the contrast between the fluid forms and the geometric shapes below. The church has many fine early features although the Victorians have been at it. #FontsOnFriday.

Castles in the landscape

St Catherine at St Stephen’s for St Catherine’s Day. Wonderful fifteenth century stained glass at Old Radnor.

Barley twist because it’s possible; delightful turned railings at Denston in Suffolk, dazzling in swirling complexity.

Castles in the landscape

Detail of delight. Entranced yesterday by this exquisite painting, Music, by David Gauld (1899) on display at The Hunterian in Glasgow. You can almost hear the notes of pipes drifting through old golden fields so many years ago.

Wooden walls at Haddon Hall shield wealth from different worlds. Wonderful screen and resultant screens passage preserve an older way of living in one of Derbyshire’s finest historic homes. #AdoorableThursday

Þe snawe snitered ful snart þat snayped þe wylde… (The snow fell sharp as sleet that nipped at the wild beasts) SGGK, l.2003 It’s that time of year again when the Gawain-poet’s alliterative mastery of the North-west midlands dialect really comes alive. (Linocut my own - appears in b/w in my book)

Castles in the landscape

Life by the Lethe which leads to the sea and on to the great German Ocean; forgotten lost days of travellers by boat who ventured this way once before.