English Heritage – Roving Sun

May 23, 2023June 1, 2023

Kent [England, UK]

We started the day in Canterbury, home of the Archbishop of Canterbury who is responsible for crowning the monarch. The most recent coronation was just two weeks ago for King Charles III. Unfortunately, Canterbury Cathedral was closed due to filming. We walked over to St. Augustine’s Abbey. It was originally going to be our second destination of the day. Afterwards, we planned on visiting St. Martin’s Church, also nearby. It is the oldest church still in use in England. Unfortunately, it is not open to visitors on Tuesdays. We ended up driving to Walmer Castle and Gardens, just north of Dover. After spending some time there, where the Duke of Wellington, who defeated Napoleon, died, we drove a mile or two further north to Deal Castle. After exploring the castle, we headed back to Canterbury where we took a walk on the city walls and through a park.

May 22, 2023June 1, 2023

Dover [Kent, England, UK]

We drove from around Oxford to Dover in the morning. It was a relatively long drive, taking nearly 3 hours. We had some varying plans for today but decided to first visit Dover Castle, atop the White Cliffs of Dover. After exploring the castle and its tunnels, we drove to the National Trust‘s White Cliffs of Dover park. It was getting relatively late so we just did a short walk to get a good look at the cliffs.

May 19, 2023June 4, 2023

Wiltshire & Oxfordshire [England, UK]

We toured more places in Wiltshire today! We started at Woodhenge, a henge right next to Stonehenge. It was on the way to our next destination, Old Wardour Castle. Old Wardour was home to the Anne Arundell, wife of Lord Baltimore who founded the Maryland colony. Anne Arundel County in Maryland is named after her. Afterwards, we headed up north to Avebury, a World Heritage Site containing a large henge. We then went further north to visit the White Horse Hill, an interesting outline of a horse cut into the chalk soil at least 2000 years ago. We ended the day at Great Coxwell Barn, a 13th century barn that has a cathedral-like elements. This barn is in an episode of Downton Abbey, though we haven’t gotten to the particular episode yet.

May 18, 2023June 1, 2023

Wiltshire [England, UK]

We started the day by heading to Stonehenge. After a wrong turn on a roundabout and looping through one an extra time, we made it right after the 9:30am opening time. We spent a bit of time there and then headed to Old Sarum, the site of the ruins of an ancient castle and cathedral. After walking through what is left of the castle, we went to nearby Salisbury to visit the cathedral’s replacement and to view one of four remaining original copies of the Magna Carta! On our way back, we hit two additional castle ruins, one of which was not actually in Wiltshire, before calling it a day.