I’ve had the best time visiting Hook Lighthouse in Co. Wexford. Dating from the early 13th century, it is believed to be the oldest purpose-built operational lighthouse in the world. The medieval tower is 36m tall with 4 levels and walls 4m thick. Originally it supported a fire beacon. #MedievalSky

It was lovely to see the Irish Tintern Abbey today, and with the rain and scaffolding it certainly felt a bit like home 😂 Tintern de Voto in Co. Wexford was founded by William Marshall in c. 1200 following his safe landing in Bannow Bay after experiencing a storm in the Irish Sea. #MedievalSky

Rebecca Tyson@tyguson.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I’ve had an absolutely brilliant day at the British Archaeological Association Study Day at Tintern Abbey. I learned so much about the conservation project and we went up onto the scaffolding, so I got to see the site from a whole new perspective. I also had a go at stone masonry. What a great day!

Some expected and unexpected highlights of my visit to Waterford today. The Medieval Museum and Reginald’s Tower were, of course, excellent, but the Physics Buskers (physicsbusking.ie) were fantastic!

The parchmarks at Pembroke Castle are showing up very clearly after the extended dry spell. This building is thought to be a fifteenth-century winged house with a cellar: castlestudiestrust.org/blog/tag/pem...

The Great Bayeux Tapestry Roadshow™ continues…

Ed Roberts@ecroberts.bsky.social · 2w ago

On Thursday 17 September, @memsunikent.bsky.social welcomes Professor Ben Pohl (@benpohl.bsky.social) to Canterbury to give a public lecture on his recent research on the Bayeux Tapestry. 7pm, Canterbury Cathedral Lodge. All welcome - attendance is free, but registration required! Full details:

#PhDone @bristoluni.bsky.social @bristolcms.bsky.social @uobrishistory.bsky.social

Excellent start to my graduation ceremony at @bristoluni.bsky.social this morning

The Battle Conference is in Swansea this week and my accommodation is a 5-min walk from the beach. I wish I could start all conferences with an early morning sea swim.

This is an excellent little blog post about rowing in skaldic poetry by @judithjesch.bsky.social. With the Bayeux Tapestry loan, Battle of Hastings 960th anniversary, next year’s Year of the Normans, and now the Norwegian football team’s “Viking row”, my own research has never felt more topical!

Judith Jesch@judithjesch.bsky.social · 4w ago

In honour of today, I have written a little blogpost. norseandviking.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-...

Norman ships were projected onto the White Cliffs of Dover as the Bayeux Tapestry arrived at the British Museum last night. #MedievalSky www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I’ve been immensely privileged to benefit first-hand from @benpohl.bsky.social’s encouragement of curiosity, attention to detail, and the incremental generation of knowledge, and I am a much better scholar for it. Sign up to hear Ben’s fascinating talk about his path to a professorship. #MedievalSky

Prof Ben Pohl@benpohl.bsky.social · 4w ago

If you’ve got nothing better to do in October… It’s free to attend and everyone’s welcome. Come for the medieval monks and manuscripts, stay for the refreshments—or vice versa! Book your space (in person or online) here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inaugural-...

Harriet Strahl takes the best notes at @imc-leeds.bsky.social

My first article is published today in the @haskinssociety.bsky.social Journal. I'm so pleased to finally see it out in the world. My article outlines the maritime dimension to William fitzOsbern's lordship in the southern Welsh March in the years after 1066. doi.org/10.2307/jj.4... #MedievalSky

This afternoon I saw Robin Hood Prince of Thieves on the big screen as part of the Monmouth Medieval Festival. As one of the early influences that likely tempted me to study medieval history, this film has a special place in my heart. The little theatre is beautiful, and sells local cider. Perfect.

