Harvington History Festival returns

After a sell-out 2025, Harvington History Festival returns from Wednesday 22 to Sunday 26 July 2026 for five days of historical deep dives, surprising revelations, accidental deaths and more.

Taking place at the picturesque Harvington Hall, a historic moated Elizabethan manor house in Worcestershire, the festival finds 16 of the UK’s most accomplished historians, authors and broadcasters, sharing their unique insight into Britain’s long history, and particularly the turbulent Tudor era. Covering everything from court scandals and jealousies, to the everyday challenges of common folk, each session transports visitors back to times past, as leading experts disclose newfound details based on rigorous research.

Dr Miranda Kaufmann (Thursday) reveals the remarkable stories of the many forgotten Africans who lived free in Tudor England, transforming how we see this most intriguing period of history; Alison Weir (Thursday), the UK’s top selling female historian, exposes the startling secret of Kate Carey, cousin of Elizabeth I and daughter of Mary Boleyn, who’d witnessed her aunt executed by Henry VIII, and Dr Nicola Tallis (Friday) reports how Lettice Knollys’ secret marriage to the Queen’s former suitor, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, led to banishment. Meanwhile, National Portrait Gallery Senior Curator Dr Charlotte Bolland (Sunday) traces how Elizabeth I cleverly used portraiture to shape her public image and Amy McElroy (Thursday) reassesses the legacy of Dutch Renaissance scholar Erasmus.

But it’s not all about Royalty and the upper classes as Professor Steven Gunn (Saturday), having unearthed thousands of coroners’ inquest reports, highlights the daily lives, and sudden deaths, of ordinary people, including the life-threatening dangers posed by fruit trees and fetching water, as well as ice bowls and bears!

Delving back into earlier times, the festival opens (Wednesday) with Dr Elizabeth Norton’s examination of 5,000 years of female monarchy, while Dr Eleanor Barraclough uncovers on the day-to-day life of the all-conquering Vikings, and Professor David Woodman reports on the 1100th anniversary of the coronation Æthelstan, England’s founding king.

Others heading to Harvington History Festival include domestic historian Ruth Goodman (The Victorian Farm, Inside The Factory, On The Farm, The One Show), author and broadcaster Tracy Borman OBE (Chief Historian, Historic Royal Palaces), Antiques Roadshow jewellery specialist Susan Rumfitt, and Echoes of History and Gone Medieval podcaster Matt Lewis.

Soundtracking the occasion are internationally-acclaimed vocal ensemble Apollo 5 (Saturday) with a concert highlighting works by Elizabethan composers Tallis, Byrd and Robert White alongside contemporary pieces by James MacMillan, Arvo Pärt, and more.

In addition to the speakers, Fieldings Auctioneers team of experts, headed by Will Farmer (Antiques Roadshow), will be also on hand throughout the festival to give free evaluations and information on items presented to them by ticket holders.

Hall Manager Phil Downing, said: “After a sell-out 2025, we’re pleased to return with another sterling line-up of your favourite historians, authors, academics, broadcasters and specialists in the beautiful setting of Harvington Hall. Their revealing and entertaining insights shine new light on our past, but also show how the present day has been shaped.”

Hidden deep in the Worcestershire countryside – between Kidderminster and Bromsgrove, and just a short drive from Birmingham – the Grade I listed Harvington Hall is a unique Elizabethan moated manor. Reflecting an era of great religious persecution and upheaval, the residence is home to the finest collection of priest hides (also known as priest holes) in the country, with seven in total. It also houses a number of impressive Tudor wall paintings.

Following a period of decay, the Hall was gifted to the Archdiocese of Birmingham in 1923. Fully restored, it’s now open to the public all year round.

Harvington History Festival (Wednesday 22 to Sunday 26 July 2026) is sponsored by Fieldings Auctioneers and Handelsbanken. For more information, and tickets, which start from £12, see: www.harvingtonhall.co.uk