Gloucester History Festival
Gloucester Celebrates 800th Anniversary of Coronation of Henry III
With Gloucester’s impressive heritage and recent investment from the Heritage
Lottery Fund in a number of major projects including Project Pilgrim at the
Cathedral, Project DeCrypt and our own Gloucestershire Archives, it is good news
that the Gloucester History Festival is growing and will celebrate the 800th
anniversary of the coronation of Henry III in St Peter’s Abbey, in style.
There will be a dramatic re-enactment of his coronation, the only one to take place
outside of Westminster or Winchester. This highlight event on Saturday, 10
September, will feature the coronation procession, medieval celebrations at the
Cathedral, and the opening event of the Blackfriars Talks given by broadcaster Marc
Morris. Dr Janina Ramirez, Oxford University and BBC historian and President of the
Gloucester History Festival will be speaking on Sunday 11th with other prominent
historians.
The Festival launches on 3 September with the traditional colourful Gloucester Day
Parade, organised by the Town Crier, Alan Myatt. This event celebrates the lifting of
the Civil war Siege of Gloucester in 1643, when Charles I, who was camped nearby at
Matson House, was forced to flee. The Festival features over 100 events and
activities across the city for all ages and interests including City Voice events
featuring local artists and performers, Blackfriars Talks, guided walks, music, family
events and Heritage Open Days.
Among one of the most unusual City Voices events is the workshop “The Age of
Gold” which will allow you to learn how to apply gold leaf to your own artwork.
Since the Ancient Egyptians gold leaf has been used in art as the ultimate symbol of
the sacred.
This year the Blackfriars Talks, in the beautiful, 13th century Dominican Priory in the
centre of the city, will celebrate the anniversaries of Henry III, The Battles of Jutland
and the Somme, Shakespeare at 400 and themes including Women and History,
Ancient Warriors/Ancient Worlds and World Wars I & II. Acclaimed speakers this
year include, Nick Jellicoe on the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland, Alison
Weir on Katherine of Aragon, Durmot Turing on Alan Turing and the Enigma Code,
Phil Moss on Medieval Gloucester and Jung Chang, author of the phenomenal best
seller, Wild Swans, talking about The Empress Dowager Cixi.
And events with a Gloucester connection include talks by Mark Gatiss, the wellknown actor screenwriter and co-creator of Sherlock, much of which was filmed in
Gloucester; a special visit from Andrew Salmon who is based in Seoul to talk about
the Battle of Imjin River, to mark the 65th Anniversary of the extraordinary bravery of
the “Glorious Glosters” in the Korean War; and no Gloucester History Festival would
be complete without our local historian Phil Moss who this year will be speaking on
Gloucester in the time of Shakespeare.
Gloucester Heritage Open Days, part of the History Festival on 8-11 September, will
offer unique opportunities to see inside the rarely opened King’s Bastion, view the
Elizabethan wall friezes in private rooms of the Dick Whittington pub, visit the
scriptorium at Blackfriars Priory, where the original timbers from the Forest of Dean
are still part of the scissor-brace roof. You can also experience heritage in action by
visiting the Stonemason’s Yard where wonderful stonework for the Cathedral is
created, and Tommi Nielsen’s Dry Docks where traditional wooden vessels are
restored. During Heritage Open Days admission to these and many more hidden
architectural treasures is free!
The full programme of the 2016 Gloucester History Festival is available on-line at
www.gloucesterhistoryfestival.co.uk where you can also sign up for further
information or from the Gloucester Tourist Information Centre on 01452 396572.
A video of Janina Ramirez introducing the magnificent Blackfriars Priory is also
available to watch on the website.
Dr. Janina Ramirez, President, Gloucester History Festival said: “ As an art historian
of the medieval period, Gloucester is a paradise for me and last year, I was invited to
speak at the Festival in the magnificent surroundings of Blackfriars Priory. So, I was
thrilled to take on being President of the Festival and invite more historians to join in
the fun at Blackfriars.”
Donna Renney, of the History Festival Committee said: “There is just so much
heritage to see in Gloucester, it is awe-inspiring. It is one of the top ten historic cities
in the country, so if you have not explored Gloucester, put the History Festival dates
in your diary.”
Richard Graham, MP, said: “The Romans called Gloucester the City of Light and the
aim of our Festival is to make our magnificent heritage come alive for today’s
generation and shine a light towards the future.”
Notes:
1. The Blackfriars Talks were set up by Richard Graham, the MP, in 2011. More
recently music has been added, programmed in many of the City’s churches by the
singer and former Mayor of Gloucester, Sebastian Field.
2. The Festival is organised by Gloucester History Committee chaired by Richard
Graham and comprising representatives of the Civic Trust, Marketing Gloucester,
Blackfriars Priory, Guildhall, and Gloucestershire Archives. A new charity, GUST,
formed by the former CEO of Cheltenham Festivals, Donna Renney co-ordinates the
activities. The Festival is supported with a grant from the City Council but aims to
attract more than double the Council grant in sponsorship, grants and ticket sales.
3. Festival President, Dr. Janina Ramirez is currently the course director on the
Certificate in History of Art at Oxford University's Department for Continuing
Education. Janina gained a degree in English literature, specialising in Old and
Middle English, from St Anne's College, Oxford, before completing her PhD at the
Centre for Medieval Studies, University of York. Her long line of successful
documentaries include, Treasures of the Anglo-Saxons, The Viking Sagas; Britain’s
Most Fragile Treasure; Illuminations: The Private Lives of Medieval Kings; Chivalry
and Betrayal: The Hundred Years’ War; Architects of the Divine: The First Gothic Age;
and, Saints and Sinners: Britain’s Millennium of Monasteries. Her most recent book
is The Private Lives of the Saints, Power Passion and Politics in Anglo-Saxon England.
4. Henry III was the only English monarch to have been crowned outside
Westminster or Winchester. Janina Ramirez will be speaking on Sunday, 11
September in Blackfriars Priory.
5. Sign up for more information about the Gloucester History Festival at:
www.gloucesterhistoryfestival.co.uk or call Gloucester Tourist Information Centre
on 01452 396572 to request a free brochure. Tickets will be on sale from 25 July.
For any further information, please call Donna Renney on 0782 432 5116