Anyway, the year of the Normans is not celebration of William the Conqueror, but a big project to think about medieval and modern connections, process of conquest, exchange, assimilation etc. 3/

Heartbroken to learn that Brittany Ferries are closing their Poole-Cherbourg route and selling the 'Barfleur' which has been in service since 1992. It took me on childhood holidays, teenage youth orchestra trip to Bayeux, & every family summer holiday with my own kids. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I’ve seen a lot of people commenting on the Bayeux Tapestry’s ‘return to the UK after almost 1,000 years’. While certainly very exciting, it’s worth highlighting that it’s more likely c. 600 years, as there is evidence to suggest the BT was not in Bayeux, or indeed in Normandy, before the 15th c. 1/

I popped into St. James Priory on my way into Bristol this morning to take advantage of the cool and the quiet. Founded as a Benedictine priory in 1129 by Robert earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of King Henry I, who was buried here in 1147. An effigy now in the south aisle may be of Robert.

Being at Chalke History Festival reminds me yet again how interconnected university-based history and other forms of history-making are. The thing we do in one place explicitly supports the thing we do in another. University cuts, closures and job losses harm the entire history eco-system.

Advocating for History by Doing History - On History

This blog was written by Claire Langhamer, Director of the IHR Historians are very good at crafting arguments and in recent times very many people have advanced very many arguments about why history m...

blog.history.ac.uk

I dropped into the National Museum of Ireland before heading to the airport. I spent some time with the Broighter boat, and it was nice to see Ham Green pottery made near Bristol as I talked today about those cross-sea connections. Lovely fishing equipment and a whalebone plaque too #MedievalSky

It’s been an excellent start to the Past, Present, and Future after Conquest: 1066, 1169 conference. A highlight was Bill Aird’s paper on Scottish King Edgar’s gift of a camel to Muirchertach Ua Briain in 1105. I’ll be giving my paper on the Norman maritime invasions of England and Ireland on Friday

I visited Shaftesbury Abbey for the first time this morning. King Cnut died here in 1035 and was then buried in Winchester. The little museum was fab and the gardens were lovely, though as the temperature rises I’m very glad to be hiding in a pub now with a cold drink!

A shot in the dark, but is anyone out there working on early medieval Brittany?

Quillebeuf-sur-Seine, France 1894 memorial window to the River Seine pilots. 50+ died in ship wrecks while navigating on the river. Hazards to contend with were violent currents & whirlpools, the treacherous river bottom due to the perpetual shifting of the banks, fog & ice. #StainedGlassSunday

🚨 Fewer than 20 tickets left for my talk on the Bayeux Tapestry in @magdalenoxford.bsky.social's magnificent Grove Auditorium next Wednesday (17 June), so get your's while you can: www.magd.ox.ac.uk/events/food-.... When they're gone, they're gone! Attendance is FREE, but registration is required 🚨

Lecture: 'Food for Thought - The Bayeux Tapestry Revisited' with Professor Benjamin Pohl - Magdalen College

You are invited to a talk with Professor Benjamin Pohl, current Visiting Fellow at Magdalen, and Professor of Medieval History at the University of Bristol. The talk will take place from 5pm-6pm in th...

magd.ox.ac.uk

I'm writing a conference paper and contemplating how medieval people thought about crossing bodies of water. There's a long history of the idea of a bridge to Ireland: William Rufus stated that he would make a bridge with his ships, and Boris Johnson revived the Irish Sea Bridge idea in 2020. 1/

Art can be found in the most unlikely of places… Such as a portaloo at Tintern Abbey in the pouring rain, as I just discovered ❤️

This is, in fact, the perfect opportunity for new research to be shared widely and for academics to challenge the bizarre and dangerous ‘native English’ narrative that pervades public history of the events of 1066. Surveys show people want to learn more, so let’s tell them something they don’t know!

Prof Ben Pohl@benpohl.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Please, for the love of God: the fact that the Bayeux Tapestry is coming to the UK this autumn is not a reason to rehash tired old takes on it as if they were state-of-the-art scholarship, tacitly ignoring decades of important research!

Great little film from @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social media students at the mindbendingly fabulous Sutton Hoo ship project www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7jh...

The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company: A Ship beneath the Soil

YouTube video by The Sutton Hoo Ship's Company

youtube.com

The marketplace in Hereford was established by William fitzOsbern between 1067-70. Domesday Book preserves details of the transaction between fitzOsbern and the bishop of Hereford for ‘land in which the market is now’. There is still a twice weekly market in this location today. #MedievalSky