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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Thank you to Carisbrooke Castle Museum for inviting me to speak about women in Carisbrooke Castle’s history. Always good to highlight lesser‑known figures, & to share some of my research into Isabella de Fortibus. #womeninhistory #heritage (Image 'The Royal Prisoners' by Charles West Cope, 1855)

Princess Elizabeth lies on a bed under a window. Her head lying on an open book. A soldier and her brother looks on. By the window is an open bird cage.

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The groaning wooden shelves of J.W.Evans Silver Factory in Birmingham. These are but a few of the thousands and thousands of steel dies that were used with drop stampers to make everything from candelabras to sugar sifters. The now #EnglishHeritage property is an amazing survival. #woodensday

Over stocked wooden shelves full of rows of iron dies. There is the remains of a staircase that the shelves have been built around.

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Woke up early enough to see this beautiful sunrise off the Isle of Wight. The pigeons decided they wanted to photo bomb the image, I'm not complaining! #sunrise #isleofwight

A sunrise reflected onto sea off the Isle of Wight. On the left is the cliffs of Culver Down. On the right is the end of Sandown Pier. A flock of pigeons are flying from into the scene.

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

St Laurence Church, Ludlow Shropshire. In 1540, John Leland described the church as “very Fayre and large and richly adorned and taken for the Fayrest in all these parts”. This sentiment still holds true as you can see by the crossing. If you've not been, it's well worth the trip. #medievalmonday

Looking up at the crossing of St Laurence Church. The 4 arches of perpendicular style frame the central square. This itself has a vaulted ceiling.

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This evening I’m doing some last minute edits for my Wednesday evening talk on women that feature in Carisbrooke Castle’s history. I genuinely love this talk as it not only includes stories and characters that are not often talked about, but also it touches on a wide range of themes.

Isabella de Fortibus' window.
The 13th century stepped window seat built as part of Isabella's great chamber.

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

For today's #fontsonfriday is the lovely mid-12 century font in St Peter's Church, Cambridge. It's decorated with four mermen, each grasping one end of their divided tails in each hand. A 3d digital model of the font can be found here. skfb.ly/o8v9r A similar font can be found in Anstey, Herts.

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 23/10/2024

After WWII there were shortages of all sorts of materials including wood. In Britain, to counter this (alongside a need to encourage #bees), there were attempts to make concrete beehives. This one is of a few prototypes that survive. You can see it in Horsham Museum , W. Sussex. (Not) #woodensday

A grey barrel shaped object with a separate domed lid. Image by T. Welstead

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Reposted by Therron Welstead

Matt Gabriele @profgabriele.com · 20/10/2024

ok new list is here! go.bsky.app/6TE7o75

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 19/10/2024

Are you a #PhD researcher looking at #castles? Would you like more people to know about your AMAZING work? If so, please let me know & I can include your abstract in the next Castle Studies Group Bulletin. The bulletin is read by all sorts of castle bods. #Academicsky #Research

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 18/10/2024

Pip 'n' Jay's Church, Bristol (St Philip & St Jacob's) has a lovely square Norman font with a scalloped basin, however its cover steals its thunder. The font cover, dating to 1623, has two rows of open arches the whole topped off with a finial. #Fontsonfriday

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 17/10/2024

Hanging on the gatehouse of Carisbrooke Castle (Isle of Wight) are a pair of 14th-century gates. They are made of oak with vertical boards on the outer face & braced on the inner with wooden bars set at right angles to each other forming a lattice of squares. #adoorablethursday #medievalsky

An open wooden medieval gate. Image by T.Welstead

The other half of the open gate. Image by T.Welstead

Detail of gate including iron knocker and iron rivets. Image by T.Welstead

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 16/10/2024

The nave of St David's Cathedral, (Pembrokeshire) houses an important and stunning 'pendant ceiling': so named due to how parts of it hang down. Each one 1.5m long and 1m wide. Samples of the Welsh oak have been tested and provided dates of the mid C15 to the mid C16. #Woodnesday #History #Wales

The pendent ceiling looking directly up. The pendants fron below look like diamonds. To the right is a wooden crucifixion. Top and bottom the mason arches of the nave can be seen. Image by T. Welstead

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 15/10/2024

Outside St Andrew's Church, Penrith, Cumbria, there is what is locally called 'The Giant's Grave'. At either end of the 10th-century monument is the remains of a cross shaft. In between, there are 4 'hogbacks' stones (so called to their resemblance of the animal's back). #tombtuesday #history 1/3🧵

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 14/10/2024

King Arthur’s Round Table (Cumbria) is a Neolithic earthwork henge c2000BCIt’s a relatively typical design: a circular platform surrounded by a wide ditch & bank. Originally there were 2 entrances to the central area but one was destroyed when a road was constructed. #skystorians #englisheritage 1/2

A series of earthworks in the centre is a flat circle around it is a ditch with a raised entrance crossing the ditch on the left. Image T.Welstead

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 13/10/2024

In the centre of the late Neolithic Mayburgh Henge (Cumbria) there is a standing stone (2.79m tall). In mid C17, it was recorded that there were 7 other similar stones, but these have since been removed. #StandingStoneSunday #EnglishHeritage #Skystorians 🧵1/2

A standing stone standing a large grassed area. In the background there is a bank, with a couple of trees on, which formed part of the ring around the henge. A flock of sheep eating grass. Image by T. Welstead

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 12/10/2024

Yesterday’s thread was about Bowes Castle (Co. Durham), today we will move onto the adjacent St Giles Church. The nave was built in the mid C12. The church saw several later churches over its long life, incl the C13 chancel, C14 the N & S transepts, & a major C19 renovation. #churchcrawling 🧵1/6

A church on the right with a bell cote. In the foreground is a cemetery. in the background to the left is the ruins of Bowes Castle. Image by T. Welstead

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 11/10/2024

My first thread on Bluesky is looking at Bowes Castle (Co. Durham). A timber castle may have been built c.1136. When the site became crown property in 1171, Henry II had the site strengthened due to threat of attacks from Scottish, spending £100 & a further £324 in 1173-4 #Skystorians #Castle 🧵1/6

A ruined castle. Blue sky with grass in the foreground. To the left is a tree in leaf. Image by T.Welstead

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Therron Welstead @therronwelstead.bsky.social · 06/10/2024

Just returned from a castle conference (Colloque Château Gaillard 32). Fantastic mixing pot of ideas from delegates invited from across Europe & America. There were excursions to castles in Cumbria & beyond incl. (Private) Yanwath Hall. In future posts I'll share some of the highlights. #Castles

Delegates front the coloque standing on a lawn in front of a historic building (Yanwath Hall) On the left of the building is a crenelated tower. (Photo by T.Welstead

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