Historic West Midlands festival reveals fascinating five day line up of top experts

Held at Harvington Hall, a historic moated Elizabethan manor house in Worcestershire, 16 of the UK’s most accomplished historians, authors and broadcasters will bring Britain’s long history to life, especially the turbulent Tudor era.

Covering everything from court scandals and jealousies, to the everyday challenges of commoners, leading experts disclose newfound details based on rigorous research.

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."

Highlights on the first day include Dr Elizabeth Norton's talk Women Who Ruled the World: 5000 Years of Female Monarch. The historian tells the scintillating story of the female kings: women who risked everything, sometimes unwillingly, to find a place in a man's world. (11am).

At 1.30pm Dr Eleanor Barraclough will reveal Hidden Histories of the Viking Age and at 4pm Professor David Woodman will celebrate the 1100th anniversary of the birth of Æthelstan: The First King of England.

At 6.30pm Matt Lewis will outline the Medieval power couple Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine: Founding a Dynasty.

On Thursday Dr Miranda Kaufmann 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.

The UK's top selling female historian Alison Weir appears to expose the startling secret of Kate Carey, cousin of Elizabeth I and daughter of Mary Boleyn, who'd witnessed her aunt executed by Henry VIII.

On Friday Dr Nicola Tallis 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 Charlote Bolland (Sunday) traces how Elizabeth I cleverly used portraiture to shape her public image.

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.

Singers Apollo 5 will be performing on Saturday, July 25, using their voices and harmonies to transport the audience back in time.

The festival is being held between Wednesday, July 22 to Sunday, July 26 - with tickets priced at £12 per event.

For more information about the festival at Harvington Hall Lane, Harvington, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, visit www.harvingtonhall.co.uk