Have we overlooked England’s local histories?

What happens to English history when you look at it through a local rather than a national lens? In this episode of the History Extra podcast, Ian Mortimer offers us a fresh perspective on the past, as he takes Charlotte of Osper on a whistle stop tour of the past 1,500 years of English history, viewed through the windows of his own medieval house in Devon. Now I want to start off the interview By first of all talking about where we are currently sat recording this episode. Right now we are sat inside your home in Devon, which was built in the 13th century.

And we're here because this building has a very key role in your new book, Through the Windows of an Ordinary House. But before we dive into the book, Can you tell us a little bit about the house we are currently sat in? Absolutely. It's it's an inspiration, this house.

So the the plot on which it's built in Morton Hampstead in the middle of Devon was laid out actually right at the start of the Saxon period. So this site has been lived on since probably the late 7th century, certainly from the 8th century, and in those days it would have been turf walled or wooden walled and rebuilt and rebuilt and rebuilt, and then by the 13th century they started building the stone. So the front of the house, running along uh what is now a street, was built in the 13th century, was knocked down and rebuilt in the 14th century, leaving just one wall. And then it got added to and changed and changed and changed.

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